Wednesday, May 11, 2011

My Picky Eater

My 2 year old is a picky eater. Now before you tell me "Well Duh! All toddlers are picky eaters", let me explain what I mean.

At 4 months old, we excitedly mixed up some rice cereal for Honeybee. Her first taste of solid food! A moment that every new parent gets excited about. I spooned some of the greyish-beigh sludge into her mouth and the face that I got was a "Mommy what is this crap you are trying to poison me with" look. We tried several more times but to no We move on to babyfood in the form of strained peas, carrots, sweet potatoes and apples. Again, no luck. Honeybee would fight and spit out any bit of food we gave her.



Fortunately (or unfortunately) Honeybee nursed until she was 18 months old, so I wasn't too worried about her not eating food.  Following the babyfood fail, we tried baby led weaning, basically giving her a plate of whatever we were eating cut up into little pieces.  She did taste a few things - Tikka Chicken being my proudest moment - however that was also short lived. The one thing she did seem to like was goldfish crackers.

From 18-24+ months have been a struggle to add foods to her list.  As of now, she will eat crackers of most kind, cookies, anything chocolate or candy, ice cream and chocolate milk. These are her favorites. On the healthy side, she will USUALLY eat apples, bananas, oatmeal, and chicken, but only if it is actual chicken and breaded - (so dinosaur chicken will not cut it, which is fine with me! Have you seen what they are made of?!? BLECH!!).

I have tried all the usual "kids" foods: Mac and Cheese, pasta, pizza, grilled cheese, PB&J to no avail.  Seriously what kid doesn't like pizza?

The only "Vegetable" she's willingly eaten is corn. If it is not in the popped form, it must be kernels and it must be frozen. If I dare cook it, it is unacceptable.  Also if i give her corn mixed with anything else (like that frozen mixed veggies of peas, corn and carrots) it will be rejected.

So I continue to place new foods in front of her in hopes that she will just try something, but it's getting frustrating to not be able to get her to expand her tastes, especially when my husband and I are really not picky eaters and eat a wide variety of foods.

I'm at the point where I feel like I might need to just not let her eat anything that I know she likes until she eats some vegetables!  As strong as I think I am, she has the stubbornness of both me AND my husband.  If it's a battle of wills, Honeybee might just win out.

3 comments:

KO said...

She'll give in if you hold your position. There may be many tears and screaming from all of you, but she'll eat. No kid will starve.

Unknown said...

After our 6 kids I learned to just let them be. When they're hungry they'll eat. I know I hate most veggies, so by the time kid #3 came around I just stopped trying. Now at 12 he LOVES veggies. They all come around at some point.

After nursing all my kids, 2 until 12 months and the other 4 until 2 or a little later, I would try not to worry so much. Your little one got all she needed to survive. She'll be okay mama. Promise. Oh....don't let the doctors scare you either!

Sharon from voiceboks.com
sharon-moms-madhouse.com

Anonymous said...

I know you get tons of advice. Even though you will worry, she will be ok. She will eat. You are responsible for presenting, and continuing to present, her with healthy options. It might be the tenth time you give her something that she actually eats it. My daughter was picky, but she's 10 now and is perfectly healthy. I found you on Voice Boks and I wish you the best of luck!

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