What to Feed My Son

Hi B.,

Have you tried flavoring the milk for him? Maybe if you put some Ovaltine in the whole milk, he'll drink it and the Ovaltine is better than the other chocolate flavorings.

Good luck!
L.

B.,

Unfortunately some kids just don't like milk. You can try soy milk or goats milk. Also try drinkable yogurt, either Stoney field farms or I just saw YoBaby has them. Try ice cream.

The other things my daughter eats are
tofu
scrambled eggs with cheese in them
grilled cheese
ravioli with tomato sauce and meatballs (not a lot but some pieces of it) I also add peas to the tomato sauce
In the mac-n-cheese I grate carrot and zucchini into the boiling water for the last 2 minutes of cooking. I make the rest of it the same. She doesn't even know it's there and it's a way to add veggies.
fruit smoothies - I make them with milk, ice cream and fruit
in the blender
avocado mashed with banana or pear. Avocado mashed with pear added with some chicken (very tasty) I put the cooked chicken in the mini chopper and get it to the consistency you want - for my daughter it sometimes is as small as eraser shavings.
I haven't tried this yet but you can put avocado and banana in the blender to make it really smooth like a pudding and if you had a half block of tofu it's like a mousse consistency.
banana pancakes, blueberrie waffles - they can eat these dry or hot with syrup
I also make my daughter pastina (small star shaped pasta) cook it as usual, drain put back in the pot add one egg and a pad of butter. Stir and cook until the egg is cooked (it basically disappears). You can add peas or cheese to this as well.
mashed potatoes and gravy
You can put almost anything in a cheese sauce. I make it from a slice of Kraft singles. Tear it up and put it in a microwave safe bowl, add some milk, microwave for 20 to 25 seconds. Stir until combined. I put cooked white fish, pastina or mashed potatoes in this. She loves it.

Hope this helps,
L. M

Hi B.,
My son is allergic to milk and has been dairy free for years! We all drink rice milk and oat milk and have heard wonderful things about hemp milk but have yet to try it.
All of these are great options for him, but always remember that milk does not need to be a staple in your diet. My husband has been doing lectures on the harmfull effects of cow's milk for years. We all grew up thinking it's necessary, but really, it's not! And refusing to drink it may be a sign of an allergy for your son.
Enjoy new drinks!
E. K.
P.S. Please DO NOT worry about "fattening up" your son. His weight/height/head are fine. Once you start down the very easy road of fatty and sugary foods you will regret it. Think about the ridiculous number of children that are overweight and dealing with diebetes these days. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being on the small size.

Try Pediasure, it comes in various flavors in the grocery store or Walmart. My daughter lost weight between 12 and 15 months just drinking milk. She liked vanilla Pediasure. Either that or continue on formula for a few more months and give him milk only at lunch to get him used to it. Pediasure is not cheap, so after about 2 years on it we switched to Carnation instant breakfast. You mix a pouch of powder with 8 oz milk. She is now 9, still always in the 10% for weight (she was as low as 1% at 15 months) and she now drinks chocolate 2% milk mixed with half a pouch of vanilla Carnation Instant Breakfast every morning. Either that or ask the pediatrician to refer you to a nutritionist (that is what happened to us). Our nutritionist recommended the Pediasure AND mixing dry nonfat milk powder into scrambled eggs, pancakes, porridge, etc. to add more protein and nutrients. For sweet items you can used condensed milk. My doctor now says that the last thing I should do is make a naturally slender child heavier just because I think she is too thin, since she is perfectly healthy just skinny. Good luck.

I started my daughter on rice milk because I heard it tastes more like breast milk, and she took to it very well. Later I introduced hemp milk because as another mom mentioned, it's a great source of good fats. Avacados are nice and fatty, and lots of kids seem to like them. Does your son eat full fat yogurt? Try the thick greek yogurt-make sure it says full fat (or at least doesn't say low fat) and mix it with fruit or applesauce. He might like it with his banana. Keep trying different foods without forcing it, he will come around!
PS-Good hemp milk is available at most health food stores, but I haven't had much luck finding it at traditional grocery stores.

There are foods you do not care for , yes?
He is just being introduced to solids as a dietary mainstay...give him bit of time to decide what he likes and dislikes.
It is not uncommon for a baby to have a very limited diet of choice. I had one that would only drink goats milk and eat goats cheese...another who wanted orange juice and peanut butter off a spoon.
My 3 year old grandson is a pretty good eater but he would live on PB and J sandwiches if we let him.
I would not worry about his size, you need extra small and extra large to get the median point, yes?
Try not to make things to worry about...it seems a common tendency amongst first time and working mothers.
So he is a little boy. If he is developing properly and is healthy, then he is a small boy. And that is okay and subject to change.
How about Vienna sausages? Nano loves those. Try PB on the banana slices, more protein.
Tincture of time and this, too, shall pass.
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell

The way my son converted to whole milk was by mixing it with his formula. It worked and he loves his milk now. And his formula was soy based. I also give him peanut butter a lot - a great snack to bring on the go - pb and cracker. I also bought one of thos mesh fruit holders (Target or Walmart). He now devours organges from it and the other day some frozen, but thawed out mango pieces.

Good luck. I know it can be frustrating!

It took my son probably a month before he'd drink more than a few sips of whole milk after being bf for 13+ mos. so I wouldn't give up on whole milk just yet. (If he has an allergy to it that's a different story.) I'd guess if he needs the milk fat that 2% probably won't cut it. I just kept giving my son a little milk at a time as well as adding it to stuff like mashed banana and baby oatmeal (replacing breast milk) so he'd get used to the flavor. Will he eat ww bread? My son's skinny too. After he was about 15 mos I asked his dr and he said it was ok to give him peanut butter on toast(there are no allergies in my fam). It's a great source of good, rich calories. Again, the pb took a few weeks to get him into, but now he wants to eat it straight from the jar! Good luck.

I would agree that rice milk and hemp milk are good options. If he's able to digest yogurt and cheese fine and he's getting enough calcium, almond milk is also very tasty and has a higher fat content.
As far as the picky eating goes, keep trying it. The first few times a baby tries something new they may reject it, but if you keep offering it they may end up liking it. Don't give up on it. You can also try to mix things in. Try slipping some veggies into his mac and cheese or some other fruits in with his bananas. Keep adding more and more of the new foods and use less of the others. Eventually he will be eating the new foods by themselves.

my 2 year old has a dairy allergy and I give him both rice milk and hemp milk. Rice milk is enriched w/ calcium and vitamins A and D, hemp milk has the fatty acids in it. He was a very picky eater too and was in the 25th perecentile for everything until recently he only would eat soup and oatmeal he is now getting better. We have his big brother make a big deal about his dinner and he seems to enjoy it more and want to try what his brother has. We still have a hard time getting him to eat meat but atleast he's eating some solids now. Don't worry he will eat better as he gets bigger and you can say if you want more of x you have to eat 3 bites of y.

Hi B.,
Both my boys were very small, 16, 11, 8. (bookend boys) I mean less than 5%. Same thing with dairy and not really strong eaters.I even made my own baby food thinking there would be better nutrition in there that way. VERY time consuming and with the nutrients in food these days - probably would not make that big of a difference. My question is what about Soy Milk? My boys were both allergic to formula so I had to give them isomil. The soy based one. That did the trick. Just a thought.

Wishing you the best!
H.

PS. I took them both to the best Peds GI - Dr. Jeffrey Biller in Woburn. He is with Dr. Katz who I think still has Anna J. priviledges
once a month? I used to work at the Hale 11 years ago :). Email me if you want more info.

there's a great website called www.wholesomebabyfood.com that has all types of nutrition info and recipes