Tuesday, July 3, 2012

What have I created.

Avery's THIRTEEN months now! This boggles my mind. Seriously, we are parents to a toddler...it's a fact! Lately getting my daughter to eat has been a struggle. She went through this one month phase right after her first birthday where she would try everything and anything! She was eating a solid meal 3x a day & she was filling up on good hearty & healthy food. Balanced nutrition & variety is something I yearn for with my child. Yet, Its nearly impossible at this stage. Avery loathes food. She rarely eats & when she does its never something on the food pyramid. I'm not kidding. I've read this is a normal phase for some toddlers, but really??? All but one month of her life she has hated food; surely if you throw a sweet her way she'll eat it, but besides that NO fruits (except oranges), vegetables, or grains float her boat. Well EXCEPT, protein. I'm a protein fein & I think my daughter is one too. Let me list to you the foods she willingly eats: Scrambled eggs, my protein pancake, steel cut oats, peanut butter & cheese. That’s it. I mean thank gosh she will eat these healthy foods, but 5 things is not nearly a normal diet or a variety for that matter. I’m afraid to keep giving her the same foods & create this monster that won’t eat. Going out to eat is a nightmare still; food does not interest her one iota.

Moms, help a mom out!!!
How do I react to this & how doI feed my child. I should state, each meal I do give her what we prepared, but she want’s nothing to do with it. I will also throw out there if you give her anything with the popcorn flavor it will be gone in seconds & she certainly LOVES her milk still. She is getting 4 servings a day. Do I cut her milk back? Do I quit worrying? Do I just have a picky eater? I always thought children were picky because the parent created it. However I’m trying here people, I’m trying to prevent this!!!
Give me the 411 on your child's eating habits, your picky eaters, & your suggestions! I'm up for the challenge. Oh wait, I don't think she can get much pickier!
Thanks,
Jayme

3 comments:

  1. Didnt you already cut back on milk? We do 3 chances for milk a day. Harper is in a kind of funk at the moment as well! I feel like were wasting so much food a day. Ive almost taken all snacks away so shell eat at meal time...works some day and some days not. Try to not worry about it too much shes not lacking in the growth department. I might try the milk only at meal time...and i would just keep trying the diiferent foods. Shell get hungary and hopefully figure out that the stuff you put on her tray will make her not hungary:) KIDS!!!

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  2. I give Ayden milk with all three meals. The rest is a little bit of juice in a cup with mostly water in it. I put a little juice just for a little bit of flavor. He doesn't really know the difference. Ayden has been a picky eater lately. I have mash his vegetables up and put in in applesauce. Gross, I know, but that's how he gets his veggies every day. Fruit, he loves fruit. That's my go to when he doesn't want to eat. But really, lately, for him it's bread (any kind; pancake, waffle, toast...you name it), chicken nuggets (I give him the real chicken), and grilled cheese. Oh, and pizza. It's ridiculous and it's not like Ayden doesn't like food, it's just that he is so stubborn on trying new things. Also, Ayden hasn't been eating much and I am thinking it's because of the heat. I get the same way. That might be why she isn't eating much at all. Ayden went a week without eating at all and his pediatrician said not to worry as long as he was drinking fluids. Which he was. So, maybe that's why. She isn't small, Jay. If she gets hungry enough, she will eat. She won't starve.

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  3. Just keep offering her varied types of food. You may be surprised what she likes and goes after! (Jenna would eat asparagus any day over peanut butter and jelly!) We do milk at meals and water whenever. She rarely gets juice (basically when sick).

    Jenna loves yogurt, cheese, pretty much any and all kinds of fruit and these veggie purees from "Ella's Kitchen" (baby food aisle, twist off lid, looks like a juice box) I started buying these when she wasn't eating much veggies---now that she has more teeth she goes for the raw veggies more often--still doesn't seem to like them cooked.)

    Even "favorites" get boring and they will turn them down. She will eat if she's hungry and you continue to provide her with balanced meals (she might not eat some of everything, but she will eat!) My best advice would be to not make her separate meals b/c she didn't want the original (THAT in my opinion creates the PICKIEST eaters and really establishes bad habits!) You can always put it away and offer it to her again when she shows signs of wanting something, but as long as she is drinking enough fluids she will be fine.

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