Ever Dealt with 3-Year-old's Eating Phobias?...

have no idea if this is your issue or not, but because you mention that you might have noticed a texture issue ... my son has a sensory issue. never heard of it before my son at 2yrs old decided to stop wearing clothes, but one aspect is eating.

For my son, he wouldn't touch anything mushy - still doesn't eat the standard macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets, but is content to eat a dinner of green salad with italian dressing and pickles but will also eat almost anything sweet.

he is darn stubborn and i constantly debate whether he's just insisting on only eating what he wants, but i do have a diagnosis that states his sensory system didn't quite develop along with the rest of him and sweet and sour things may be the only things he really tastes.

however, if it's the same issue with your daughter, the key to getting them past it is to deluge them with sensory experiences that she's probably not just getting from pb&j.

check out the Out of Sync Child from the library and see what you think.

It very well could be a sensory issue, or you may have found yourself in a power struggle. I know that at that age I was an extremely picky eater and literally would only eat PBJ, hotdogs or McDonald's. My parents worried too, but now I am a functioning adult who eats lots of foods! ;)

I hate to use myself as an example, b/c that's not always the case, but I guess my point is that maybe try not making a big deal about it. Let her have her PBJ and maybe eventually she'll come around. Maybe she's only fixated on it b/c she knows that you guys don't like it. Plus, she gets a ton of attention during meal times b/c all your focus is on her. Have you ever read the book Bread and Jam for Francis...it's an excellent, really cute book and sounds a lot like what you're dealing with! I hope it's as easy (LOL) as a power issue and not OCD or the like.

Hi K.,

I hear you! I went through the same with my two daughters, it improves little by little, my now 9 years old eats almost everything though she prefers pasta and white foods to anything else. My 4 years old still eats little but tries stuff and stuck it in her cheeks like my older did:)
All I can say is that in my case it did improve drastically by 1st grade. Eating at school helps since they eat with other children and see what the other kids eat and want to try or at least are willing to try other stuff.
Keep giving her diferent foods to try, she will eventually like somethgn new, it takes 8 times for a new food to be likable (I am not sure where I read that) but believe me, I have beeen informed in all that stuff with the best sources i was able to find! LOL! No disorders, just a picky eater....
They do give youa headache and sometimes you worry if they are well fed, I know, try giving her at least once a day a bowl of some sort of tiny pasta like picollini bow ties or little stars of alphabits.... she might like spaghetti o's (the ones that comes in a can, I hated them but in kindergarten she tried them at a friend's house and that was all she wanted.... Now I give her whole grain and she doesn't mind! She also liked little meatballs and beef and bean chimichangas (tried those, they are very nutritous and you just pop them in the microwave for 1 minute!)
You never know what are they going to like, but usually not what you might think they will.
My girls choose the weirdest things that we normally don't eat at home, now my 9 years old is asking for beef jerky (?) and the funny thing is that they both eat it!!! And I had never tried it before.... :)
Good luck and don't worry if she eats at least once a day well....for a littel one that is.

I have seen a wide variety of sensory issues and texture was a big issue for some of these kids. I don't know alot about them but but some of the kids would eat seet things because they were motivated to deal with the texture in order to have the candy ect. Some kids wouldn't touch the tastiest candy if they didn't like the texture. Texture can also be an issue in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which can occur in very young children. If this is changing your lifestyle and you are having to plan family events and such around this then I would say it is pretty severe. You should speak to your doctor. Before you go, do a little research, google sensory disorders in children, OCD in children, anything else so that you can ask your doctor. Even if it is just a kid being a kid, you will feel better knowing you asked some harder questions. You can still use some of the exersizes used for sensory disorders to help her get over texture. I remember some of the things the therapists did for kids with texture issues were pulling apart velcro, playing with beans or rice in a bowl (or one of the foods she doesn't like the texture of). You can google these activities also.