Eating Habits----HELP!

Erin - posted on 01/25/2010

I feel that feeding time is the most frustrating aspect of raising my twins right now. Everyone keeps telling me that when they are hungry they will eat. My kids do like to eat cereal like cheerios or kix in their own bowl with some milk. They enjoy feeding it to themselves. So they like that for breakfast or oatmeal or scrambled eggs topped with cheese. Lunch and dinner is usually more of a challenge but I just continue to give them as many healthy options as I can. Do you have a portable dvd player? Maybe you could bring that into the room where you want her to eat and over time once she is used to eating in the room without the tv, you could wean the dvd player away. Just an idea.

Andrea - posted on 01/24/2010

Hi Sarah,
my daughter Charlee is the same however she does gain weight, vey fussy eater but she will try things out first, the main things Charlee likes is crackers, fruit lollies, chips both packet and hot, so every now n then i throw a jar of baby food her way to get other nutrients inside her, Doc is not worried as my daughter is gaining weight, it is hard but be patient try different food sources within the same bowl ie: cold meats, breads, and leave out the good stuff, when she tries or eats some of the other foods praise her and give her a little bit of the things she likes. When its time to eat put her in her chair in front of the tv and each time its feed time move the chair back a little further away until you have her where u would like her to be sitting ie kitchen etc. turn off the tv if she just plain refuses to eat...may not work on every child but certainly did with my daughter. Good Luck :)

Gwyn - posted on 01/24/2010

I've talked to other moms about this, and it seems to be a common thing around this age. My son is 20 mnths old and does the same thing. Just keep trying to offer good food. My son seems to go threw spurts, when he's hungry he'll eat like a cow...then for a few days/weeks he just snacks. Try not to stress.

Christina - posted on 01/22/2010

My son was and is still the same way. The doc said it was normal and as long as he was eating anything at all he was fine. I think he lived off of chips and pizza rolls for a while. I just bought pediasure to supplement him vitamen wise. He still at age 4 only has a handful of things he'll eat.

Amber - posted on 01/22/2010

Oh and she loves eating cereal WITH me. Like, I take a bite, then give her a smaller one of whatever cereal I am eating. She also will eat instant oatmeal, of course, only the fruit kinds :) Yogurts are a pretty big hit too.

Amber - posted on 01/22/2010

Sounds like my daughter lately.. I've learned that the tv cannot be on during meal times, I've been sitting down and eating WITH her & that seems to help put the focus back on her meal time AT the table. Some easy favorites at our house are: quasedilla (sp) with cheese, dipped in ranch or ketchup (she's a BIG fan of dipping things), hotdogs cut up, fruit bowls ie: peaches, pears, mandarines-favorite, ego waffles with either syrup, or for lunchtime some butter & jam cut up. She also loves apples, spaghetti, loves the soup part of potato soup :) any kind of bread, toasted, bagels, plain. Grilled cheese with tomato soup for dipping is also a big hit. (seriously, loves to dip) :)
And I agree with Candice Clark. Offer only things from dinner if she is still asking for for. My daughter was doing that last night with mashed potatoes and gravy. For some reason she did not want anything to do with them other than to play with her spoon. But if you keep offering it they'll find out that's their option & they probably should've just eaten it in the first place :)
Hope this helped!

Britny - posted on 01/21/2010

I think most of us have this issue =] From what I've learned/read etc., Toddlers are "on-th-go eaters." They like to have things that they can grab and snack on while they run around and play, so most toddlers snack ALOT throughout the day and really don't have to eat what we think they should at dinner. It's always good to try and give them a nice, full dinner and hope for the best, but if they don't eat everything in front of them, it's OK! Just try to give her healthy snacks full of protein and other nutrients.

Sarah - posted on 01/21/2010

My 5 year old daughter has been a very picky eater since birth! I could never get her to eat meat or anything she had to take the time to eat. She is 5 now and she is still the same way. She has always been a small girl, but I was so worried she was not getting enough. I would also take her to the doctors to see what I could do. They just told me to give her what she will eat, and as long as her weight is ok, and she is healthy there is not much else to do. She is a big breakfast fan, so we have pancakes and eggs for dinner allot!!! As long as the docs say your child is healthy then I say keep doing what your doing. Also, I read on another post that someone gave their child pedialite everyday, I would reconmmend that. It is hard for me to get that every month, but if you can afford it, that would definatly help. Hope this helps?

Eleasha - posted on 01/21/2010

Had the same thing! I had to do some tough love! It's hard but they won't let themselves starve. I quit all snacks during the day and had them sit at the table in their chair and if they threw a tantrum I let them out and told them that they won't get anything else until they sit down and eat. I had to turn the TV off and limit it all together as it was a distraction and found less playing and interaction and more bored eating happening.I had to start to enforce the rule about no food anywhere else except in the Kitchen. My first 2 went through this and they all fought really hard, they didn't get breakfast and went for naptime hungry , still fought when they got up and finally by dinner they were so darn hungry that they did it. It took a few days to get a routine and good habbits building up. It was the best thing once all the crying and fussing was over but you have to be CONSISTENT!!! IT's the most important thing!! It's now or never on changing the habits! It was a slap in the face for me and by the 3 rd child I learned not to stick them in front of the TV or let them snack all day, or eat while walking around the house. I admit it's tough but well worth it when they realize that you are in charge, not them :) If they are picky eaters FINE :) Give them what is healthy and good, I am sure they have 1 or 2 meals that they like, and if they are without snacking in the day, they might be up for more. My last was so darn picky but it wasn't like he'd even try it. I got so fed up that as his mouth was open crying, I stuffed a bit in and he realized that there are more good things out there. :) Just my experience, doesn't mean it works for anyone or everyone though. :) Good luck! I hope you find something that works out to help! :)

Sallie - posted on 01/21/2010

I've got a picky eater on my hands, also! One thing that puts my mind at ease is that I give him a minimum of one bottle of Pediasure per day. He absolutely guzzles it down, and it gives him a good boost of calories plus nutritional supplements to what he lacks from his mediocre diet. When the pediatrician first recommended it, I got into a trap of giving him too much Pediasure, and then he was full and it only added to his lack of desire to eat... but now that I understand that I need to space it apart from meals, it works much better.

Another thing I learned from his babysitter is to limit fluids prior to meals. My son would walk around with a sippy cup of apple juice all day if I let him, and again, that provides a sense of fullness that interferes with hunger and the desire to eat. If I offer him a meal BEFORE a beverage, it does tend to go better.

As mentioned above, I try to feed healthy fats as much as I can. Cheese cubes are a particular favorite of his, and I feel good about that because it's adding calcium and protein to his diet. Likewise, Stonyfield Farms has come out with new yogurts that are a fruit and veggie blend, and he really seems to like those, to. That helps reassure me that he is getting at least SOME veggies in his diet. The other thing that works for me is adding cream cheese to veggies and making a puree. Again... healthy fats including calcium, and also calories!!!

My most recent discovery has been ketchup! He LOVES ketchup, and will eat most things if dipped in ketchup first. Chicken nuggets or tenders are usually a hit, and I buy organic and pan-fry in olive oil to help ease my conscience! I only get him Wendy's nuggets in a pinch... ;)

I know how awful it is for every meal to be a struggle. My mom looks at me like I'm crazy for giving in to my son's poor eating habits (since neither my brother nor I were picky eaters), but truly it is impossible to force feed anyone against their will, including a child! I just keep hoping that this, like everything else, is a phase that will one day magically disappear like all the rest have, and things will be better.

Good luck, everyone! :)

Michelle - posted on 01/21/2010

I have the same trouble with my little boy not wanting to sit in his chair either. I am frusterated most of the time, but he is slowly getting it that I only get food if I am in my chair. And it is a pain but you have to do it all day long. Anything he wants to eat he has to sit in his chair. As for food suggestion. My little Anthony is also a picky eater. But we try to add healthy fat whenever possible. For breakfast I make him pancakes with cottage cheese and then either add fruit of any kind or chocolate chips. I mean you have to make it so he'll eat it. So pick her favorites. My son also likes eggs, waffles, potatoes, so if I make mashed potates, I add ricotta cheese or whole milk sour cream & with butter, mac & cheese, american cheese and bread. I mean he doesn't eat it as a sandwich, but he'll eat one than the other. Hot Dogs - all beef, I also still make him baby oatmeal and add yogurt. But most of all he loves fruit & bread. My dr. just try to add as much healthy fats as possible to the diet. So I am not sure if my rambling helped or not but let me know how it goes.

Sharon - posted on 01/20/2010

my son was exactly the same, he has only gained 600g since August and i was starting to worry, he would eat most things but when it came to dinner/supper/tea whatever you want to call the main evening meal, he would refuse, however if you offered some fruit, or other favourite food he would gladly eat... my husband then started to let him run around out in the back garden and give him a spoonfull of food as he ran past but i really didn't like the idea of sitting outside in winter doing this because we all know that habbits like that are hard to break, so i told my husband, no more, i started limiting snacks, and he could only have water, and everything had to be eaten/drank in high chair because like your daughter he liked to sit in living room to eat his snacks, it took about a week but he now eats a fair bit of his dinner, if he starts fussing, i get him out of his chair and wait till he wants some more, it does get better, because like the experts say 'they will eat when they are hungry' so i think you really have to be strict and limit 'snack' type foods for when she does really well and eats her dinner.... hope that helps....

Donna - posted on 01/20/2010

My daughter is kinda like that, so I feel your pain. My daughter will eat: Almost all fruit ( bananas, blueberries, apple, clementime are her favorites) She use to eat alot of spagetthi, but now refuses it. Mac n Chees worked for a little while. Now she is eating cheese dip with chips.She seems to like the cheese melted better than whole.Club multi grain cracker are also a favorite:) Hope this helps, I know it's frustrating.

Michelle - posted on 01/19/2010

My twin boys are gonna be 2 in April and they too seem to like to snack but don't want to sit down for meals. I think I made it worse by putting them in their high chairs with some snacks to keep them occupied while I cooked. So now I try to limit their snacks and wait til I can give them a plate full of food before I put them in their chairs. The less snacks the easier it is to get them to eat at meal time. I also try put a few little snacks like crackers and fruit on their meal plate so they have options and variety.

Candice - posted on 01/18/2010

as my mom says (and she is usually right) food is the one thing you can't fight with a kid over ...they always win one way or another. but what i and a friend of mine do is offer supper...and if that's a no go..anytime they ask for anything after that...offer them the leftover supper. if you keep making other food, she'll learn that if she whines and pitches a fit she'll get something else.

but i know the frustration...moms are terrified that kids aren't eating enough..i do it too.