Picky Eater

Sandra - posted on 05/19/2012

It is normal at her age to do what she is doing. Don't stress. And at some times kids will not eat much, even the things you thought they would only eat. This goes along wiht growth also. Eat alot, chub out, stop eating, grow taller.
Keep offering her the same foods, in small amounts, maybe cut up or prepared different. Add them to other things. Use real cheese on whole wheat for grilled cheese. Use a low sugar jam and pb instead of jelly and regular pb on whole wheat. You can always add fruits to shakes and fruits and veggies to juices(whole fruit juices in blender using a low sugar base), that you make so you can control whats in them. Slice bananas or strawberries onto cheerios.
and if all else fails and you are worried about nutrition, go with a toddler formula.
Her likes and dislikes will change throughout her life.

Jess - posted on 05/19/2012

Research shows that paying attention to the picky eating is what causes it to stick around in a lot of cases. Kids go through picky phases. It is normal. What is not normal is you (that is the collective you, not you specifically) turning it into some huge power struggle. Most kids grow out of picky phases and they eat just fine. And research has recently found that people who stay picky into adulthood have a genetic predisposition towards it. They have located a gene anomaly. So at the end of the day, your kid is likely going to grow up to like different foods, regardless of how they eat as a toddler. Relax. Don't turn it into a power struggle. Don't pay attention to the food thrown on the floor. I don't know how old these other mom's think your baby is, but at 13 months, attention is attention. You start noticing and punishing the food throwing thing and it is just going to get worse. Praise what is good, and ignore what is bad and try to redirect them. If they realize that every time they throw food on the floor, you come running, guess what? They will be throwing food to get your attention. And to whoever said that you just put the kid down when she throws food, that may work for some kids, but my 13 month old son would consider it a reward to get out of his high chair, not a punishment. Empty tummy or not. But regardless of what other moms says, science says kids will generally grow out of picky-ness. If they don't, even if you do everything perfectly, they would likely end up picky anyway due to a genetic reason. So relax, give your daughter the healthiest foods you can give her that she'll eat, and don't make a huge deal out of it.

Michelle - posted on 05/19/2012

Only offer her what you want her to eat. I found that my daughter would eat anything as long as it was what the rst of us ate. If she throws it on the floor let her know that she doesn't get anything else.

If you give in and give her what she wants she will just hold out till then and not even try new things. In my ouse we have the rule that I cook 1 meal (that I know everyone will like) and if you don't eat it you can go hungry. I make sure I don't make hot/spicy stuff for the kids and that the flavours are what they eat.

I have even had to tell my boys (11 & 8) that I won't cook anything that will kill them and they have to have at least 3 bites of anything new. Most of the time they love it.

Stifler's - posted on 05/18/2012

Keep offering her those things. Making pizza and giving in to letting them have crap foods makes it worse.

Brittany - posted on 05/18/2012

What I did was if food ended up on the floor so did my daughter. After about 3 days she figured it wasn't a good idea to throw food on the floor.

As for fruits and veggies. I offered them to her while I was making the rest of her meal. She had to take at least one bite of it before she got her meal. Often times kids fill up on what they really like then don't have room for the things that are just ok.

Natassia - posted on 05/18/2012

The Sneaky Chef. I have ordered her books from the half price books website. They are great. It is very hard to get my 4 kids to eat healthy but with her books my kids can still eat junk but its healthy junk the way she makes it. My kids still havent figured out they are eating fruits and veggies when they are eating the things they like!!