My darling 18 month old Emersyn has decided to enter the rankings of picky toddler eaters! I am in such a rut with her. Last night I decided to mix things up a bit and made her a grilled cheese, don't think she has ever had one before. I know she doesn't like cheese but I thought it might be different if I melted it. She was totally disgusted with it and picked off all the cheese on the edges and dropped them onto the floor. Meanwhile, her starving and dieting mama was drooling nearby. What I wouldn't give for a grilled cheese!! :)
Emersyn's favorite food by far is almond butter and jelly sandwiches. She will eat those right up, no problem. She likes mac and cheese; I make the organic Trader Joe's or Annie's brand and toss some peas into it. She used to eat the peas right up but lately she has started picking just the pasta out. She LOVES mandarin oranges, pomegranate (her FAVORITE), Trader Joe organic spaghetti o's, spaghetti, avocado, beans, bagels, yogurt, waffles, pretzels, kids Clif bars, applesauce, bananas (sometimes).....no real green veggies except for peas (sometimes) and zucchini (when she's is the mood).
I just don't feel like she has a good variety. We are really adamant about not feeding her anything breaded. I am more willing to try different things but Brett really wants her to eat as whole as possible, which I definitely think is a great goal. Sometimes I just wish I had more things to offer her, especially more things that she can feed herself which might sound selfish but when she can feed herself, it buys me SO much time. She won't eat cheese, period. Such a bummer. She doesn't like chicken unless it is disguised in a bite with pasta. I did feed her some steak last night and she did like that. She didn't like scrambled eggs the last time that I fed them to her but that was awhile ago, I should try again. She doesn't like lunch meat. I have made her veggie corn dogs and she didn't love those either, nor did she like the soy hot dogs.
Any ideas mamas? :) This isn't something I am *worried* about, just looking for more variety for my baby girl.
She is on the mend from her cold but has developed a dry cough, which is just heart breaking over the baby monitor. Hopefully she's feeling better this weekend. :)
Emersyn's favorite food by far is almond butter and jelly sandwiches. She will eat those right up, no problem. She likes mac and cheese; I make the organic Trader Joe's or Annie's brand and toss some peas into it. She used to eat the peas right up but lately she has started picking just the pasta out. She LOVES mandarin oranges, pomegranate (her FAVORITE), Trader Joe organic spaghetti o's, spaghetti, avocado, beans, bagels, yogurt, waffles, pretzels, kids Clif bars, applesauce, bananas (sometimes).....no real green veggies except for peas (sometimes) and zucchini (when she's is the mood).
I just don't feel like she has a good variety. We are really adamant about not feeding her anything breaded. I am more willing to try different things but Brett really wants her to eat as whole as possible, which I definitely think is a great goal. Sometimes I just wish I had more things to offer her, especially more things that she can feed herself which might sound selfish but when she can feed herself, it buys me SO much time. She won't eat cheese, period. Such a bummer. She doesn't like chicken unless it is disguised in a bite with pasta. I did feed her some steak last night and she did like that. She didn't like scrambled eggs the last time that I fed them to her but that was awhile ago, I should try again. She doesn't like lunch meat. I have made her veggie corn dogs and she didn't love those either, nor did she like the soy hot dogs.
Any ideas mamas? :) This isn't something I am *worried* about, just looking for more variety for my baby girl.
She is on the mend from her cold but has developed a dry cough, which is just heart breaking over the baby monitor. Hopefully she's feeling better this weekend. :)
8 comments:
Welcome to my world! It's FRUSTRATING! I keep hearing that it's a phase and they will grow out of it. I know Ryan won't starve himself, but he became picky at 14 months and now at 22 months, he's even pickier. I hear it takes 20 times or something for toddlers to see a food before they feel comfortable eating it. He eats no veggies even though the other night he couldn't get enough corn??!! We were shocked! I just keep offering a veggie at lunch & dinner hoping he'll eat it. He loves to pick the green beans apart :-P.
He loves grilled cheese, Annie's Mac & cheese (but will pick veggies out of it just like Emersyn or throw a FIT if he sees veggies he doesn't like mixed in), chicken nuggets, steak, bread, pancakes, waffles, bananas, applesauce (any flavor), Annie's bunny crackers, Earth's best snack crackers, string cheese, pickles, raisins, yogurt (I get the Horizon Little Blends or Yobaby Meals with veggies mixed in so I can at least be sure he's getting some veggies).
He rarely eats dinner. He gets offered what we eat. Sometimes he eats, sometimes he doesn't. His ped, said he's fine and that's normal. Toddlers can live off 2 meals a day and they won't starve. They will eat when they are hungry. I am trying not to worry, but it gets hard when there are perfectly good carrot sticks on the plate (yesterday) and he's throwing them across the table in a raging tantrum because they are NOT what he wanted. UGH! Guess what, lunch over!
Hang in there Patti. We will survive Picky Toddler 101!
I am having the same problem..actually Emersyn sounds like she eats more variety than Ems. My ped told me not to worry they will get what they need. She said if it really concerned me to give her a multi vitamin (which I have tried and she totally hates it!) Ask your ped and see what they say!? Be sure and pass on the info! No tips.. in the same boat unfortunatly (they assured me it was age appropriate but doesnt make it any easier on us mommies!)
Emersyn's diet sounds a lot like Jay's. Thank goodness I found organic spaghetti o's. I know it's hard because there are times I don't think Jay eats enough variety, but my doctor has always said to let him eat what he wants, within reason.
Have you tried just frying the eggs? Jay won't do scrambled but he loves fried eggs. Most of the time, I still try to hide things Jay doesn't like in his other food.
And I can't believe she didn't love the veggie corn dogs! As a vegetarian, those are my favorite veggie food. Good Luck!
Does she like beans? Quade loves any and all kinds of beans. Red, black, kidney, pinto, chickpeas (soft), etc. They are packed with fiber and protein, easy for them to grab and you can buy them organic (canned) - I always rinse them really good to remove any excess sodium that might be on them, though the organic kind rarely adds salt. We have a hard time with meat, because of the lack of teeth, so beans and avocado are a staple because they are so rich in protein. How do you offer cheese? We do string cheese sticks and shredded - have you tried offering a different color cheese? White versus yellow, etc? Also, how about trying to incorporate cheese into scrambled eggs? As far as bread goes, have you heard of Ezekiel bread? It's made with a TON of whole grains, and you actually have to keep it in the fridge or it will go bad because of the lack of preservatives. Great way to keep whole grains in the diet. Just some ideas...Q is not a big eater as it is, I really hope he skips past the picky phases, or I'm in trouble!
Don't feel bad, Drew is even pickier! He doesn't like any veggies or fruit. I have bought him the fruit and veggie squeeze tubes that you can find at Trader Joes and he likes those. His staples are mac & cheese, chicken nuggets (organic kind), pb&j, yogurt, oatmeal, spaghetti and grilled cheese. It's a hard stage with food, but unfortunately it's lasted a long time with Drew. Good luck!
Costco has freeze dried fruit in snack packs. I think they are called fruit crisps. My kids love them. Even the babies. They are light and crisp but melt in your mouth. They come in pear, apple, and banana strawberry.
I think that stage is pretty common to go through, unfortunately! My little nephew Caden went through that, and just to encourage you, once he was about 24 or 26 mo, he got over it and now eats more than his mommy does! Any and all, pretty much.
Some ideas for the meantime:
What about cheese or chicken stuffed ravioli or tortellinis? You can boil up a bunch (takes 3-5 min only) then refrigerate them, and either feed them to her cold or nuked. She can feed them to herself, and they're fun little bite size shapes. You could also make a cold pasta salad with spirals, olives, peppers, that she could eat with her fingers.
Going on the same fun-shape thing, what if you took time once a week to cut veggies and/or fruits into shapes (cut peppers, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, olives into rings, coins or half circles or use cookie cutters to make circles, flowers, stars), and then give a DIP for her to dip into.
She's at the age where dipping & feeding herself makes her feel independent, and that will give you time to get yourself ready! You could also cut thick ham (maybe cheese at some point??) into matchsticks and she could dip that. You could easily make honey mustard dip, ranch, hummus, lots of things (use yogurt as base to give her more calcium, protein). Even mix almond butter and honey or vanilla yogurt and jam for a sweet dip, for fruit or pretzels. I could help you make up a bunch of different dips to keep at the ready.
She ate some cottage cheese when I mixed it with her mandarin oranges, and she could not get enough! That's super good for her (how I justify still being addicted to it :)
You could also try mixing up a couple of chex-mix type mixes, with healthy cereal as a base, and add whatever to it (nuts, soy, pretzels, dried fruit), spice it and bake it. She could feed that to herself too.
I'd be happy to come over and help try out some of these recipes, if you want. I've also found that if you let her "help" make something (even just add a spoon of something to the bowl, or stir it a couple times-doesn't have to help the whole time!) she'll be more likely to try it.
Hope at least a couple of these ideas are helpful. I'm so glad you are both feeling better! I'd love to get together this weekend or next week if you are free. Lots to catch up on! Take care, friend!
My suggestion is to keep trying to introduce the foods and not give up. With Christopher I think I gave up too soon and forgot to try again... and I feel I kindof helped him become picky.
ps Loved seeing you so spur of the moment! Hope you had a great day!
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