Typical Toddler Eating Habits

hi J., i used to have that problem too, matter of fact; i'm still going through it with my three year old daughter and my five year old. they really love sweets, but i try to only give them i snack a day. they are really big on starches too like rice, they love rice! but anyway, try using peanut butter or a little caramel with the apple slices. with pancakes, dress them a little to make him want to try it. let him watch you eat these healthy foods; and make it look good!! eventually, he will come around and begin to try something. let it be one food at a time. don't push anything on him. my daughters are a little better at their eating now.

"I've been there and it Stinks!" I can agree!! I have one child that will eat every veggie I put in front of her. But my son is a carnivore!! Meat, meat, meat! That is all he wants. Here is what I do: Sneak those veggies in! If your son wants Pancakes, make whole wheat pancakes with banana smashed up in them for the liquid. It is delicious!
But do not sweat the lack of vegetation! Get some good multivitimins and give him one every day. I feed my kids a protein whey powder that I can make a smoothie out of. They think they are having a milkshake!
Remember, God created us to eat. He will eat when he is hungry and later in life, he will begin to pick up the veggies.
Society in general tells us that we are lousy moms if we do not feed our child out of all 4 food groups 3 times a day. It is just not possible with most children!! Kids will eat what they want, and it is not worth creating eating issues with them to try to make them eat. If he is growing fine, has lots of energy and does not bruise easily, he is probably fine. Ask your Dr about it and then RELAX! Enjoy your son and watch him grow into a fine, strong adult!!

You are in my prayers!
W.

I read your e-mail and just couldn't believe it! My son is 2 and a half and he only wants pancakes for breakfast! He doesn't always get them though. Sometimes he'll have cereal, pop tarts or oatmeal but he would prefer pancakes every morning. He also has taken a liking to bread. He never would eat it before but he likes it now. He went through a little stage where he wouldn't eat much of anything else. But don't worry, his appetite is slowly coming back. The only thing is that he used to eat everything including vegies but now he loves meat, corn and ketchup. He will still eat other vegies now and then. He used to not like mashed potatoes but now he eats them. I can't get him to eat any fresh fruit but he'll eat apple sauce. He will eat some cheese and loves milk. I think they all go thru this little stage. I wouldn't worry too much as long as he doesn't lose a bunch of weight. If he likes bread, try peanut butter and jelly. Otherwise, just keep trying to give him different things. Their appetite and taste buds are changing constantly. Good luck!

First of all, as I was reading your request, I thought, wait a minute, did I write in? It sounded EXACTLY like my 2.5 yr old. He doesn't eat fruit. The closest to fruit I get is yogurt or applesauce. He does loves crackers, so I try to get fiber in that way, but other wise, he'll eat cereal and little things like that. Some days are better than others. If I let him, he'd live on milk all day long. I work all day, come home and make dinner, for him to say "no way!" I either have to let him just eat the bread or give him something he will eat. He won't even eat normal kid stuff like hot dogs, corn dogs, peanut butter and jelly..... I don't know where I went so wrong. He use to love fruits and veggies when we was around a year. It does suck and I'm in it with you!

Try frozen seedless grapes they are a great snack, even for me..good luck

Sounds like because your putting alot of effort into getting him to eat those things he is putting effort not to.Have u tried letting him try peanut butter on the apple slices..makes them taste sweet and children just love them. My son also likes grapes and banana's alot. My son also hate veg like corn green beans..but loves fruit. I get him to eat his weg by making a stew and mixing it all in together and just not telling him whats in it...sometimes whenhe was 2 and would fuss I would sit him in the highchair and feed him myself and make him eat. I would tell him that if he just took one bite and tasted it, if he didnt like it then he wouldnt have to eat.Most time if not all he liked what he tasted...he just convinced himself it was going to be nasty b/c he could see the weggies...I say make him a grilled cheese and some tomato soup, throw some gold fish crackers in there and let him eat up.

Well I can say "I've been there and it sucks"~lol. My daughter is almost 3 and as far as veggies...yeah right. Amazingly thought, she loves brocolli. Steam it and she will eat it. It took me eating them in front of her before she finally got curious enough to try and eat them after me. Most kids want stuff that's attractive. I got her eating apple slices by putting a little bit of peanut butter on them. I make pancakes with little faces with blueberries or raisins and then an orange slice for a mouth or nose. She loves fruit now and some veggies (although we're still working on that part). From what I understand kids like things that look like animal shapes. Cheese slices you can cut into animal shapes with cookie cutters. Meats you can do the same thing. Hope this helps you.

I went through this stage with my daughter who is now 6. I did the same thing and would get fed up and just give her what she wanted so she would eat and calm down. What ended up working for me is making her meals and putting them in front of her and explaining that this is lunch or dinner (whatever time it was) and letting her know that she can get upset if she wanted but she will eat whats on that plate no matter how much she think she dislikes it or she will not have her snacks or anything else until that meal was finished. We struggled for a few days but then she realized we were not playing. This also helped tremendously with not wasting food, which we used as a lesson too. Good luck!!!

Have you tried the pediasure, I was giving that to my son for awhile to he started eating better, also Have you tried putting fruit and other veggies in his pancakes, maybe he won't notice them.

My advice for this situation is to 1) don't fix pancakes in the morning, but offer a healthier option. 2) don't offer bread only during the rest of the day, but give him a choice of healthier things. Yes, he is 2 years old and is old enough to have a choice in what he eats. But as long as he knows that you will give in to what he wants and he won't have to eat any of that other stuff, then he will continue to be a picky eater. It may seem cruel, but when he gets hungry enough, he will eat. And it probably won't take him very long to figure out that he really does like the stuff you are offering.

I know at times being a mom to a toddler makes you feel like your a short order cook. I fortuantely have a child who likes fruits and veggies, but not meat. Here are a few things I do to spice up his fruits and veggies.

-Make zucchini bread or banana bread
-In the frozen foods you can find sweet potato french fries
-I bread zucchini and squash with Progresso bread crumbs an bake until tender/crispy and serve with ketchup or ranch
-Make fruit smoothies and add yogurt

I've found my son who is 2.5 loves to help cook so I try to involve him in something each meal. It seems when he has the control of making it he likes the food better. Also, toddlers love to dunk their food so try offering salsa, ketchup, yogurt, applesauce etc...

I hope this helps! Good luck and don't worry your not alone.

If he sees you eating it then they will be more likely to eat it. My daughter saw me and my husband eating our veggies and saying mmmmm goood and she wanted to eat them too. She eats salad, carrots just about anything except spinach.

Hi, My son went through this! I invited his cousins to dinner and snacks b/c they eat everything. He looks up to them so started trying veggies and chicken legs -things he used to eat! Try not making a big deal about it his not eating. I would tell my son, "This is dinner. Eat if you're hunger. I don't mind if you don't. NO snacks later." He's 3 and eating good. To get him to eat broccoli, I pretend that each stalk is a different person he knows taking a dip in the pool(salad dressing)and then I say, No no no DON'T eat me...no..." He falls for it everytime. good luck.

I'm there right now and it sucks! Seriously, I'm told that this is normal toddler behavior - but that doesn't make it any less annoying. Caleb suddenly has an opinion about what he wants to eat. Last week it was peanut butter sandwiches for every meal. I have the opposite problem from you. Caleb loves fruit and veggies, but I have a hard time getting protein into him. And lately milk always has to be chocolate! Ugh! He just gets in these moods and starts whining 'I don't want that!'. My sister-in-law (and super mom of 4 kids) told me not to worry about it, and that all a toddler needs in one day is the calories and nutirents that are in 1 slice of bologna. So, I just don't fight him. I give him a choice between 2 or 3 options and if he won't eat them, then he doesn't eat. Eventually he gets hungry and will eat whatever we fix. I think he's just trying to assert his independence half the time.

Hang in there!