How to Get 15 Month Old to Eat Meat?

They seel awesome chicken nuggets at Costco called Dinobites. My son loves them! Sometimes he will only eat that for meat when he gets on a kick.

I apologize if I repeat something from another post - don't have time to read them today. Just wanted to say quickly that if I could do it over again, I would not assume that they won't eat something again just because they refuse it several times, even if it's every day for a week. I did that with my first two, and they won't eat anything. I keep severing my 3rd things that she rejects, and she eventually eats them, even if she rejected them for a month. I just keep putting it on her plate. I think it's the way to go! Good luck. I know how frustrating this can be!

There is a great book by William G Wilkoff, MD called Coping with a Picky Eater that every parent or provider of kids should read and have a copy of. http://www.amazon.com/Coping-Picky-Eater-Perplexed-Parent...

This book has what I call the Picky Eater Plan. I have used this plan with kids that literally threw up at the sight of food and within 2 weeks they were eating normal amounts of everything and trying every food.

First you need to get everyone who deals with the child on board. If you are a provider it's ok to make this the rule at your house and not have the parents follow through but you wont' see as good results as what I described up above.

The plan is to limit the quantities of food you give the kid. When I first start with a child I give them literally ONE bite worth of each food I am serving. The book suggests that every time you feed the kids (breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner) you give all 4 food groups. So, for lunch today I would have given the child one tiny piece of strawberry, one spoonful of applesauce, 3 macaroni noodles with cheese on them, and 2 oz of milk. Only after they ate ALL of what was on their plate would you give them anything else. They can have the same amounts for seconds. If they only want more mac and cheese, they only get 3 noodles then they would have to have more of all the other foods in order to get more than that. If they don't eat, fine. If they don't finish, fine. Don't make a big deal out of it, just make them stay at the table until e sat at the next meal and they only get what you serve. When I first do this with a child I don't serve sweets at all. So no animal crackers for snack but rather a carrot for snack. Or one of each of those. I don't make it easy for them to gorge on bad foods in other words. Now if they had a meal where they ate great then I might make the snack be a yummy one cause I know they filled up on good foods.

Even at snacks you have to limit quantities of the good stuff or else they will hold out for snack and just eat those snacky foods. I never give a picky eater the reward of a yummy snack unless they had that great lunch prior to it.

It really is that easy.

So he won't eat any kind of meat cut into cute little cubes that he can feed himself???

Chicken breast cut up
Deli ham cut into cubes
Pork chop cut up
All beef hotdogs cut down the center once then again to make four long strips and then cut into small chunks
pepperoni slices
canadian ham slices
Rolled up ham with cheese slice in it
cute little meatballs

PS And I agree with those that posted and said to keep serving them something they don't like even if they turn their nose up a 100 times. They will eat it eventually. At that stage I put the item they didn't like on the plate and insisted that mine eat one bite before they got the stuff I knew they liked...which I had in view but out of reach. They are 4 and 6 now and will eat many things they wouldn't eat when they started their picky stage.

Here is a recipe for a chicken bite he might like. My kids loves them.

Garlic Chicken Bites

2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized strips
¼ cup garlic olive oil *
½ tsp black pepper
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Marianade chicken strips in garlic olive oil and pepper for 30 minutes or more. Drain off excess marinade. Preheat oven to 475 F.

Mix bread crumbs with cayenne. Dip both sides of chicken strips in mixture**. Arrange strips in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes; turn and bake 5 more minutes. Serve warm and dip in honey mustard sauce.

* I made my own garlic oil with olive oil and a few
cloves minced garlic.
**I just shook strips in a bag with bread crumb
mixture.

Be patient. Kids go through phases. They seem to eat what they need. The less of a big deal you make it the sooner the phase will pass.

Our guy is not a big meat eater though we are more of a meat and potatoe type of family. Our son will sit and eat a bowl of veggies. Peas, corn, carrots....all the things I say yuck to.

try cheese, yougart, cottage cheese, almond butter, fish sticks etc. to keep his protein up. If he likes feeding himself perhaps slice a hotdog length wise (choking hazard when whole) and see if he is into dipping it into mustard or ketchup and feeding himself. Sometimes the method of feeding the child makes all the difference. It's all an experiment to them.

good luck

Hi Kellie Ann,

It's possible that your son choked on a piece of meat and now is nervous about having it again. I would give it a break for awhile and give him peanut butter or other high protein foods for now. Don't rush it.

Let him eat himself, don't force anything on him. Eating should be a positive experience.

I've spent a lot of time with child psychologists regarding eating issues as my 9 year old is a very sensitive eater and has been since he was 12 months old. He has had very little meat, ever! He's a pretty healthy kid, skinny, but healthy. So please don't worry!

While I prefer to give my kids more wholesome stuff on a general basis, I will admit that I bailed out completely when we went through this stage with my son. Those gerber meat sticks are highly convenient and I had great success with ravioli, meat lasagna, chicken or fish nuggets, and things like veal parmisan. I found that anything breaded, fried, cheesy, or hidden in a noodle had a good chance being eaten. I also found my son would eat nearly anything - so long as it was slathered in a tomato sauce. I'd try to figure out which types of sauces he likes best and then experiment with stuff close to that.

I also have found that my kids go through phases where they seem to eat very little or they switch what they like in order to accomodate their growth spurts. My kids will eat nearly anything when they are having a growth spurt, so if I can tell they are - that's when I try to introduce some new, fun stuff for them to hopefully get hooked on!

Good luck!

Keep offering the meat (tender as possible) - looks like lots of great suggestions below.

Another alternative I don't think I saw listed is Cottage Cheese, though of course you'd need to spoon feed him. That said it's a great food to him to develop his utensil skills with - soft and sticks on the spoon well.

Good luck!

you could puree it and put in mac and cheese or something. but i'd just go w/the beans. there's many vegetarians out there that can give you advice on nutrition if that's what you are worried about : )

I give my little ones black beans. They're easy to pick up and a good source of fiber and protein.

What I found that worked with my 18 month old is to put the meat into something, like make a sandwich with the chicken or turkey, or cook some pasta and make meatballs with it. My son's favorite is tacos with the soft shells (Works with just about any kind of meat).
Just to give you some background, my son used to eat anything and everything that you would put in front of him, but in the past few months, he hasn't exactly been picky, just not as willing to eat just anything. He is still a good eater (knock on wood) but he just notices more what he is eating.
Also I found it helped when I limit the snacks that he gets before meal time. No snacks an 1 hr before his meal. I found the less hungry he is, the more likely he is to fuss about what he is eating at mealtime.

Hope this helps!

My daughter is a touch younger (12 mos in a few days) plus she only has 5.5 teeth. She won't eat meat unless it is cut very small and it is tender. She tries to chew it up but meat doesn't mush up and dissolve the way other foods might. So, she chews the best she can and then spits it out (glamorous). I give her black beans in a pinch as they have MORE iron and protein than most meat and she LOVES those gross "meat sticks". I guess just make sure the meat is small enough and tender enough.

He's too old for pureed foods. He needs to develop his chewing. Forget Micky Ds. You make homemade nuggets for him. Cut chicken tenders and season the breadcrumb. Dredge and put on a cookie sheet pan in a hot oven for the crunch factor. You can give him little finger meats. Breakfast sausage, bacon made in the microwave to get crisp, mini hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough and oven browned, etc. How about egg salad sandwich and p.b.&j?

My daughter (at 3) is the same way. The only baked chicken she will eat is BBQ because it's a sweeter flavor. But, like some of the other moms have said, I work other protein into her diet - mostly with eggs and peanut butter. With the eggs I cook them for breakfast a few times a week, then when I don't give them for breakfast I hard boil them (she likes eating that way b/c I let her peed the shell) and I make egg salad. I also add browned growned turkey to canned pasta sauce, which helps hide it too. Steer clear of the fast food and even the frozen nuggets - neither are good for you and develop bad eating habits! Good luck!

I am a vegetarian of two vegetarian girls - 5 and 7 years old. I have to agree with another of the moms that responded that you needn't force your son to eat meat. I became a vegetarian in college, and it was no big deal to me because I never liked meat much. My mom said that I always avoided meat as a child.

My girls are really good eaters, and generally love beans, nuts, cheese, and tofu (even plain!) for protein. Baked beans are a real favorite! Good luck!

Why force him to eat meat? If he doesn't like it, don't force him to eat it. Protein is not hard to get with a diet that doesn't consist of meat. As a matter of fact, Americans eat too much animal protein. Try beans and legumes. Or what about pasta? Whole wheat pasta has a good amount of protein in it. There are also lots of great ways to make tofu that would appeal to a toddler. Go to vegweb.com and look through all the recipes. You'll find lots of really great stuff there. My 4 1/2 year daughter hasn't had meat in 2 years and she's growing just fine. She is extremely healthy.

Fortunately there are plenty of sources of protein that aren't meat that your son will probably enjoy. And, it is likely that he is just going through a phase where he is trying out and enjoying different textures. I doubt you have a budding vegetarian on your hands, but he will grow and thrive just fine without meat. (However if you do have a budding vegetarian on your hands, rest assured that if you do just the tiniest bit of research and planning, it is VERY easy to incorporate a variety of incomplete and complete proteins in a daily diet to fulfill his need for protein). Additionally, you don't need to drown the meat in additives like BBQ sauce, cheese, or ketchup because usually those just add unnecessary calories, sugar, sodium, and in some cases fat.

If he likes the chicken nuggets, why not try Morningstar Farms 'Chik'n Nuggets'? They are vegetable protein nuggets that taste like chicken without actually being a meat product. Morningstar Farms has a TON of good protein/non-meat choices in nugget or patty form. Our son especially likes the patties (he's almost 2, and we'll give him half a patty...usually some form of rice, beans, and other veggies).

Hi K.,

Try those Gerber Meat Sticks. They don't look appetizing to an adult, but my daughters love them. It is better than a hot dog since there are no preservatives or nitrites in the meat sticks. They come in turkey, beef or chicken (also chicken with carrots - bonus!). Best of luck to you! I have the same problem on a few days of the week at least with both my 4 1/2 year old and my 16 month old.

My daughter is 3 and still doesnt eat much meat. Like yours, its basically Chicken Nuggets from McDs....

She will eat deli meat turkey, but only if its fresh from the deli, not prepackaged.

And i talked to her pedi and he said not to worry, just get protein in the diet... so we do LOTS of egg meals, lots of penut butter sandwiches and snacks with PB, and BEANS. get creative!

eventaully shell eat meat, but no worries for now

Hi K.,
I have a 16 month old and it is challenge with her too. Some things that have helped us:
Chicken noodle soup
Turkey or chicken hot dogs from Trader Joes or Whole Foods
ADD KETCHUP
Dinosaur chicken at Costco
Turkey or beef meatloaf: add ketchup and so easy to make with lots of leftovers.
Tuna noodle casserole with peas
Hummas is a proten. Lauren loves it. Put it on bread or just eat with spoon.
Peanut butter on bread

I hope this helps.

D.

I am in the process of sending out an idea list for moms with toddler's. Respond back with your email address and I'll include you on it!

J. W. MPH
Wellness Educator/Lifestyle and Wellness Consultant

My son was the same way. keep serving it to him as well as other sources of protein just to make sure he gets something. Eventually mine would only eat hot dogs or chicken nuggets for meat. He is 9 years old and does not like pizza unless there is no sauce and has eaten a burger 1 time. But I have no problem getting him to eat eggs aor beans and my in-laws wish their kids would eat the veggies as well as mine do. This past year my husband forced him to eat a chicken drumstick. I made bean soup with ham last night and his reaction? Wow, this is good. You would be amazed when they finally decide to try something that it could actually taste good. lol
Keep offering and in the mean time add eggs, beans-especially black or garbanzo for extra fiber and protein, cheese, yogurt etc.

I have the same problem even now with my 3 1/2 and 2 yr olds. I like different types of chicken nuggets like, Morning Star and Banquet (frozen nuggets) and sneeking meat into pasta dishes. Yogurt is a good way to get them some nutirition. I also have gotten my daughter to eat fish sticks because she thought they were chicken nuggets. Ketchup is a saving grace with cover up and hiding things. A great Pork dish is pork chops with Campbell's Chicken and rice soup in the slow cooker. Makes the meat just so soft and yummy. Before I put it in the slow cooker I put little salt, pepper, mustard powder, flower and brown it a little. Cookes pretty fast so if you are gonna do it in the AM use the low setting. Only takes a few hours on high.