Up until about 10 months old my toddler (now 16 months) would eat just about anything, she loved fruit and veg especially. I have no idea why but she just stopped eating healthy food. I home cook everynight, healthy food, usually stuff like ratatouille, stuffed peppers, pasta and veg bakes etc... I'm a vegan and she has a dairy intolerance, she eats meat but not in every meal, I only started giving her meat when she stopped eating healthy stuff. But pretty much, say I've cooked a nice pasta dish with aubergine, peas, broccoli etc then she will pick all the veg out and throw it, if she accidently chews one she will instantly spit it out. Even if I hide the veg (like I've pushed green beans inside pasta tubes and stuff like that) she will spit it out as soon as she bites into/tastes the veg. Even at lunch, if I do her a ham & lettuce sandwich she will either spit it out of pick the bread apart and remove all the lettuce/veg inside.. Her list of veg/fruit she will eat - -bananas -grapes -raisins -potatoes -butternut squash(only sometimes) -watermelon -onion So not a lot. And I have no idea how to encourage her to eat more veg...we eat together and always the same thing (but I don't eat the meat) and I try and make it seem like fun and being enthusiastic. She just won't eat. And I worry because she was hospitalized for 5 days due to dehydration because she was down right refusing everything, I really don't wanr that to happen again. Anyone know what might help?
Sounds like a smart little girl that knows what she likes! Don't worry about her not eating a wide variety of foods. Let her have what she likes. She's about the same age as my son. He's not very picky, but if he doesn't want something I don't make him eat it. On the other side, I don't let him eat junk food if he hasn't eating his real food. What did the doctor say? I hesitate to recommend any pill, but maybe you can find an herbal solution to help increase her appetite. I know that's pretty extreme, but doable.
Sounds like a typical toddler!! My oldest went through a phase of peanut butter that was his fave thing. Everything was yuck. My 2nd is starting the same. really picky. just keep offering and they will start eating more.
When I was little, I remember going through a phase of extreme fussiness. (Or more likely I dont remember, and my parents just told me this) I had an extreme fondness for potatoes, and any potato derived foods. Apparently, how my mother got around this was to tell me that everything she offered me was some from of potato. So, a carrot would become a 'long orange potato' etc...I mustve been a very gullible kid, because it kinda worked. There're also novel methods of feeding the child, such as pretending the spoon is a train which has to go into the tunnel (her mouth). I've had to care for quite a few children, and they always love that sort of thing. Good luck
When my kids went through that phase, I put very small amounts of food on their plates. Sometimes too much food just looking looks overwhelming to kids. I would also make happy faces out of the food, then ask them to eat the eyes, hair, etc.
Another thing that sometimes works is just putting food within their reach where they can serve themselves...sometimes it is the pressure of eating that makes them not want to do it... At the same time 10 months is very young and they really are still learning about food and don't need a huge variety. Is your child still getting breastmilk or some other kind of milk? It could be they are not getting enough fats which is super important in those first years and that would make them picky... Also to sneak in more veggies... green smoothies are the thing...they don't have to be green in color but just put a good portion of greens in the blender with their favorite fruits(a lot of fruit to mask the flavor of greens) and blend. Whenever my girls aren't into veggies plain we have green smoothies...though lots of times they are into plane jane food and as a matter of fact often when they get picky it is because the food is too complicated for them and they want the simple stuff...like straight fruit, straight spinach or lettuce, straight potatoes...plain and if they can get it themselves all the better...I just pretend I don't notice and let them do their things... sometimes things need to be adjusted temporarily.
My son had a phase where all veg had to be blended into pasta sauce, which had to look red at the end. Cauliflower can be made into "mashed potatoes." Once he decided he liked salsa, any food he though was iffy got a big dollop of salsa. My great break was him liking spices, so all those so obvious veggies could be cooked with the ones he knew and liked. That was at two and a half.
That's a good list !!! I would provide 2 or more of those items at every meal, and 2 or so new items at every meal. You know she'll get her nutrition and you know you're doing your part to introduce new food. Be aware that you can't force her, or control her, and especially don't make it a power struggle. Our biggest responsibility is putting out good variety and nutrition. After that it's up to them. This is a very difficult age to feed, and sometimes they eat so little, we parents wonder how they survive. But they do, and they get older, and the thrive and grow, and will eventually eat many types of food.
