I am having difficulty finding foods my fourteen month old son will eat. At 11 months, he would eat pretty much anything and everything put in front of him. Then about two weeks before he turned one, he stopped eating all table foods, except for Puffs and Cheerios. I associated it with teething. Then at thirteen months, he stopped eating baby food. He refused everything (including puffs and cheerios) except for whole milk. When I called my doctor (after ten days of him eating nothing) she simply said to keep offering food, keep him hydrated and be patient. Well, about five days later, he began selectively eating table food. The problem is he will only eat crunchy foods. Crackers, cheerios, dried fruit and vegetables, bacon. He won't even try anything else. I am very concerned about the nutrition and habits he is developing. When I offer other food, he'll play with it and eventually through it off of his tray. A friend suggested taking it away from him and then at the next meal he'll be hungry enough to eat what's given to him. Not the case - he just didn't eat for the pretty much the whole day. I am looking for suggestions, advice, books, experience, etc. Please Help!
I think he would be fine eating just crunchy foods, as long as he gets all the basic food groups every day.
Maybe he is getting so much milk he isn't hungry for any of the food. Try limiting the milk you give him (just be sure to get him what is needed and nothing more) and try to give it to him after he has already eaten something. What he is doing is fairly common, don't make a big deal out of it to him (either when he does eat something or doesn't). Good Luck!
Ellyn Satter is an expert in this area. Any book by her is good but you probably want "How to get my child to eat, but not too much" I have seen her technique in action many, many, many times and it works.
Can you offer him crunchy vegetables? Slightly cooked carrots, cut into cubes worked for mine kids. Frozen peas are great for teething. Maybe a cut up chicken nugget for protein.
I would still say it really could be his teeth. He could be working on his 2 year molars.. My son who will be 6years next month, he had all his 2 year molars by the time he was 18months.. He has gotten all his teeth so fast that his eating was never the best.. I even wrote into mamasource months ago because I was so frustrated with my son never eating what I make and then finding him sneaking food at night. Well, after he had cut a 6 year molar which was a few months ago, he has been eatting tunes better, almost to the point where I almost want to tell him that he has to slow down because I am not use to him eatting like that. He is eating like a normal 6 year old boy, but from what I am use to seeing him eat, its alot. Like the doctor said, just keep him hydraited and keep offering him food, he will eat when he is hungery. It really is very hard to believe but I believe it now.
He'll outgrow it. I promise. I think some kids get into textures, and it sounds like he's into crunchy right now.
The doc is right. Keep putting different foods in front of him everyday, along with his favorites. Though he's nibbling here and there, children magically do retain important nutrients as they go along. It may seem like he's eating nothing, but he's getting more than you know. If he's not losing weight, and the pediatrician isn't concerned he's more than likely fine.
If you're concened about nutrition, you can give him a multivitamin supplement, and there are lots of nutritional supplements for kids like "Ensure". And if you're still looking for creative ways to "sneak" good foods in his daily diet, I highly recommend two books "The Sneaky Chef" and "Deceptively Delicious" both cookbooks aimed at pleasing the health concious mom with a picky-eater, are available at amazon.com, Costco, and Target. You should also check out one of my favorite websites for mealtime ideas at www.annabelkarmel.com. Anabel is a gourmet chef with a knack for coming up with dishes both adults and kids will love. She has several books and you can see some of them featured on her site.
I too had a crunchy grain eater. I hid finely chopped vegetable goodies in dishes like Quiche, spaghetti/pasta meals, and even breakfast meals like pancakes. It worked pretty well, though I do have to admit I started getting bored with eating the same things over until he outgrew his picky phases, which changed regularly. Annabel was my best friend in finding ways to shake things up a bit, without disappointing my picky guy.
I so feel your pain. I have a 15 mo. old and she is similar. My son(5) was and is an extremely picky eater. With my daughter I go with the flow and try not to get too worked up over it. You can't force them to eat and the crunchy foods might feel good on his gums.(?) All you can do is offer him food and see. They make to food bags that maybe you can try. They are these little bags with handles that you stuff food into. I know that munchkin makes them and USA Baby carries them for sure. My daughter seems to take breaks from food and then will go back to them. If you are really worried give him a vitamin. In my opinion, not feeding doesn't alway work at this age.
K., hey offer him some pudding, mmmmm no one can resist pudding, ahahahha and maybe jello, jello is a good filler, they can get full on jello and have some nutrition too, pudding is full of milk, and mashed potatoes, with butter pretty yummy for a young one, he will eat, try to feed a balanced meal, and once he knows what those sweet things taste like, fix him a little food, he eats it , he gets the pudding, or jello, or serve jello with a meal, lots of fun food, he can play with, and eat, , hahahhahaha i feel like bill cosby, hahahha mmmm jello, j. e. l. l. o, hahahaha any way keep up the good work and, just do your best, we all go through stages of what we like and dont like, enjoy your little one, and have fun, D. s
My second child preferred crunchy foods - especially puffs and corn chips (and I am a classic health freak). I just went with it and didn't stress (she was my second - you don't stress as much with the second). She actually became my best eater! Now she will eat salads and fruit like crazy. I would let it go as long as you are giving him nutritious beverages.
One idea: If you are giving him juice - cut this out and replace it with non-caffinated tea or just water so that he is getting less sugar through his bottle. If he is given formula, look for one that isn't sweetened with corn-syrup. As long as he is getting lots of sugar in his beverages, he won't naturally crave the sugars/carbs in fruits and vegetables.
