My 2Yrs Is a Picky Eater

My son was a picky eater--a white only diet--potatoes, eggs, milk. I provided the normal rest of the dinner or lunch (which he usual didn't eat) and no junk food or snack was provided. He was hunky and tall for his age. I never bugged him about his choice of diet.

When he graduated from high school he as 6' and the third from the top of his class. He is now 6'2" doing fine.

I think you should never provide junk food, provide maybe one afternoon healthy snack, and regular meals. And only worry if his activity level suddenly goes down. Then you can worry. Otherwise kids are pretty wise about keeping themselves healthy.

Great response Rebecca!

I give my boys fresh fruit smoothies for snacks sometimes. It's a great way to get extra, healthy calories in them. You can even add spinach to almost any fruit smoothie without tasting it at all! Sometimes I add less water and more ice and make it like ice cream, or freeze into popsicles.

Offer choices, but healthy ones. At each meal I try and offer one thing they always say no to, but I want to keep offering, one new item they've never had and one healthy item I know they'll eat.

Give him his own drawer or basket of healthy snacks (dried fruit, pretzels, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers)

E.
http://www.babysignswithelizabeth.blogspot.com

I think that is pretty normal for a two year old. My pediatrician had told me to expect this at our 18 mo visit already, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that my daughter started to refuse things that she used to like. It's a color/texture thing that will probably go away, if you don't turn it into a power struggle.

I have a few suggestions:
- start serving only or mostly real food, whole food at home, skip the pre-processed, pre-seasoned stuff unless you are in a pinch
- serve different items separately, maybe get a partitioned plate. It pretty common that toddler decide that won't eat things that are mixed together, but they will eat both items individually. My daughter used to dislike pasta, until I came up with the idea to serve the tomato sauce on the side... after a few weeks she was ok with eating it all mixed in
- just keep on offering, studies have shown that children who are offered healthy foods over and over will eventually eat them, no pressure, don't even ask him to try, just put it on his plate to take or leave (most children need to offered food items 35+ times before they will eat them)

In our house we eat what is served, unless it's something really weird or new or too spicy. I work full time and don't have the time or energy to cook two full meals.
Whatever she does not like, stays on her plate and that's fine, we don't make a big deal. A couple of occasions she will only eat the meat or fish, sometimes she will only eat the rice - I figure it all evens out. She's not a big fan of cooked veggies, so we have a side salad and she likes to snack on raw veggies.

As for pediasure - I thought about giving that to her for one hot minute, until I looked at the ingredient list. It is basically sugar whipped up with oil and artificial flavor. They add some vitamins and call it a meal. GROSS!

Unless you son is underweight and needs to bulk up, I would stay away from it - it makes it only more difficult to get him used to real food.

Don't worry if he won't eat anything, when he's hungry, he'll eat. Believe me. My son went through a picky phase where all he wanted was PBJs. Drove me nuts, until I realized that at least he was eating. It was healthy for him to, considering the protein, fruit, and grain. He was also eating cheese sticks and getting calcium. Almost a full meal deal. Not sure how to answer the picky eating situation. My son learned that in my home, you eat what is served to you, unless something odd like brussel sprouts.

to be aware of: if a kid doesn't eat things that exercise their jaw (apples and carrots were the examples I was given), they won't develop sufficient jaw strength to properly form words. How crazy is that? yet it was one of the things the specialists told me when I followed the pediatrician's advice at have my 2+ yr old speech-evaluated. (And you can tell she was my first child, because I was all, "you expect me to feed my 2-1/2 year old *carrots*? but she might *choke*!!"--but only in my head, since they way they were talking about it made it obvious that they considered this item a very normal thing for 30 month olds to have already been eating for a while ; P !! )

Anyhow. Just another layer to keep in mind.

I like the advice below, of offering food at meals and Pediasure at snack ... I let my kids have one cup of juice at a meal but other than that they can only have water (I use milk in cooking but we don't drink it). And keeping an aspect of choice in there ("do you want Pediasure or milk for your drink?") makes them feel like they have control, even when they know that there is a set rule ("then after that is water") coming behind it.

You will get a big fight probably about whatever limit you set. If you have set a reasonable limit, just stick to it. Kids always fight when they don't like a change--and they will push as hard as they can figure out how to to change it back, so it will probably be pretty bad for a while if your son is as fixated as it sounds like he is. Read up on all your positive parenting skills for a few days before you try this all ;). (SIGH!)

The best advice I can give is to serve him single items at a time - make them very simple - with no flavor, so he gets used to the natural flavor of things. Try beans - just a half cup or so at a time then introduce things like carrot sticks, separately of course, chicken chunks (baked,etc.) Give him one thing to focus on at a time. or one meal at a time - hummus and crackers, cheese sticks and carrots, chicken chunks and broccoli, etc...try to refine the foods so that you can figure out which ones he really likes (with no spice or extra flavorings)...The pediasure is not good for him as it has hydrogenated vegetable oil and corn syrup. Try to ween him off if you can, you might try enriched vanilla soy for a transition period, if he is so stuck on the flavor...one of the best books i read is called the Vegetarian Baby. My sons are vegetarian but Elijah is now experimenting eating chicken. But this book gives amazing food concepts, and nutrition information for children. Good luck!!

Toddlers often go through this stage. Check out www.wholesometoddlerfood.com for ideas & recipes. I offer my son an ice-cube tray filled with little morsels. Kids do a lot of grazing at this age. So I put pieces of cooked egg, fruit, ham, slices of avocado, tomatoes, cheese, whole-wheat crackers into the tray. This way he can eat on-the-go, so to speak. My son also loves YoBaby yogurt & fresh mozarella cheese slices with whole-wheat crackers. You just have to experiment to find out what he likes.

Stop the pedisure. Serve him at the table three times a day. He will eat what is there. I always served organically grown food and cooked from scratch, even when I was a working mother. I made my own granola without sugar. Sugar is not in a healthy diet and neither is fast food. Vegetables, fruit and meat if you desire are good for him. Brown rice, potatoes, bean dishes, lentils. Help him learn to eat by providing what real food is.
Denatured food full of additives makes for an unhealthy adult life. What you put in your body before the age of 18 determines the health and stamina you will have for life.

I have a picky 2 year old also (and 4 & 6 year old :) ). But what they will eat for lunch is lunchmeat (cut in squares), cheese stick, crackers, apples w/peanut butter to dip in, PBJ cut with cookie cutters, yogurt bites, yogurt. For dinner, hot dogs, steak cut tiny, pasta noodles, spaghetti, peaches, cottage cheese, applesauce, fruit cups. I've found that a lot of the time it's how I prepare it that makes it fun for them (ex. make the string cheese an octapus). Also, my daughter loves to dip anything in sauce (ketchup/ranch) but my oldest son doesn't like any sauce. :) Don't worry - he will eat when he is hungry even when it's not as much as we think it should be.

pediasure is a drink, no? Maybe try other drinks. My daughter likes yogurt smoothies, and odwalla juice smoothies. If your son ends up liking one type of smoothie, maybe you can work on varying the flavors to help him accept different flavors and looks. If you make these at home you can add things like wheat germ, or veggies.

I know its no substitute for 'real food' and 'real meals', but, it does seem like a decent way to get some nutrition and variation into an otherwise non-eating kid.

I would not be a short order cook. We were always offered dinner and then if we did not eat it then we got it for desert. My brother does this for all 6 (about to be 8) kids and then they have 2 snacks a day they can choose from the snack drawer. Kids will not starve themselves and as long as he does not lose wieght I woudl not worry. You just have to be consistent.
Godo luck!

Is it a new phase or have there always been issues like this with food? Most of the advice you got is pretty good for sudden toddler pickiness, but sometimes it's more than that--as it was with my older son. (SORRY FOR THE CAPS, 2YO WILL ONLY LET ME TYPE IF THE CAP LOCK LIGHT IS ON, LOL). HE HAS ISSUES WITH TEXTURE AND AND WITH MANY STRONG FLAVORS, AND HAS ALWAYS HAD A STRONG GAG REFLEX. HE HAS PUKED AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL WHEN TRYING SOME FOODS, THINGS THAT YOU WOULD NOT THINK ARE A BIG DEAL. i like for him to eat a more balanced diet but I also don't want to power struggle around food or have him end up with food issues.
The usual advice for picky eaters can be very frustrating when you have this kind of kid, it's a whole different issue!
I'd think how you child is growing also makes a difference, I never worried too much about my son because he's is at the top (or off) the charts so we were not having growth issues.
Also, with 2yos, they can be grazers and it will seem like they are eating less than they actually are. And/or they may eat most of their calories at 1 time of day, or eat a lot one day and hardly anything the next. My 2yo is a great eater, I didn't do anything different with him wrt food (he sees what big brother eats but *still* goes for the veggies lol), he's 50/50 percentile, takes in most of calories at 1 meal a day (if varies which one it is). Sometimes it's just the kid, so try somethings and don't act stressed out about it with him.
Good luck!

A.,

I was a Nanny for MANY!! years, today I'm a parent coach. The 2 year old needs to be in control, so "forcing" foods on them will create fights. As long as your son is not losing weight, continue to offer him normal foods at meals, but for a snack offer the Pedisure.

FYI- It is VERY normaly for toddlers not to eat much for periods of time then eat EVERYTHING. This is due to growth spurts. You may be in a down eating cycle.

Good Luck-

R. Magby

A. - Your son will eat real food if that is what's offered to him. Pediasure is not the way to go! You want your son to be a good eater...not a good drinker. besides, real food has so much more nutrition.
My children eat what is served to them. I used to be the mom that would cut up cutsey things, do a song a dance, and then hold my breath to see if they would eat. NOT ANYMORE! Dinner is what is served. They may choose not to eat it, but they will not get anything else to eat. If they eat enough of their dinner, they may have a treat (snack size candy bar or something).
I am not a short order cook, I do not have the time, and I will not waste food.
If you give your son his dinner and he does not want to eat it, fine. If he comes to you later and asks for something to eat, give him his dinner. if he doesn't want it, fine. But YOU need to be in control of what he puts in his body. As long as you are not offering poison, he needs to eat what you are offering. A hungry child will NOT starve themselves if there is food in front of them.
It will get better. L.

I'm having similar issues with my 2 year old daughter. She is very difficult to get to eat. I try to give her choices, but when I have it all made she says she doesn't like it. I'm at a loss and tempted to take her into the ped for more ideas & to evaluate her to make sure she is still growing ok.

A friend of mine has given me chocolate protein powder that I had to her milk. She will also eat almost anytime it involves peanut butter. So I try to just work with it.

Good luck,
M.

You might try some shaped foods...my sons both love the dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets from Costco...also, just a little idea if you have a Costco card, you might go during sample time...I know it is a little odd, but that is when both of my boys have tried things I would never have thought to feed them...The older one (will be three in March) tried Shrimp for the first time at Costco...He loves shrimp still...He also tried yogurt and pomegranite seeds there...The yogurt is pretty common, but I never would have thought about the pomegranite seeds...My children are both way more willing to try new foods than I am...And I love it...Just introducing new foods as a treat may do the trick. Just a surprise is something good for all kids. :) Best of luck! :)

I recommend "Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet" The great thing about this book is that it starts by discussing different medical issues that may cause picky eating and need to be ruled out first. It's true for most kids that they will eventually eat whatever you put in front of them and won't starve if there is food in the house. Some kids, though, have medical conditions, sensory issues that may cause heavy vomiting even at the sight and smell of some foods. Those kids may starve rather than eat foods that cause their distress. I have a kid just like that. When he was about 1 our pediatrician recommended we ease up on milk to leave more room for solids. My son could not stomach solids, vomited heavily, started losing weight. The pediatrician was at a loss, we tried different things, nothing seemed to work. As the last resort, our pediatrician referred us to OHSU for evaluation and that was very helpful. Good luck!