Bill and I have created a beast, and his name is Spencer. He is delightful in most every way, as long as we're not talking about eating. I readily admit that we probably could have done a better job introducing him to new foods and things from the get go, but hey, he's our first child and we have no idea what we're doing.
That being said, I'm not stressed about this so much as just ready to try a new tactic to try to get Spencer eating like a normal child. His current diet consists of french toast and pancakes. He was sick all last week, which has some impact, but that's all he is eating for now, three meals a day. It seems like a good time to try new ways of doing things around here.
So I'm looking for advice from all my mom friends and anyone who might have a good idea out there. And this isn't advice like try to feed him new items 10 times and after trying it 10 times he might like it. See, he never tries anything, and if you've ever tried to feed a toddler you will understand when I say that he cannot be forced to eat anything he doesn't want to. So I need new ideas. How do I get him to try new things and expand his palate? I gave him probably 10 different interesting tidbits of things from our fridge tonight and not a single one went into this mouth, so exposure alone isn't the answer. He had a great time making table art with it all. :)
How do you tempt your toddlers to eat? He will not try something just because he's hungry either. He will just get steadily more and more unhappy and cry and cry and still not eat anything unless it appeals to him, which generally involves it having chocolate in it. So help a friend out and let me know what you have tried and what might work. Oh, one other thing. He's not really old enough quite yet to understand try a bite of this and you'll get a bite of something else you like. He just doesn't like anything well enough to use that tactic yet, and he's still just a tad young to understand the logic, or so it seems. He just turned two a few weeks ago.
Thanks!
5 comments:
If you are worried about balancing out his nutrition a bit, maybe you can add fruit or veggie purees into his pancake batter. It might change the color, but that could be fun for him. There are several cookbooks about "sneaking" veggies into foods kids already like. I haven't tried any of them, but it may be worth a shot.
Well, I have 3 "eaters" and I still don't know what I'm doing half of the time. :) Sometimes my kids are extremely picky and other times I'm amazed at what they eat. Claire is currently in a "I don't like it" phase which bugs, but I know it won't last forever.
As far as advice, I only have a few suggestions to try. Can't promise they'll work or that you haven't already done it. They only work for me sometimes. :)
1) you said you gave him like 10 bits of food from the fridge. I think it is too much. Too many choices, too many options. 3 options is sufficient for a 2 year old.
2) try bland foods. Kids' taste buds are different than adults (not as developed? dunno). But I do know that some things can taste a lot more bitter, for example, to them than it does to us. If you try feeding him really simple, bland foods, maybe he'd be more willing to try? Plain buttered noodles, cubed ham or cheese, frozen peas (not kidding). Sometimes the foods that have a lot going on (sauces) scare my kids. :)
3) You say he likes chocolate. Have you tried adding chocolate to things (within reason of course)to see if he'll eat it? Like peanut butter and chocolate chip (or nutella) sandwich (only 5 chocolate chips). For a while Peter would only eat jelly and sprinkle sandwiches (like sprinkles you put on cookies--he'd watch me sprinkle a few on his bread and be happy regardless of whether he could taste it or not). Make a fruit salad with some chocolate chips as a surprise in it. Ants on a log (celery and peanut butter with chocolate chips as the ants).
4) Maybe try feeding him in or with something fun. My kids love it when I put food in muffin tins (cube cheese in one, grapes in another, carrots in another, etc). Or buy a swirly straw and feed him a green smoothie (1 frozen banana, handful of spinach, and some milk). Or cut his bread into shapes with a cookie cutter. Or use toothpicks. Sometimes they just need a change of pace.
I hate the food fights. But, with that said, at least it's better than potty training! Haha! Good luck!!
I already left most of my comments on Facebook, but here are a bunch of helpful links. I think a visit to the doctor should be the first thing you do, because if it is something serious, it's better to catch it now. My three year old cousin has a disorder in which he has problem with certain food textures. With a little therapy he has been able to start eating more than just smoothies and yogurt, which was getting scary since he was still having food issues at age three. Anyway, after you get the a-ok from your doctor, here are some links with ideas for picky food toddlers and just regular ideas for kids and food. Also a link on baby led weaning in case that is your plan for Gen. The last link is one of my favorite child development blogs/websites.
http://simplekids.net/kids-in-the-kitchen-part-one/
http://www.simplebites.net/how-i-discovered-and-embraced-baby-led-weaningfeeding-blw/
http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2013/01/confessions-of-a-formerly-picky-eater.html
I posted this one on facebook, but maybe it will be easier to find on here.
http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/in-the-kitchen/
http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/11/toddler-food-ideas-breakfast-lunch.html
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-infants-toddlers/feeding-picky-eater-17-tips
Also, another thing, is that the food thing might be getting worse because of the move. He might not be able to express that he's upset his world has changed, and could be letting it out through diet. If there isn't anything wrong, his diet should become normal by age 3. At least that's what we learn in child and human development.
It's great reading through the comments to see what wisdom I can glean, too. Although Katherine is pretty good at eating. And no, she doesn't understand the "eat a bite of this to get a bite of that" bribery, either.
The only thing I can suggest is to try to share a plate of food. For K, it works pretty well (jealousy? social aspect of eating? curiosity about Mommy's tastes? I dunno). Granted, she was NEVER fooled by the adding things in trick, and if she doesn't want it, she just won't eat it. Cream cheese, for instance. If she accidentally takes a bite of it, she will spit it out immediately, and if I put it near her at all, she "vehemently protests." I then have to spend several minutes convincing her that I'm not going to try to feed it to her anymore before she'll start eating again.
Eggs are a food that I just don't understand with K. If it's in ham fried rice, she'll only eat the eggs. If it's in anything else, she'll pick out the egg and eat the rest of it. Unless it's in sandwich form, and then she's usually fine eating eggs (which wasn't the case until several months into the egg sandwich trying).
I like the suggestion of putting chocolate in new foods. K wouldn't drink cow's milk until we put white sugar in it. And after a couple of times, we didn't put it in anymore and she was just fine drinking it. Heck, I even bribe myself to eat healthy foods I don't like by mixing things into them. It somehow works a lot better.
One final thought: you mention that he gets more adverse to food the hungrier he gets. Maybe you could play with the timing of meals, see if you can offer food before he gets terribly hungry. Worry about adjusting him to eating when he's hungry later.
I'm sorry you have a picky eater. I hope he turns around soon. Oh, and vitamins: K LOVES gummy vitamins. Maybe Spencer would, too?
Wow I love all your friends comments, such great advice! My one thing I turn to when someone is being picky is smoothies. If they won't eat then they might just drink it. Lol. And the kids have no idea I'm putting spinach, and their vitamins in along with the strawberries and yogurt. Fun straws to drink with help too. :)
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