I didnt really get to many comments on the vlogging. Maybe I'll do what someone said...just vlog the summer bucket list and more vlogging of Mr. Jackson.
Jackson has gotten so big! We haven't gone to his 2 year check up yet, but after we do I post all his stats. He is SO tall I wonder what percentage he is in.
Also, I know I have posted about this before but Jackson will not eat much at all. I mean seriously he only eats:Fruit (some not all kinds and recently he chews it up and spits it out), carrots (sometimes- mostly he spits them out), chips (goldfish or any crunchy chip), peanut butter (sometimes- and not peanut butter sandwiches), yogurt, cheese (sometimes- most of the time no), cereal, waffles
He refuses to eat any meat, any veggies, anything that looks like a real meal, lunch meat, hotdogs,grilled cheese, p b and j sandwiches, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, mac n cheese..the list goes on and on
What do I do with him??? I have tried to only put one thing on his plate that he will eat and the other stuff like he doesn't care for (which is everything). When I did that he just ate the stuff he liked and sat and cried. I never gave in once and the next morning he still didnt seem hungry. I am just at a loss with that to do. Ive researched and tried everything I know. I'd love some suggestions. When we go for his check up I will also be asking about this.
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My second child is like that. I've noticed that he's more apt to eat veggies that are cooked and soft and seasoned. He's also huge!!! He turned 3 in march and ppl think he's 5 all the time! My oldest is 5 and there's maybe a 2 inch difference in size. I just decided not to worry about it, if he's hungry he will eat. He's growing fine so he's still thriving!!!
yes, talk to your doc!
Our doc said to "give her what she'll eat, and then offer, offer, offer. One day, she'll surprise you". and she was right! When my daughter started eating "real" foods, she only ate dairy and protein. (and of course crap like crackers and pasta and fruit snacks and fries). We still are without veggies(not even a pea), but she now eats fruits (some: apples, berries) and tortillas. Still no waffles or sandwiches, but I keep trying. She's about to be 3 :/
Would he drink smoothies? You can put all kinds of stuff in those, and he wouldn't be turned off by the appearance. Start with stuff you know he likes then try adding some veggies in.
Some kids just tend to be picky. My son is 15 and still will not eat vegetables.
Idk what your doctor will say and i am sure the mommy in you is screaming this is not healthy stuff but i think in the end you are just going to have to give him what he likes and try to balance it the best way you can.
Food is not something we should fight over, it doesn't make you a bad mom to give him the things he will eat so that he has some nutrition. He should grow out of it. Most of the kids i am around were picky till they started school.
He also doesn't look like a kid who is unhealthy so just do what you have to do :)
Hey! My 5 year old son had this eating issue too. He ate really well and then stopped. I figured out it was a texture thing and his mouth is over crowded. Luckily it passed.
My step-son has a serious food issue. If his food touches he refuses to eat it.
From my experience, I would keep adding different foods and rotate food he doesn't like. Let him become familiar with the food, for instance, put a piece of broccoli on his plate. Allow him to play with it. Then a few days later, have broccoli again. Our therapist said that the more they see the same foods, the more they become less frighting. (Which I wish I was frightened by food so I wouldn't eat so much. Teehee) But I would certainly have his oral cavity evaluated and keep adding variety to his plate. My eldest son lives on fruit smoothies sometimes. We throw spinach and greek yogurt in with fruit just so we know he's getting nutrients.
I have followed your blog for awhile but never commented. I would recommend reading a book by Ellyn Satter. She has numerous books on feeding children and all are good. Good luck!
I think he will come around. I gave my daughter the things she liked and would slip stuff in once a month. At around 2, her taste was specific just like his....she loved carbs!!! I focused on fruits, home made chicken nuggets and yogurt (kefir, smoothie and sometimes yogurt). Yogurt helps with her bacteria and kept sicknesses at bay. She loved pediasure, so she got 1-2 per day. But they do have 26g of sugar!! I figured the benefits outweighed the sugar content lol. Now she's 3.5 and she's come around a lot!!! She never ate veggies and now I can get her to eat broccoli and carrots on good days!! So I'd say don't worry, give him the healthier stuff that he likes. I couldn't let her go hungry because she'd seriously be happy about that lol.
My sisters little boy is the same way. He is 3 now and still wont eat much meat. He eats fruits mostly too. She will offer it to him but not force it. She does protein shakes to help him get some protein in him. veggies you can mix and blend in with some fruit and make shakes out of them. Maybe he can get it that way. :)
Do you read Happy home fairy ? I believe she had a post about one of her children not wanting to eat.
I make my 14month old smoothies. Easy to throw In veggies(spinach,zucchini,carrot,avocado) and still mask the taste with vanilla yogur and his favorite fruits!
It'll be ok. Once you've talked to the doctor to rule out the obvious (something health related, dental/teeth related or allergy related), then it's just a trial and error thing until he decides he's hungry. When you said he woke up the next morning and still wasn't really hungry, it made me think he's full from whatever he had the night before. Another suggestion would be to limit snacks during the day (that's a great time to mix things up too - have "make your own trail mix" fun and put out a bunch of different things he can mix together to try out) and limit drinks before meal time (so he's not filling up on milk or water instead of food). What about offering something to dip the food into? Like fruit into yogurt or something like that? Sometimes that makes a difference. I'd also try mixing it all up together (like fried rice with veggies, a quesadilla, spaghetti, ect) and see if that makes a difference. If he can't see everything in it, maybe it will be better? Good luck and good job for sticking with it and not giving up!
If he would be willing to drink a smoothie, do a Green Monster Smoothie. 1 cup of vanilla almond or vanilla soy milk (or regular milk, 1/2 tsp of vanilla flavor and some sugar), two cups of spinach and a really ripe banana. Put it all in the blender until frothy. He can even help put in the spinach, peel the banana, etc. My 3.5 year old is also very picky, there are so many he foods he won't even try! But he has been making slow improvements over the last year or so, and it really helps when he can help prepare the food.
My daughter wouldn't eat any meat until way after two and was highly picky about everything else. My pediatrician said not to worry as long as she was growing and she was. She said just keep offering the things she wouldn't eat. She's four now and she'll at least try everything. She eats meat, too! So, don't worry! One day when he's a teenager he'll be eating you out of house and home :-D
my daughter will not eat at all. She will eat crackers chips and a few random other things. She's actually in PT for sensory issues pertaining to food and its going ok. she was also a late walker like Jackson and walked at 17 months. she also had low tone. im bot sure if its tied but i would talk about some therapy with his dr.
Ellyn Satter has a great book about feeding kids. Keep offering, pickyness is normal at this stage. You could try hiding veggies in smoothies (spinach), or muffins (grated carrot, zuccini, etc), and also pureed soups.
I used to work with children with disabilities and one of our focuses were eating. Try just doing "art" with food in the sense that he plays with it with his fingers. Then when it is all over and done with have him "kiss" it good-bye. It will be a start and evenly you will see him put it in his mouth to eat instead of the good-bye! Worth a try! Sometimes it's the feels of the different foods. You can do some sensory brushes and deals in his mouth and on his gums that will help him! Something you can talk to the doctor about! Occupational therapy is what I used to do with children! Now just a stay at home mom!
Have you ever tried giving him hummus? Our daughter loves loves hummus, she will eat it all by itself if I let her, we put it on her meat and veggies a lot to get her to eat them, and pitas too. My daughter just turned 2, and she barely eats anything either, unless its dairy then she is all over it.
Everyone has a different approach...but, our approach finally after struggling was to only offer what we were eating. If they didnt eat, so be it but I did not give in and give them more of the only thing they wanted. I stuck with it and after a couple days they ATE! Both of them still get picky but they now know that what is served is what is eaten and if they dont eat, they go hungry! I felt terrible BUT it worked. I also held back on the milk, water, juices, etc. so they didnt fill up on liquids! I also added smoothies to their breakfast (they being sisters, 2 and 3 1/2) and those seemed to help too!
One of my daughters was like that, she is now 11 and has no issues, just a stage :) maybe you can try those pedia sure or something like that? But if he's fine on the growth chart I have a good feeling he's okay, but it never hurts to run it by the dr :)
I am having the same issue with my almost 2 yr old. I just give him what we are having for that particular meal. He will sometimes eat and sometimes just pick at what he likes. He will come around sometime.
Also, I love this book. Has a ton of ideas for hiding fruits and vegis in dishes. http://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-Simple-Secrets-Eating/dp/006176793X
Good luck!
Our doctor says "When they're hungry they'll eat" So we offer, which does get frustrating because we do seem to waste a lot, after we offer if they don't eat much I offer a pediasure drink. We get the parents choice brand from wal-mart, they have chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. We also do a multi vitamin. The Doctor assures me they will out grow this and it's just stage. Keep up the good work mama.
My son has always been a picky eater. We found out it was more sensory and textures. Now he is in feeding therapy through occupational therapy..its a slow process but he is trying new foods now!
Have you tried making his plate FROM your plate? Let him see first hand he's eating exactly what Mommy is eating (that is how I got my middle child to eat mashed potatoes!) Have him watch you prep the food. Let him "help". Say for instance you're cooking carrots for dinner. Use ready-to-eat baby carrots. Let him wash them for you (even if they don't need to be washed) and eat one straight from the bag..."yummy!" Then see if he'll take a bite. Then let him see that you are cooking the exact same carrots that he just washed. It sounds crazy, but even at 2 it really does help!
It might be worth seeing a Speech Pathologist that specializes in feeding issues--some kids are texture or taste adverse and a Speech Path can work with kids using a method called food chaining--it uses textures and tastes that kids like already to expand into other foods or tastes in a way that makes them feel safe, like it isn't a fight and like trying other things is a great thing.
I hide veggies in what I cook. Steam cook carrots, cauliflower, squash, zucchini, then put in blender. I add it to sauces. Also, there's this Facebook page I started following that has amazing ideas for picky eaters. I will be trying the homemade mac 'n cheese this week. Here is the link for it:
https://www.facebook.com/superhealthykids?fref=ts
we have to put hummus on our daughters meat and veggies, she LOVES hummus! (she is two)
I had to go back to baby food with my son. I didn't realize that he was getting his molars and that his mouth was tender. The doc said try baby food and it was very helpful. than he went through a time he would only eat Peanut Butter. Try also only offering small amounts of food on his plate. I promise there will be a time when he won't stop eating!!
My 1 1/2 year old just started occupational therapy for eating problems. He won't eat food that needs to be chewed up. So he will eat anything pureed, and things like chips, crackers, oatmeal, pancakes or waffles. All of those foods you can eat and they more or less fall apart in your mouth. But, then a food like scrambled eggs or pasta, you have to chew and it becomes more of a rice consistency and he won't eat anything like that, no meat or solid veggies. I never would have even thought of that kind of thing as a possible problem, but I had a friend who had a child with the same problem.
I had him accessed through early child intervention and they made the decision if he needed therapy.
My son has multiple other problems and weight gain issues, so I am not suggesting that your son needs therapy, just that I had never heard of the different consistencies and chewing them being a problem. He also has a bad gag reflex, which they are working to get moved back further on his tongue. His therapist really as emphasized that meal time should always be a positive happy time, and I like that! To always offer at least one thing you know he will eat. Here is a book I have had multiple people suggest I read, Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense, by Ellyn Satter.
Good luck!
Jen
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