Veggies and Pacifier Issues

Sinead - posted on 01/04/2010

If he won't eat mushed veggies try him on whole steamed veggies. It may work! Or if he won't eat veg that way, push fruit on him. My little one is pretty receptive to new things but my first baby wasn't at all. Still all she'll eat (and she's 8 now) is carrots, peas, apples and oranges.
I can't help you on the pacifier issue as neither of my kids would take them at all. I'm glad of that as I think it's really ugly to see a toddler with one of those stuck in their mouths and I'm convinced it impedes language development... but I'll shut up now as I've already upset people on another thread...!

Tammy - posted on 01/03/2010

Hi Glenda, Your baby sounds perfectly normal to me. They are still developing their food likes and dislikes and friends of mine with 2yr olds are still going through the same thing. My little guy, Quinn, will eat everything he's offered one week, and then refuse to eat anything other than cheese and bread the next. I just keep offering Quinn a variety of veggies prepared in different ways (roasted, steamed, mashed, raw) on a regular basis, and try not to stress about it. For my own peace of mind, I sometimes use recipes that incorporate veggies into "everyday" foods like mac&cheese, scrambled eggs, muffins, etc. Try searching for recipes by Annabel Karmel or Jessica Seinfeld.

As for the pacifier, it's up to you and Joshua to decide when to break the habit. My son Quinn still uses his for sleep, and sometimes we give it to him to settle him when he's getting too hyper. I assume he'll give it up own his own when he's ready, but if he doesn't, a friend gave me an idea to break the habit gently. She told her own son that the "soother fairy" would come visit the night before his 3rd birthday. I believe she made up a story about how he would become a big boy on his birthday and that big boys don't use soothers anymore, but they get to do other cool big boy things instead. Long story short, when he woke on his birthday, the soother was gone, and he didn't fuss about it one bit.

Cristina - posted on 01/03/2010

Camden likes all vegetables, but to make sure he gets enough of them, I always offer the veggies first - when he is really hungry. Once I feel like he has eaten enough peas/carrots/brocolli, THEN I offer the other things we are having for that meal.

And about the pacifier issue, my son also loves his paci, and we were thinking of limiting it to naps and night time in a few months.We were just going to tell him that it "lives" in his crib and that it has to stay there. Hopefully it will work but I am not too worried about it right now. He is happy and healthy and that's all I can ask for.