Life With A Baby - Frustrated with limited toddler food intake!

Thursday, July 28, 2011 8:59 PM

Message # 665410

Leanne

I have 20 month old twins who are driving me crazy when it comes to meal/snack time. They seem to like so few foods right now. They do not like eggs in any way, meat/chicken, fish. They pretty much live on fruit and yogurt and the odd vegetable like peas or sweet potato fries. We have tried a variety of ways of cooking and preparing foods, and we have tried dips, etc. I am at a loss. I would be very grateful for any suggestions or success stories!

Thanks,

Leanne

Tuesday, August 02, 2011 2:37 PM

Reply # 667992 on 665410

Stella

I have a 26 month old that only eats exactly what you listed! (She's been doing this for a few months now.)

Awaiting responses!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011 2:46 PM

Reply # 667998 on 665410

Tatiana

I'm in the same boat, trying to get my 9.5 month old to eat solids better... he just seems to be totally happy only with breast milk, but he needs to start eating real food and more of it. (we've been trying since 6 months). It's a little worrisome to hear that this stage can last so long...

Tuesday, August 02, 2011 8:19 PM

Reply # 668214 on 665410

Shelley

My first was a good eater, my second not so much. Right now he seems to be big on carbs, so muffins and noodles are big hits right now. Pizza is another good one, we make it on naan or flat bread. You can sneak a lot of purees into muffins, sauce for noodles and pizza sauce. The eating habits will continue to change, so what they like one week, they won't touch the next. Also, try to feed directly from your plate rather then making them a plate of thier own. My little guy loves to eat things when he thinks it comes from my plate even when I have the exact same thing on his. Go figure!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011 9:43 PM

Reply # 668269 on 665410

Dar

My 26 month old is the same! He loves fruit, bread and cheese and can eat those all day long. Other foods are in one week and out the next month. He doesn't like eating veggies but likes creamy soup. So I just pureed all sorts of veggies into a soup form and he eats that. More often than not, we do have to bribe him to eat meat (e.g. one meatball and then one blueberry....until all the meatballs are eaten).

Sometimes I find that he will eat something that he doesn't like if it's in a different vessel or with a different utensil because it's different. Or eating something boring on the backyard patio can make it seem more fun. It can be quite exhausting coming up with new feeding ideas to entice him!

Wednesday, August 03, 2011 12:51 AM

Reply # 668360 on 665410

Shang

Leanne wrote:
I have 20 month old twins who are driving me crazy when it comes to meal/snack time. They seem to like so few foods right now. They do not like eggs in any way, meat/chicken, fish. They pretty much live on fruit and yogurt and the odd vegetable like peas or sweet potato fries. We have tried a variety of ways of cooking and preparing foods, and we have tried dips, etc. I am at a loss. I would be very grateful for any suggestions or success stories!

Thanks,

Leanne

Do they like oatmeal? I add tons of stuff to my son's oatmeal: blue berry, banana, peanut butter, cream and lastly crack an egg and stir it in. Here's a website you can go to for some healthy food ideas: http://weelicious.com/

Monday, August 08, 2011 8:56 PM

Reply # 672041 on 665410

Tina

Have you read anything by Ellyn Satter? She is a registered dietitian focussed on child feeding and healthy relationships with food. I purchased and read two of her books before my oldest daughter (now 26 months) started solids. Her basic premise is around the division of responsibility. As long as you are providing a variety of healthy food choices it is up to the child to decide what and how much they are going to eat. I remind myself (and my husband) of this over and over again when she eats very little or asks for 4 helpings of one of the foods being offered at a meal. But all in all she is a great little eater. I'm not sure if I just lucked out or if it had to do with my approach. My second is proving to be a bit more of a challenge (she's 7 months and even though I've been offering solids for a month or so now she has very little interest). But I keep reminding myself that I'm doing my part and I have to let her do hers.

Here is a link to her website. It's really great stuff http://www.ellynsatter.com/ellyn-satters-division-of-responsibility-in-feeding-i-80.html

All the best!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:09 AM

Reply # 677271 on 665410

Jay

My 33-month old twins are equally fussy eaters. We rotate 5 of their favourites, constantly. I don't worry about them not eating what I offer to them, as long as at the end of the day I believe that they have eaten or drank the equivalent of three meals. I figure that first I should get them accustomed to eating and liking food, even if they only eat snacks. I refuse to stress myself out about the fact that they are not eating solids (meals). They love snacks such as Shreddies, potato chips, apples, bananas and yogurt. For my peace of mind, to ensure that they are OK nutritionally, I give them supplements in the form of toddler formula and pediasure -- at least one drink per day-- just to make sure. They also get a daily multi-vitamin. They also like warm cereal -- porridge-- so they get 250 mls of porridge once a day, usually in the mornings (sometimes I add puree fruits such as bananas, apples or pears).

While I would love them to eat more solid foods (including foods from all food groups) right now I am content to allow them to eat what they want. When I am eating my meals, I always make sure that an extra piece of chicken for example is reserved for them on my plate so that I can encourage them to "try Mommy's deeeelicious food." If they shake their heads and turn away; I let them be. No pressure.

Enjoy the ride, mommies. It's all good. Next stop: tantrums and ear infections. Excemza, anyone???

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:26 AM

Reply # 772469 on 665410

Deidre-Ann

My son is 17 months old and feeding him is a nightmare. He gags on everything he doesn't like....he literally lives off eggs, cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy and if the chicken is chopped up really fine he will eat it.

He loves soup with goldfish crackers and loves yogurt and apple sauce. When I give him fresh fruits and veggies he throws it on the ground. I am sick of fighting with him so I just give him liquid vitamin in his milk and oatmeal and probiotics in pretty much anything else he will eat.

I have tried pureeing carrots and adding in his food and this works but he is getting older I shouldn't have to be grinding foods.....then he goes to daycare and eats everything!!!!

Bananas he hates with a passion but I see what he eats for lunch and I try to mimick that at home and its always a miss!!!! Ah well......lol

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:27 PM

Reply # 772920 on 772469

Tatiana

My son is 14 months old now, and overall his eating hasn't really improved significantly since my last posting in this thread (when he was 9.5 months old)... he's gone through several waves of good feedings/bad feedings (including gagging himself and throwing up for a little while, almost at every feeding)... we've discovered that he will eat pretty much everything we offer to him 'on the go' - i.e. if he's playing/running around, and I try to give him food by hands, either into his mouth or fingers - but will then basically stop eating when we put him into his high chair, even if it's the same food I was just giving him earlier! I feel like I'm stuck in a catch-22 situation: if I want to make sure he gets food into him then I resort to the 'on the go' feedings/snacks; but then I also realize doing this leads to the bad habit of only accepting food on the go and then refusing it in the high chair...

It is a nightmare, and right now is the most stressful part of being a mother. It feels like such an open-ended situation, with no real solutions... he's very active and happy so I guess he's taking enough stuff in... and like our doctors say, what are we going to do, force food down his throat? there's not much else we can try to do... just try to keep your patience and sanity with you through these feedings, as frustrating as they can be... but it sounds like our little ones will be the ones who'll be 'difficult eaters' until they are like 3,4,5,...???

Last modified: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:30 PM | Tatiana

Frustrated with limited toddler food intake!

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