My daughter is almost 13 months old, and I am havening a hard time feeding her table food. She wont eat vegetables. She ate them when she was on baby food, but now she just spits them out. She doesn't like much of any thing, and fills up on milk. I am worried she isn't getting the nutrition she needs? When I took her to her one year check up the doctor told me that she went from the 75% in her weight to 25%, and only weighed 19lbs and 11oz. I wish I knew what 13 month olds like to eat?
Thanks for your time,
C.
I know it's hard, but that's probably all her body needs right now is milk. Give her some time, keep offering foods to her and eventually she will start eating again. I went through the same thing with my two year old son, actually a couple of times. It will get better.
Maybe you could still give her baby food, but sneak it in the food she does like? My daughter was like that too. It's hard. She did love pasta though, so I would slip a little baby veggies in the sauce to up the nutritional value. When she did not get what she needed, I would give her PediaSure shakes to help make up the nutritional difference. You will be glad to know that she did start eating better when she was around 2-3 when she started day care and saw other children eating too. My favorite mantra as a mother that I have found over 12 years to be true is that "this too shall pass". That goes for the good and bad, so plant the good in your memory bank, and wait it out for the not so good. It's the end result that matters most. Will they grow up to be good people. Obviously you care enough to ask for advice and want the best for her, so I would say that if you keep that up she will grow up just fine! Hang in there~
Try peas,carrots,corn (frozen or canned) and just let her eat with her fingers. Sit her in the high chair, put them in front of her and just let her pick them up, play with them and then it will go in her mouth. Cherios, rice cake (they desolve easily) cheese slice, toast, canned fruit the cubed, bananas, cracker, grahm crackers, little piece of pizza, anything that she can hold,and breaks up easily and not choke on. They put everything in their mouths at this age. Give a spoon and yogurt, apple sauce even cereal with a little milk (just enough to wet it). Let her feed herself and play. Everything, including her will clean up.
I have a 14-month old and the exact same problem. She's fallen off the groth chart entirely and at her one year appointment was only 17 lbs 8 oz. - a little bit more than her 9 month appointment. The doctor told me not to worry about it - that all kids lose weight around this age because they don't want to sit and eat when they're discovering so much new in the world. One thing I've noticed is that if I take her out of the high chair and give her bites of food while she's playing, she'll sometimes eat more. But I've decided to just not worry about it and assume that at some point in her life she'll have a growth spurt.
OK i HAVEN'T HAD THIS PROBLEM YET, BUT i HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT SOMETIMES IT CAN TAKE UP TO A WEEK OF OFFERING A CERTAIN FOOD BEFORE YOUR CHILD WILL EVEN TRY IT, SO MAYBE IF YOU TRY TO OFFER A CERTAIN FOOD FOR A WEEK AND SITCH THE FOOD EVERY SO OFTEN AND LOWER HER INTAKE OF MILK MAYBE SHE WILL BEGIN TO EAT MORE. AND ABOUT THE WEIGHT IT IS TRUE THAT THE START TO GAIN LESS AND LESS AFTER THEY START TO WALK BECAUSE THEY BECOME SO ACTIVE THAT THE WEIGHT SIMPLY DOESN'T STICK, SO UNLEES SHE BEGINS TO LOOK VERY PALE AND STARTS TO LOSE TOO MUCH WEIGHT THEN I WOULDN'T WORRY. MY OLDEST DAUGHTER IS GOING TO BE TWO ON FRIDAY AND LAST TIME WE WEIGHED HER SHE WAS ONLY IN LIKE THE 25TH PERCENTILE FOR HER WEIGHT. SO SHE IS VERY LIGHT. AND MY YOUNGEST SHE IS 7 MONTHS AND AS OF HER 6 MONTH CHECK UP SHE WAS ONLY IN THE 10TH PERCETILE FOR HER WEIGHT AND THE 3RD FOR HER HEIGHT. SO EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT AND GROWS IN DIFFERENT WAYS AND UNLESS YOU FEEL THAT IS SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG WITH HER I WOULDN'T WORRY AND DON'T LET THE DOCTORS GET YOU DOWN EITHER THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS TRY.
I haven't had this problem with my son exactly... since he's a little pig :]
My sister in law however has a little girl who basically lives off of milk. She absolutely refuses to eat about anything. She still is having this problem... and I think her daughter is 3 1/2 now. Her daughter is perfectly healthy though! I guess just hope she outgrows it and keep trying.
I've heard from our WIC program here how small the servings actually are, so if she's getting any veggies at all that's probably ok. Maybe try regulating her milk so that she isn't filling herself up and has no room left for food.
Good Luck!
Will she eat spaghetti? If she will, put bottled vegi's in that for her.
I know I'm lucky because veggies are the first things my kids eat. However, the first thing I suggest is to continue offering veggies all the time whether she eats them or not. Eventually, she'll come around. Second, try "hiding" them in foods like meatloaf (carrots, onions, tomatoes, peppers) and sauces. Most kids like casseroles where you can add in peas or broccoli or add a little melted cheese sauce on veggies or give her ranch to dip them into. Also a little salt and butter adds wonderful flavor to veggies and she's obviously not overweight so you don't need to worry about the calories or fat. I try to offer at least one fruit and veggie at lunch and dinner. And lastly, our doctor recommended we add a Carnation Instant Breakfast to one glass of milk each day to get the extra nutrition/vitamins. He said it's basically one complete meal to make up for the lack of eating other, more healthy fare. (It's the same as PediaSure but cheaper and better tasting.)
I would also make sure that you offer her whatever you are eating (no special meals just for her) that she eats with you and that you are really watching her milk and juice intake so she's not filling up on those instead (offer them after a meal instead of during - just give her water during meals). She'll get hungry enough that she'll start eating more. I know it seems like she'll starve to death, but she won't.
Have fun!
Hi C.,
We recently went to the feeding clinic at Childrens as my son had barely gained 1 1/2 lbs in 10 months. At age two he was diagnosed with a kidney disease -- RTA. NOT that I think your child has this but most of the recommendations we got from Children's was the following:
Make every meal and snack a family event at the table. While the child does not have to eat the parent must (to model eating). Also do not allow grazing between meals and snacks. It was also recommended we play games related to eating.. making food in a play kitchen (you can make one out of a large carboard box -- or even draw a picture of a burner and use pots and pans), play restaurant.
The other suggestions was to add fat to foods... whole yogurt (yo baby, brown cow etc), butter, cheese, sour cream, continue giving her whole milk. My child likes oatmeal (not the instant) I make the minute oats with milk. Basically, increasing it's calories. I add butter, brown sugar, milk and coconut flakes from Vitamin cottage (not sweetened like at King Soopers) -- another high fat food). We are also adding instant breakfast to his milk, HOWEVER I am not sure I'd recommend that at this point... since I am not a doctor and you want to continue to encouraging your child to get most of her nutrients from her food.
Are you grinding up her food at all? Is it a texture thing? What does she like? I am trying to remember but it seems like my son still liked garden burgers at this age. He also really likes taquitos (with cheese and quacomole). My friends 15 months old likes these too. Does she like Pasta? My son loves spaghetti and pretty much all pasta. If she likes red sauce, add some cream cheese to make it creamy (read add calories). You can also high veges in red sauce (steam some spinach/carrots and puree them and add to sauce). Add rice to scrambled eggs. My son loves grilled cheese (new thing) and dipping in sauce (spaghetti). Continue to offer veges, try preparing in different ways... eventually (I am hoping) they will eat it.
Another resource is the book "First Meals" it has great ideas all the way to age 5. I would also recommend a kids multivitamin.. either liquid drops or something she will eat. I found that my son would eat the gummy ones (I just gave him one, but you might want to check with your pediatrican). Although someone recommended a powder, that might be a good option as well.
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L.
My son did a very similar thing when he was old enough to start eating table foods. I think his big aversion to veggies and fruits was the consistency. He also didn't have alot of teeth and so often, he couldn't chew even very soft chunks of fruit or vegetables. I continued to puree his stuff and hide it in his favorite foods- mashed potatoes with pureed spinach, oatmeal with pureed blueberries, yogurt with mashed bananas. He has a few select fruits and veggies he'll eat- whole, sweetened blueberries, raisins, apple chips, and pureed sweet potatoes and potatoes, but otherwise I still have to remember to toss in veggies and fruits when I'm preparing his food. I also give him a multivitamin with a greens complex to make sure he's getting the proper nutrients. I recommend Rainbow Light. They have a powdered vitamin that I mix with his yogurt. Good luck!
Hi C., My daughter is 23 months and still under 20 pounds. She ate the baby food until just a few months ago because I wanted to make sure she was getting the nutrition she needed. Maybe start by putting the fresh veggies and fruit in a blender then making then less and less mashed?? Good luck they seem to be picky eaters from the start. C., mom of one daughter will be two April 26.
