Would love some picky eater advice. My 2.5 year old refuses most foods. He won't even taste them!

Sherry - posted on 12/26/2009

Hmmm... some really great ideas Thanks moms! One of you suggested V-8 Splash with the hidden veggies. I already do that, which is successful, but I haven't found one with green veggies in it yet, only the yellow. My son will not touch anything green, and He HATES fruit if its in its natural form and in the can. He'll only eat apple sauce. I've tried mixing foods, but he notices, and won't eat anymore if it tastes funny to him. Intrudcing things to him is hard because he simply will not try it. We tried for a full day offering veggies, and fuits, and "regular full course meals and he starved himself and upset his stomach. Keep the ideas coming. I'm going to try many of your ideas. Thanks again!

Katharine - posted on 12/22/2009

I have the same problem...It seem like the never-ending battle to get them to eat anything healthy. One day he like carrots, next day he doesn't. One day he likes peas, next day he is literally spitting them across the room in disgust. The only thing that seems to be helping is involving him in helping prepare meals...Today I even let him pick which veggies go with dinner. He at least ate a few. I'm also scared to give in to the littlest changes in meals, I don't want it to end up being where my toddler is telling my we are having McNuggets for dinner, lol. I'm trying to stick to "here's what I'm giving you as a meal...eat if you want to", but my spouse insist than we need to get him to eat anything, even if that means pizza or cookies. I also think that is a really bad habbit to get into. Anyway, if all else fails give him a pedisure, then you know he's getting some sort of nutrients.

Jaime - posted on 12/21/2009

Alot of the "Junk" in junk food, comes in during preperation. If you step up and make those things at home, from scratch, you can leave out all the unhealthy add ons. It is cheaper also, and really doesn't take as much work as you think! We make home made pizza with like a quarter of the cheese they use at the pizzarias, turkey pepperoni, and lots of veggies! Tater tots are better than french fries, and if you let kids dip their chicken, kids wont care if it is baked or fried, as long as they have got BBQ sauce! Try to leave ALL salt out of your cooking, and go all fresh if possible! A premade pizza crust costs 3 bucks, the jiffy mix is 50 cents, and only takes water! It also only takes 5 minutes longer than opening the other package. We don't use oil in most every thing we cook, and if you little one loves oatmeal, i bet bananna bread would be liked! Homemade is super easy, and very cheap!

Also if he is hungry give him his veggies on his plate BEFORE you give him anything else, so that he has to eat them first!!!

One of our favorite snacks is peanut butter and a can of fruit (to be shared between 3 kids)

If you don't give him the unhealthy options anymore, he will have no choice but to eat what you give him! Stay strong! And the best way to make sure that you won't be giving him the bad stuff is to GET RID OF IT!!! That way he never sees it, and its true-- out of sight out of mind!

He will come to love eating at grandpas house, but will know that it is a special treat, and that you don't feed him that stuff!!!

Jo Anne - posted on 12/21/2009

My son is 3 yrs old and doesn't eat also.He's more on milk.But i see to it that everytime we eat, he eats with us though he hardly touch his food.the only food he eats is fish.and he loves h20.Doesnt eat junk foods as well.

Brandy - posted on 12/20/2009

I was watching The Doctor's the other day and Dr. Sears (the shows pediatrician), was doing house calls for parents who needed advice. One of the housecalls was for a toddler who was a picky eater. He came into the house for dinner, they sat at the table with all the food out on low plates so he could see all of the options, but gave him a plate and put nothing on it. They dished themselves up and didn't talk to or look at or pay any attention to the boy. After a few minutes of watching everybody else eat, he started asking for things. The first thing he asked for was the bowl of sliced apples, the second thing was a bowl of carrots and other sliced veggies. There were other foods like chicken and stuff but he didn't even ask for them until after he was done his vegetables. He also said not to congradulate or praise him for eating these things because it's not a big deal and if you make it a big deal, that's when they decide to resist. Just pass it to him and go on eating. I think the boy was about 2 years old so hopefully this will work for you.

Amy - posted on 12/20/2009

my daughter just turned 3. she's pretty picky too. she goes through phases with food. i found that if i let her help make the new food she is more likely to try it. we make sure to fuss about it when my husband comes home and he makes a fuss when he eats it and tells her how good it was. there are times when she doesn't i put it on her tray in a separate bowl and tell her that she can try it if she wants. giving her the power seems to work sometimes. i don't force the issue. her pedi. and her endo. (she's diabetic) both say to let her eat what she wants at this point. her weight is good and her blood sugar is acceptable. i sneak her veggies with v8splash juice. one glass has a full serving of fruit/veggies. we have also started to get creative w/ the food. pizza faces, using large cookie cutters to cut her sandwich and sneaking in whole wheat bread, etc. fruit kabobs w/ yogurt dip. i've even let her eat her yogurt using a straw. whatever works.

Kathryn - posted on 12/20/2009

I give my son Zucchinni Applesauce. All i do is puree 1/2 a zucchinni and mix it in with 1 sanck container of applesauce (I don't but you may want to add some apple juice for more flavor). Or I do yogurt in his sippy. Where I buy my yogurt they sell the fruit/veggie kinds. I mix it up with a little milk and make a "smoothie." Another thing I do is make him a banana/avocado smoothie. I add a little milk, 1 banana, 1/2 avocado and mix in a blender. My son loves the blender and I tell him it is slime. He drinks it all up. Also I have a bowl of food where he can just run up to and grab a few bites and go back to playing.

Kristi - posted on 12/20/2009

you could also try having other kids over and having a testing party. use toothpicks. chop sticks, or the liitle swords for cocktails.

Kristi - posted on 12/20/2009

to get my 2 daughters to try new foods, i let them pick out 1 new one a week and they help in preparing it. they both love eating brussel sprouts and artichoke. sugar on top helps.

Katelynne - posted on 12/20/2009

my daughter has been the same way.... she'll be 2 in april and i wouldn't mind her being a picky eate if she wasn't quite so small... she has always been very skinny but healthy as a horse!! I finally found a good way to apporach it with canned fruits and veggies sometimes this works others not so much but if you try enough stuff youll find what they like then you can pair the two .... EX: chicken nuggets are a big hit for my daughter but instead of french fries we do apple wedges.... then in a few days we added green beans worked like a charm. I hope this helps!!!!

CATHY - posted on 12/20/2009

my niece is like that too. So what we did was start to mix foods together. then we also had her elmo that she loved and acted as if he was eating it and then she started to eat it but elmo has to eat it first. lol it really helps to find a toy or something that can act out what she should be doing.

Monique - posted on 12/20/2009

as for fruit, i found out he will eat fruit whole like apples, pears, bananas. if i give him the whole fruit he will bite on it but the only fruit he will eat cut up is oranges and mangoes

Monique - posted on 12/20/2009

I am in the same situation and my son is about the same age. I usually let him new foods at his own will. When we eat, i leave some veg. on his table or put a little of what we are eating on his plate. When he gets bored he starts to play with it and will end up putting the food in his mouth. he will fuss and fight if i try to put it in his mouth so i let him do it. Even if he spits it out at least he tried it.