What to Feed a Picky Toddler? Posted: 12-20-07 19:47pm
Ava eats hotdogs, green beans, corn,
nuggets, waffles, and pickles. That's
pretty much it. Sometimes she'll eat mac
and cheese.
When I cook I offer it to her and chances
are she'll take 3 bites and she's over it.
I hate giving her hotdogs everyday, but
that's what it comes to. She'll scarf
down 2 hotdogs in no time.
She likes to feed herself with her
fingers, so feeding her myself with a
spoon is out of the questions.
Any suggestions? She's picky!
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Bridget
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Posted: 12-20-07 20:21pm
you should really watch how often she gets
hotdogs. they're not good for toddlers
because of the nitrates.
i guess make a list of what she does eat
and rotate that so she gets a variety
every night?
i don't really give in if finn is being
picky. if i know he doesn't like something
(like if he makes a gross face and spits
it out) i'll fix him something else,
otherwise he always gets what we're
having. if i know he likes it and he's
just being finicky, that's all he gets. he
can either eat or not eat, and chances are
if he's hungry he'll eventually eat it. if
he really doesn't eat at dinner i might
give him a graham cracker before bed so he
doesn't wake up hungry in the night. i
refuse to give in to his picky ways and
feed him jelly sandwiches every night. he
needs to know that this is dinner and he
doesn't get special meals.
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Idony
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Posted: 12-20-07 20:43pm
have you tried taking what your eating for
dinner (at least the meat part) and
cutting it or shreading it into something
that looks fun and just let her eat it
with her fingers?
im not sure why she wont eat it obviously
so that is just some random thought
but i know it worked with a little kid i
use to look after, she just wanted to eat
with her fingers so if she couldnt she
wouldnt eat
~alicia~
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jessesgirl
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Posted: 12-20-07 20:45pm
I try to do hotdogs every other day. She
use to like raviolis, but doesn't
anymore.
I need to just put my foot down. I know
what she likes and what she doesn't. I
haven't been cooking much lately though.
She hates her highchair also. She'll sit
in it for about 3-5 minutes and eat a few
bites, then demands to get out. I'll put
her tray on the floor and she'll sit for a
while and eat. Sometimes she goes play
and I'll follow her around putting the
food in her mouth. I know, I'm creating a
monster.
I need to get her a chair to strap to the
seat. She'd like that better b/c she'll
feel like a big girl. We need something
else anyway with two of them pretty soon.
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ladylee70
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Posted: 12-20-07 21:12pm
I hear you LOUD and clear. Isn't it so
frustrating having a picky kid. Nathan was
like that. I treid so many different
options. Every kid is so different. At
first, he loved having his car at the
table. I would take away his car until he
tried a bite of the food he refused. If he
refused, I just held onto the car until he
complied. I gave him the car to play with
after each bite, at first. Then I would
make it every two bites. He would play
with it for a few minutes until it was
time to eat again and I would then take
his car away until he ate more. He finally
started to try different foods. If he
didn't look like he was going to throw up
(he didn't develop the art of manipulation
until later), I continued to give that
food to him. I increased the number of
bites he was to take.
I DID strap Nate in a seat when he was
younger.
Is there something that she likes to play
with. I am wondering if a similar process
would work for her, at least to get her to
try different foods. For each meal, I
still fed Nathan the foods he liked but
had smaller portions so he would try
something else, too.
It's amazing. Nathan really isn't a picky
eater like he once was. I do believe that
method worked for him. Of course, we no
longer do the car/food exchange but now we
do the "OH...eat your vegs so we can see
your muscles grow." He will eat purposely
for that.
Good luck. Hang in there. I really thought
my naturally skinny boy was going to
shrivel up to nothingness. He is still a
skinny lil 'man but at least he is eating
well now.
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jessesgirl
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Posted: 12-20-07 21:16pm
I offer her what I cook, but 9 times out
of 10 she doesn't want it.
I need to try to put her on a chair
strapped to our chair. I need to buy one
soon.
I want to get the book deceptively
delicious. She loves nuggets. I never
know if she's throwing a fit to get out,
that she doesn't want to eat what I give
her, or if she's full.
She HATES the highchair. I can take her
out and she'll immediately say, "more" and
start eating if she's on my lap, sitting
on the floor, or playing in the living
room.
She'll tell me more if she likes it and
all done when she's finished, but
sometimes she'll tell me she's done then
want more when I take her own. It drives
me nuts.
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ladylee70
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Joined: 14 Nov 2006 Posts: 1912 Location: Boise, Idaho,
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Posted: 12-21-07 01:24am
That book sounds great! I have never heard
of it. I want to get it to.
You sound like you have a challenge on
your hands but hey...she has developed the
skill of multitasking pretty early.
We had one of the seats you can strap on
to a chair and it worked out well. Nate
never did like high chairs.
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PenguinsRus
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Posted: 12-21-07 13:45pm
You should try giving her turkey dogs
instead of hot dogs. In my opinion they
taste very similar, but they are a bit
healthier for you. They look exactly the
same so she probably won't know the
difference when they are given to her.
Also, if she likes corn and peas and
sometimes macaroni, try mixing them
together. The boy I nanny for LOVES it
when he has macaroni and cheese with peas
and corn mixed in. The macaroni with the
shells is great for that because sometimes
the corn/peas will get stuck in the shell.
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Maji
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 108 Location: ,
Posted: 12-21-07 17:25pm
pretend to cry when she wont eat what you
want her to.
not like sobbing crying,
it has to be really cheesy crying like
"waaaaa"
haha
sounds silly but it works with just about
every little kid i've fed.
good luck!
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Eyes Wide Shut
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 7892 Location: *UPTOWN*NEW ORLEANS*, La
Posted: 12-21-07 17:52pm
I totally agree with penguins. I mix
carrots and peas into Oni's macaroni EVERY
time I feed it to her!
Have you tried giving her a spoon and/or
fork? I rememeber Oni would throw a FIT,
and it was all because she wanted to eat
LIKE us. I guess she started REALIZING
that her hands were getting messy. And it
bothered her. She TOTALLY stopped eatting
raviolli's until I introduced her to the
fork!
Maybe you could also thicken up some
yogurt with cereal and let her eat it on
her own. I do that with Oni if she doesn't
want to eat what I offer (which isn't
often...she's a heifferrrr!!)
Is she picky with all meals, or just
supper?
Sarah
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jessesgirl
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Posted: 12-21-07 23:13pm
She's picky with all meals. Today for
lunch she did really good. We had
vegetable soup that my mom's friend made
and she loved it! I picked all the
veggies out: carrots, green beans, peans,
and corn. I also pulled out some of the
meat. She scarfed it down without
complaining. I was so happy b/c she
stayed in her chair.
Supper all I could get her to eat was 3
tiny pieces of sausage, 2 pieces of bread,
a piece of ham, and a spoon of pudding
that she almost spit out. She hates
pudding, yogurt, and ice cream.
We were at a x-mas party and running
around was more important than eating.
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-Tanya-
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
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Posted: 12-22-07 05:34am
I have trouble with what Rowan will eat
too. I make banana bread, and different
kinds of muffins and those she will go
for.
I would however never allow her to eat a
hot dog (even if we did eat meat). That
would be a good habbit to get out of, it's
really not good at all.
