Support thread for moms of picky eaters

[Deb_in_oz]

iris - your lo sounds liek my dd1 who got picky at almost 4yo.  her "like" foods are similar (apart from no marmite!) - she does not like sauces on anything (except occassionally devouring home made mac and cheese) and i think texxture isa big thing for her.  we have great success with baked goods/carbs that i doctor up to make healthiest!  so lots of muffins to get fruit in (purees are most successful so it is smooth additions), pancakes (i make them with bananas and sweet potatoes, beetroot and ricotta, pumpkin and wheatgerm etc). i make french toast that has pureed sweet potato added to the egg and milk mixture (so that meal is bread, eggs, milk, vegetable andi am happy with that)

does your lo like weet bix crunchy or mushy? alex amazes me with her preference for them so soggy it makes me want to be sick. texture issues? i think so.  her only fruit she eats in whole form is a banana and it took me a year or so to get that back (when she was little she ate much more variety but dropped foods one by one when we moved at almost 4yo)

[annegaelle]

Debra, can you give us the recipes for the beetroot and ricotta pancakes? Sounds interesting...

[Deb_in_oz]

it is a recipe from deceptively delicious the cookbook by jessica seinfeld. will try toget it on here for you tomorrow. i am actually making them tomorrow myself

[Deb_in_oz]

Made the pink pancakes tonight and there were no leftovers.  alex ate 7 and liv ate 6 - might be a new record!!!

This is from Deceptively delicious. i will note changes i make as i go along

3/4c water
1/2c ricotta cheese
1/4c beetroot puree
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon (i use closer to 1tsp)
1c pancake mix
1/4c grated apple (=about 1 medium apple, not large)
nonstick cooking spray to spray pan

In a blender or food processor, combine the water, ricotta, beets, vanilla and cinnamon and blend.  (I ADD THE APPLES AS WELL SO THEY GET SMOOTH. I JUST USE MY IMMERSION HAND BLENDER AND WHIZZ IT ALL UP)
Dump the mixture in a medium bowl and add pancake mix and apple. stir until just combined. (SO AT THIS STAGE I JUST ADD THE PANCAKE MIX TO THE WET)
Do not overmix - the batter will be a little lumpy
Coat a griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the oil (I just use the spray)
Spoon the batter onto griddle 1/4c of batter per oancake
Cook the pancakes until bubbles form and batter is set, 1-2 min. Then flip and cook until golden brown on other side 2-3 min (min never set 100% or get golden brown - not sure what i do wrong but they tend to cook fast on the outside but not as fast inside. think heat too high and my patience too low)

these freeze fine and can be defrosted for lunches etc


(i buy tinned sliced beets and just puree it up. i store in the freezer in 1/4c batches in ziploc bags and just take one out the morning on the day...)

[annegaelle]

I think I will get this book finally, that will make me feel better to add a few vegetables to his diet..thank you for the recipe!
Igor ate a whole mini salmon pie yesterday that my mom made, he didn't want to touch it first then I gave him some grapes to open his appetite and then began eating...I just have to learn to leave him alone.

[CarrieMN]

Hi I'm new to BW boards but have some questions.

I, too, have a veRY picky eater.  He turned two last month.  I am embarresed to say that I am still having to buy baby food for him because his list of table foods is so limited.  While other toddlers his age are scarfing down grapes, bananas, apples, pears, hot dogs, carrots, peas, real food, the kind that isn't mashed to a pulp, he is eating baby food.    

His list of foods that he will usually (not always) eat are:  apple sauce, babyfood (sweet potatoes, blueberry and oat, peas), muffins, some crackers, cheddar bunnies, spaghetti if it doesn't have meat in it, shells and white cheddar (no other kind of cheese/style of macaroni), Life cereal, rice milk, cranberry juice (watered down a bunch), fruit snacks, nutrigrain bars, waffles, grilled cheese sandwiches.  At daycare he will also eat:  meatballs (the soft Simek's kind) chicken noodle hotdish, pears (canned) and creamed corn, buttered buns.  He won't touch any of that at home.

He has added SLOWLY to his diet.  I just need some ideas  about how I can get him to try some new things that are normal toddler food.  I feel like a short order cook and am tired of what others think about our picky kid, like we are just enabling the behavior.  HELP!!  any ideas???

[Katet]

CarrieMN. I actually think his list isn't too bad. My 6yo & 4yo were both limited in the variety they ate, but I know I was too as a child. at about 2yo I learnt a "5 foods on the plate" idea, 2-3 are foods you know they will eat, 1-2 are those they will sometimes eat & then 1-2 new foods. From there you a) encourage them to put it to one side (with no drama) if they don't want to eat & 2) let them eat what the do. For us as long as they ate 2 foods for a 2yo 3, for a 3yo & 4 for 4yo then they could then have something else (eg apple or sandwich) if they still hadn't filled up. With my 6yo I could honestly say he needed to be exposed to each new food about 50 times before it was acceptable (meat excluded) & probably about 10 times for the 4yo... so it has been a slow process. Thing that has always kept me going is that as a child my brother ate everything & I was the limited food eater, roll on to adult hood, my brother is the one that doesnt' eat that much variety & I will eat almost everything.
Also be mindful that up until 4/5yo the tastebuds are at their most sensitive, so they actually do often prefer only 1-2 different foods in each food group.

[*Liz*]

That list doesn't look too bad to me either - but I appreciate you being keen to move away from baby foods. My DS won't eat anything mashed or pureed - but that gives him a VERY small range of table foods only. And if he is teething and can't manage dry stuff we are back to EWs due to hunger and wanting milk.

Katet - perhaps my DS is similar - I honestly can't remember the number of times I put peas on his plate ebfore he ate them. And now he eats them for my Mum, but won't for me.

My list of food is dreadful  - bread, fruit bread, wheetabix, dry cheerios, shreddies dipped in milk, cheese, cheese spread sandwiches, scrambled egg, chips, fish fingers, banana, raisins, sometimes ham, sometimes peas, sometimes apple

I honestly think that is it at the moment. He has recently dropped yoghurt which was a real blow.

Bascially he gets bored of it as much as I do - but still doesn't really try anything new.

Sigh. I assume this is a phase  .

[marlowsmom]

Hi Ladies!   I've got a picky an almost 1 yr old super picky eater.    One day we like something and the next day I get the "talk to the hand" gesture. 

DD1 ate anything that you put in front of her but this one is a texture baby.    If she doesn't like the feel or even smell of something then it not getting anywhere near her.     We've believed that she has a milk allergy until just today when we gave her a bit of cow milk and some cheese to see if she had a reaction and she didn't.   Good news so far.   Maybe I can get her to eat some mac and cheese but I bet she won't like the texture.   

It's gotten worse this last week because she had a stomach bug and didn't eat for a couple of days.    The result was her being pickier than before about food.   All of my old standbys are no longer wanted.   The only good meal she has is breakfast.   

Acceptable foods are strawberries, blackberries, peaches, crackers, cheerios, blueberry rice cakes, peas, rice crackers, scrambled eggs, waffles, chicken (but only if she see me make a salad with it so I have to fake make a salad).  The sometimes list is sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, oatmeal w/ cinnamon, bananas, and zucchini.    She has had broccoli and squash in a puree but she doesn't like it in its regular form.

I'm running out of ideas of what to feed her.     I am dreading meal times too.

[*Liz*]

Isn't it funny but to me that is a great 'starting list' for an almost 12 mth old. There are some really great foods in there. It really isn't uncommon for LO's to dislike meat and very dry textures until they have some molars so can chew it properly. My DS always liked meat purees then the spoon refusal phase hit and it took MONTHS to get him to eat it again as he just couldn't really manage it.

I would say he is just about getting back to meat now at 17+ mths.

I know what you mean about running out of things - but all you can do is structure days and weeks around what she does like and every now and again try a new thing. We find J will often now want to try something we are having but it still takes a LONG time after that for him to be happy to have it 'just for him'.

The 2 things they will eat, 1 they might and 1 to try (with no pressure to actually try it - so more likely to be sniffed and flung on the floor) is actually a goos thing to do. I often use our left overs for that so I don't waste my time making something new.

He is totally convinced we are going to poison him, I am sure of it  .

Breakfast has always been our 'meal of the day' as well.

If your LO can have cheese that would be great. DS eats fish fingers as well - which I am happy with becuase it is good protein for him.

We are still here - in picky eater territory. But TBH I expect nothing else of him now, and I actually think that is helping too. I honestly have moved past caring what he eats at each meal as I know by the end of the day he will have eaten enough to stop him starving. And the less I have cared the less he has fought me over meals.

((hugs))

[*Wendy*]

Well we have found the one thing that Finn will almost always eat.  Chicken.  So most of his meals lately are chicken.  Just plain chicken breast broken up and dumped on his tray.  Or I puree it with a veg - chicken & carrots, chicken & green beans, chicken & broccoli - well you get the idea.  I am not a cook so really we don't make a lot of fancy stuff for him - or ourselves.  Today I made him a grilled cheese though and he ate a huge chunk of it.  So that was nice.

He goes through stages of food refusal, and it's exasperating but I really just leave it alone.  Throw him a rice cake or some puffs.  He now does this thing where he rocks back and forth in the chair until it moves across the floor, dangerously tipping and looking like it's going to fall right over.  So I just take him down and let him go play.

I don't really know if I can say he's picky yet.  It's really too early to tell.  But he certainly does have preferences :-)  and he's all about the texture too.  If you approach his mouth he stops you at the door lol - 'nope, what is that you are trying to put in my mouth?  I'll examine that thank you very much'  He has to be the one to try something new on his own.

[marlowsmom]

Really LizJ?  I thought she wasn't eating a wide variety.   I only have DD1 to compare her too b/c she ate everything you put in front of her.   
Marlow has been on the BRAT diet for the past couple of days but she eating better.   For dinner last night she had 3 tblspns of pasta, 1 oz chicken, 1 6 in banana, crackers, and about 3/4 cup of rice cereal w/ applesauce.   Then she had a 7oz bottle about 20 min later.   She went to bed at 645pm then woke at 11pm for another bottle!    She STTN.   That sounds like a lot of food to me.

[*Liz*]

Her list includes food from every food group and includes some really nutritious options - especially when you include the 'maybe' list. That sounds like a GREAT dinner last night - do you think this is her 12 months growth spurt?

[M2M]

so glad I found this thread, it's nice to know that I am not alone

[Deb_in_oz]

Her list includes food from every food group and includes some really nutritious options - especially when you include the 'maybe' list. That sounds like a GREAT dinner last night - do you think this is her 12 months growth spurt?

i agree - honestly it sounds like she is doing really well. kids will not like every food on the planet so i think people confuse normal food refusal (from a preference based on flavour or texture) with true pickiness (to me it means excluding most things in a category - like all fruiot ro veg, refusal to try foods at all etc)

i say this just so you don't needlessly stress yourself out.  if you have on average 4 fruits, 4 veg, etc you can just rotate what they have and that is enough (even 2-3 in a category is considered good for most kids)

My 6 1/2 yo became extremely picky at almost 4yo and is still not back on track - she only eats bananas for fruit (and that was a battle - she has to have 1 a day mon - fri at least), no veg in straight form (i use lots of baked goods and tricky recipes to get some fruit and veg in her daily -muffins, pancakes etc), absoluely no meat in any form (not even hotdogs/sausages, when i try roast chicken every 4-6 weeks since liv likes it, i ask alex tro try and she will seriously do it with tears streaming down her face and a choking grimace - 1 piece is like torture and i give up), gets protein mostly from peanut butter (could live on it if i let her) and dairy (cheese mostly but sometimes yogurt, does not drink milk or smoothies etc) and fish (fish stick, calamari etc - all fried/baked)

at less than 3 1/2 she ate a wide range of foods and then slowly cut out most things.  At 6 we have started seeing some improvement in her trying foods (plain and simple ones still - we are talking about taking a nibble from a slice of apple or a sweet potato fry etc) but adding new foods into rotation are few and far between.  she has definite taste and texture issues, but is at least being bold about trying things now (like being in the supermarket and she asked "do they sell ham here" and i ad just bought some so opened the package for her to try and she liked it, but when i include it in her lunch maybe once a week she eats a tiny bit, but to me that is a win!)

my point really is to tell you that if you expect your child to eat everything you ever serve then you will either be disappointed or forcing your child (with the exception for those kids that genuinely will 'eat anything"). what seems boring to an adult is fine for kids - if they mostly eat the same healthy foods over and over again, with new things added as they take them, then that is fine - try not to get frustrated.