Still Having Trouble

My oldest daughter is the same way. Just always put them on her plate and what ever dinner is, that is what you eat. I give her breakfast and lunch choices but dinner is what is prepared, although I sometimes give her veggie choices. She did not eat dinner for over a year, the doctor told me to keep it up and eventually she will eat when she was hungry. Then she started waking up at 4am saying she was hungry, I almost cracked. But..we got through it and now she eats almost everything. We require at least one bite of everything on her plate. She is also a pokey eater. Our rule on that, when the dishes are done, you are done. She would sit there for hours if allowed to, not really eating at all. So we put the time restriction on her. Try not to make it a battle, just like potty training, you will lose an turn it into a bigger problem.

Good luck
K.

I am sorry to hear of your miscarriage. Be strong,think possitive and prayer. We will keep you in our prayers.

For your daughter sometimes kids go through these picky phases. Its ok she will grow out of it. Also maybe try just putting them on her plate and when you eat with her she will see that you are eating it and then maybe try to eat it. My daughters went through this phase and the phase of not eating anything. The drs say as long as they don't dehydrate then there is no need to stress over this. When she is hungry she will eat.

Hi J., I have a 3yr old girl and she is picky sometimes, some nights she wont even eat dinner, sometimes i have to feed her her dinner and mine ends up cold but if it gets her to eat ten thats fine....me doc told me that they will eat when they are hungry...and sometimes for weeks at a time she eats the same thing all the time...so i feel for you.....

D.

My 2 year old daughter went through the exact same "picky eating" phase (in fact, she is just now growing out of it). I swear, for 4 months she ate pb&j for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I lost so much sleep worrying that she wasn't gettng enough to eat/nutrients. My pediatrician told me on numerous occasions "she will eat what she needs and when she needs it". In the meantime, we gave her a children's multivitamin daily (she would take half of one because she was under 2). At her 2 yr checkup the pediatrician gave her a blood test to check for anemia b/c I was soooo worried she just wasn't eating enough. Of course, it came back NEGATIVE and my Dr. was right! it sounds as though your daughter actually eats a good variety of food; I know it is frustrating when it is always the same old things, but I really wouldn't woory too much right now. The funny thing: now my daughter will not eat a pb&j sandwich for anything!! She literally tired herself of it!
Good luck!

I really have had a lot of success with the types of things that Kevin mentioned- no matter what it is(bath time, eating, trying things, etc). Even with my niece and nephew, I have been able to get them to do so many things that their parents have said they wouldn't do just by playing games or making it fun.

One other HUGE thing for me is if I can get older kids to eat at the table with my son. He will not even think of leaving the table and he eats what they are eating because that is such a big moment in his life. I know that is not always practical but it really worked with him.

Hey J.,

I run a small home daycare and one of the little girls is a picky eater as well. Her mom and I have had some success with expanding her diet, but I admit, it is a struggle. If you want, email me and I can send you a list of recipes I have as well as a list of staples to have in the fridge. I do a lot of cooking myself so I've experimented quite a bit...it's worth a shot I suppose!

Also, I'm really sorry about your miscarriage! I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts!

A.
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We’ve had a lot of success with our two little picky eaters. My wife and I initially try making little games to get them to eat new or undesirable foods. For example, to get them started on broccoli – which they now LOVE - we played a few games such as “don’t steal my broccoli”, “broccoli monster”, and “a giant baby stole my tree”. The overall effect in each game is that my broccoli disappears when I’m not looking and I have an over animated reaction, and even try to walk my fingers into their mouth and retrieve it. Careful though :) initially, my two year old was more than happy to return it. They especially like being a broccoli monster.

When games don’t work, we allow them to get pretty hungry and then (generally while they’re playing or watching TV), we set a single new, or undesired food in front of them. They will generally eat it. If they’re pretty insistent about not liking it, we don’t offer it again for quite some time, and just find an alternative to that food group.

With my two year old, often I can sit down with a plate of food intended for her, but act in all sincerity like its mine by eating from it. She will eventually come over and insist on have “some of daddy’s”. I find that if we sit down to dinner at the table together, they tend to eat better, and are apt to try new things. We try to keep in mind that, just like adults, there are foods that are just totally gross to them and that’s okay.

Lastly, I find that even though they may not be eating the best, if I am consistent in setting the example, they eventually come around.

Good luck,
K.

Hi J., I have a 23 month old daughter who is a VERY picky eater and has been since a year old. When she was about your daughters age I was so stressed and hated the meal time struggles to get her to eat. After many consultations with her Dr., friends and family I just decided to relax and thow in the towel, if she won't eat it she won't eat it. My daughter literally will eat TYSON brand chicken nuggets (no other brand will do) and Campbell's Italian wedding soup as main meals (ie source of protein) She will eat a lot of breakfast foods like oatmeal, frozen waffles and pancakes (at least I can get her to eat the whole wheat kind) but not much else. I kept feeling like a bad mom because I couldn't get her to eat more nutritious foods but the Dr. just said it wasn't worth the struggle and to keep trying to encourage new foods and they will eventually try it. Good Luck, I know what you are going through and how frustrating it can be!