Monday, August 3, 2009
Picky Eater
What do you do when your 1 year old turns into a picky eater? This is definitely a new thing. Anyone who knows him knows that he would eat almost anything and A LOT of it! But just lately he has decided to get really picky...even with foods I know he likes. I feel like he does it because he can. He even ate baby food once in a while up until a few weeks ago (and we still have some on hand just in case). we just give him what we eat. The worst is when he'll take 2-3 bites of something and then decide to refuse it. I can't make a billion types of food at every meal. My idea is the 3 strikes you're out rule. Once he refuses 3 different foods, he's done with his meal. Any other ideas? He doesn't seem old enough to compromise with yet.
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5 comments:
I think every kid starts this phase around this age. Liam did it. We did the same thing you're doing: he eats what we eat and if he doesn't eat he's hungry. It doesn't make for the happiest kid but eventually he'll learn to eat what's given him. I usually only do this with dinner, though. For lunch I give him stuff that I know he'll eat and I always give him snacks that he loves. It makes me feel better knowing that he has eaten during the day if he doesn't eat dinner. I know he's not starving, anyway :) One suggestion, though, try giving him food he can eat with his fingers. Toddlers like to feed themselves. Just cut up bits of whatever you're eating and give it to him. It's worth a try. I hope this helps :)
Asher did the same thing. Instead of buying the baby food fruits, we decided to give Ash fruit cups instead (we drain the syrup and rinse them in water first). Ash seems to be a lot happier when he is able to feed himself. For dinner and breakfast he has whatever we eat, for lunch he still will eat Stage 3 veggies because they have chunks (lunch is a little more frustrating for us because he still wants to feed himself which means food everywhere).
I don't have any first hand experience but my father-in-law told us about one of Ryan's siblings refusing food, their pediatrician said toddlers can go a couple of days with little or no food. Just keep them hydrated. When their hungry they will eat. Another thought I had is, didn't he just finish a round of antibiotics? He may just have an upset stomach...I sometimes do after those drugs. Maybe give him some yogurt to get some good probiotics in his system and get things feeling better. I hope he starts liking food again soon!
This probably won't make you feel any better, but I think it's a one year-old thing. It's like they suddenly realize that they can turn down food, so they do. And also, I think I read that it takes a kid up to 12 different times trying a food before they decide they like it. I guess my advice is to just hang in there.
Lucy will eat much better if i give her some "dip" like ketchup, mustard, ranch etc. I only give her a tiny bit, but it works wonders!
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