My son is becoming more and more picky. I found a temporary solution, and realized that he would rather feed himself, but he will not touch meat! the only time he willingly touched meat was when I had a meatball and he thought it was dunkin doughnuts munchkin. then he spit it out and starting wiping his tongue on his hands to get the taste off.
I want him to have a balanced diet, and i try to get him to eat a variety, but he no longer likes the things he once liked.
now a typical day is 1-2 eggs for breakfast(or it ends up on the floor) and/or yogurt for breakfast. I try not to give him a "lunch" because I want him to be hungrier for dinner, so he would eat more things. so lunch consists of a couple of crackers and maybe some cheese. or other little munchies. for dinner he loves the graduate raviolis (i love them too because he can feed those to himself) he likes pasta with a little bit of red sauce. no meat can be sneaked in there because he knows, and if it goes in his mouth, it's immediatly on the front of his shirt, and he wipes his tongue off with his hands again. he used to eat those graduate soups and stews with meats, but now i can't get it near him.
and it's starting to spread. he won't eat mashed potatoes, peas, carrots(only eats the baby-cups of them) and several other things he used to have no problem with.
so is this lack of meat ok? and any other suggestions would be appreciated
i'm definitly going to try the tofu and applesauce recipe. he will somewhat pick apart a PB&J sandwich, and loves mac and cheese, and will tolerate a grilled cheese sandwich, but he would rather throw pizza than eat it, and will cry if a chicken nugget touches his plate. I'm probably going to buy a huge frozen bag of chicken nuggets and put one on his plate each night for dinner to see if he'll finally touch it.
and so far as snacking for lunch, I do give him snack-like foods, because I want to encourage him to eat different things for dinner, reasoning that if he's hugnry, he's more likely to try something new.
I appreciate all of the advice ladies, and thank you so much for you encouragement!
If it makes you feel better, my 28 month old has NEVER eaten meat! He won't eat chicken either, and forget about veggies! He lives on ANYTHING with cheese--grilled cheese/mac and cheese/pizza. He will eat the pepperoni on the pizza though--that's the only 'meat' he'll eat.
So don't worry. Kids are sometimes picky eaters, just keep trying giving him new things!
From what my pediatrician told me, kids really dont like meat until after they turn two. my daughter will be two in august and once has a piece of meatball (at like 10 months) then decided that meat was the most disgusting thing on the face of the earth! we give her rice and beans and pasta fagioli (with white kidney beans) for protein. if her stomach is gassy we try to give her pb&j. she loooooves peanuts so we let her chow down on mixed nuts pretty often. (we keep an eye on her so that she doesnt swollow them whole! lol) Try googling "foods with protein" and maybe you can come up with something that has enough protein in it for him. as far as the veggies are concerned... my daughter will only eat carbs and fruit. we try to give her greenbeans and corn and such but nothin... we try to give her mashed potatoes and she just spreads it on her face and body.. nothing in her mouth.. she doesnt like the texture. right now at their age they dont really like to stray from what they love the most. my daughter loves pasta so if it doesnt look, taste, and feel like pasta she wont even bother with it. this is totally normal. he will come around soon and want to eat what you are eating. it will feel like all of a sudden he refuses to eat whats in front of him and want what is off your plate. at that age fill him up with meat! lol. good luck!!
L.
i wouldnt really worry about it as long as he is eating things with iron in it my kid just started eating meat last year and he is now 4.
Relax. He's just learning more about himself. I have five children, most of them all grown up and I remember my twins ate just like your son. I fed them healthy foods during the day. Yogurt, cheese, raisins, crackers and they are perfectly fine with their diet. It was just a phase. My daughter ate nothing but macaroni and cheese. I tried different foods and the only thing that I accomplished was wasting my money. She's almost nine and macaroni and cheese is still her favorite, but as she got older I was able to introduce different foods which she ate. Don't stress yourself out, be patient and just give him the foods he will eat. (healthy of course)
He does need protein for muscle development. Have you tried peanut butter (as long as there's no allergy). My son eats chicken nuggets and PB and J. As a matter of fact he lives on them. This picky thing is just a stage. I wish I could tell you when it's over but as there is no light at the end of my tunnel either I don't know what to tell you. You can also give him grilled cheese, there is protein in dairy products. This is just his little way of asserting his independence. Most kids go through this.
As a mother of seven children, I can truly relate to your situation because I experience some eating issues with one or two of my chidren. For example my seven year is picky about what kinds of meats he will eat too. He only eats ground turkey with his spagetti,he does not eat chicken of any kind and he does like vegetable at all. Sometimes I give him small portions of vegetables and I examine to him why vegetable are important to eat. And what I have learned is that children go through stages sometimes when they eat very little and sometimes will only drink liquids all day. Although, we are not satisfied because we think that they are getting enough but I learned that when that gets hungry enough they will let you know. Believe it or not but if you stop worrying about it before you know it your apetite will change. I hope I was some help to you. Have a bless one!
Don't forget about tofu! Silken or soft tofu can be put into spaghetti sauce (or smoothies, yogurt, etc.) fairly easily without any added taste or texture. Or buy extra firm tofu, cut it into squares and let him pick it up and eat it. You don't have to cook it and it takes on whatever flavors you add to it. My son loved tofu marinated in apple sauce and baked in the oven for 10 minutes. Be careful of those prepackaged Graduate foods. They contain a lot of sodium. My son is five and has never eaten meat except for the fish sticks his preschool gave him "accidentally" once. He is healthy and happy!
My daughter is 2 and just started eating meat. Ask your doctor if he/she has a menu for your son's age. I know my kids doctor does. That crackers and cheese for lunch sounds like a snack to be honest with you. My daughter doesnt eat much, but i make sure she eats 3 meals a day. Try to give him lunch early so he gets hungry for dinner. Try pizza or soup(my daughters 2 favorites). Try some frozen chicken nuggets(kids love them) or make some french fries. My kids love that for lunch or dinner. What i do with the meat is i'll cut up some steak and put it in her dish and she picks it up herself and eats it. Another kids fav is mac and cheese. How about trying chicken cullets? I also cut that up for them and they eat it off their own dish. Good Luck!
HI C., did you ever try Tofu? its not meat, but its protein! it has very plain taste, u can put some sauce or soy sauce. my daughter is a super picky eater, but she likes tofu, sometimes i give it to her in miso soup for extra flavor or u can add what ever u want.
i know its hard and frastrating, my daughter never liked to eat and was always was a picky eater, each meal is a struggle. good luck!
You can try beans for protein. I give my son red kidney beans with pasta and veggies and he likes them.
Hi
it is a phase...........I went thru a similar stage with Natalie.
Try buying Campbell's Healthy request Vegetable soup.
You have to drain it and rinse it well, then microwave it about a minute and a 1/2 .
See if he likes that........make sure since he is not eating much meat or protein to get an iron fortified vitamin.
Good Luck!!
My son just turned three and has been a very picky eater since about two. Before that he ate everything and since, very little. My pediatrician said it's common for children to go through this. I think I heard somewhere that tastebuds are developing and they become more sensitive to taste and also to textures of foods. I've been told to just keep trying to introduce a variety of healthy food at each meal and let him choose what he wants to eat. I can't say that's going too wonderfully so far, but I've just really started trying. The meat isn't so much an issue so long as you can get him to eat other sources of protein like eggs, peanut butter, beans, etc. Good luck. Wish me luck as well. Mine is three and old enough to understand so we're doing the eat what's on your plate or be hungry method. I hate it, but the husband insists. It's working a bit but I think yours is too young. Children will not starve themselves.
This same thing happened to my daughter when she was turning 2. She had previously LOVED the Gerber stews, and then one day decided they were yucky. Then she would refuse to eat anything besides Mac&Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Pizza or Chicken Nuggets. I think she liked the Chicken Nuggets because we got the Perdue Fresh Nuggets with Cheese in them (notice her love of Cheese!).
We started putting portions of our dinners on her plate just to see if she would try them. Then we would slightly ignore her during dinner, and every once in a while she would take a taste of what we were eating.
Now she loves to eat EVERYTHING. Spaghetti and Meatballs, Hotdogs, Grilled Chicken, Ribs, EVERYTHING. But we don't push her. She is 2 1/2, and we tell her that she has to eat one bite of everything, even if she doesn't like it. She is usually pretty good about following that rule.
Good Luck! You may just have to wait it out!
D.
