toddler foods

loishasdied

hello, looking for a little help please - my 4 year old has been neophobic and just all round fussy since he was one and so only has certain things he will eat which as repeated on a daily basis - i vowed not to let this happen with my daughter who is now almost 15 months but it turns out that like everything else - mammys don't really have all the control!

she's great for eating porridge, weetabix, muesli, eggs, beans, peas, crackers, bread, cheese, pasta and sauces. she will only eat veg and most fruit if its pureed - if she gets these in lumps she spits it back out. also bits of meat and any form of potatoe she spits back out most of the time - is it normal to still be doing this at that age, in your experience. i continue to offer the food but doesn't seem to be improving. thanx for any stories shared. she still drinks a lot of milk. she normally eats ok for most meals bar the actual dinner so as us mothers often are, i'm a little concerned - she isn't always gettin the most balanced diet

pickarooney

It sounds like a reasonably balanced diet from what you describe - the texture of the food doesn't change anything in that respect. To be honest, I'd probably continue with soups and purees rather than making a battle out of mealtimes - I've found out to my cost that it's just not worth having rows over food as nobody benefits.

loishasdied

thanks for the comment. glad to hear it because it makes sense to go with the purrees but the funny thing is when she was weaning she would only take little bites of food and shunned the purrees. also have read about little ones who refuse actual food if they're let have purees too long but i'll just offer both so she's familiar with both but at least i know she's getting it into her!

yeah, i suppose she is getting from all the food groups, just not the widest variety but i suppose it will come in time. any tips for her to eat meat or fish though?

bulmersgal

My daughter is nearly 15 months, her meals for day are porridge or special k (bad i no but she seen me eat it and loves it have tried bran flakes, corn flakes etc but no only special k) any type of berry will hoover, a small bit of toast, lunch can be pasta and fish finger mashed in sometimes small bit of sandwhich or scone, yoghurt and more fruit. Afternoon snack usually either omellete, raisin bake bar and packet of orgamix crisps. Dinner usually mash and whatever meat were having loves stews, curries, casseroles. Also if she sees me eating anything i usually have to shares so she gets random pieces of fruit throughout the day

She gets days where she is so fussy and will only eat finger food, other days she throws finger food away. Now she's at the stage where she wants to feed herself and is great at using spoon but cant master how to get food onto it. So I usually do that and give her spoon.

I find Elisha will eat fruit all day if u let her, could you try your little one with berrys, Elisha loves these and I found they were great for her coordination. Also she's teething at the moment so is loving biting into peaches and nectarines, I usually let her eat away and half way through just remove the stone for her.


I have found the quanity of food she eats is less then 4 months ago but they say they stop eating as much as they are not growing as much, could be wrong in saying that though.

Hope that helps

loishasdied

Thanks bulmersgal, yeah she's ok for fruit but only certain fruit and she seems to go through phases of what she likes. the the moment she eats slice of apple, pear and stewed berries (no sugar but the heat seems to make them less bitter for her) she won't touch any type of yogurt. also she spits out her meat mostly and potatoe so at dinner time she isn't really gettin much. this has been going on for months. she would eat eggs and beans everyday but unsure if this is ok? since she's eating solids almost 9 months should she not be accepting meat and potaoe better by now? i know all kids are different and they have their own tastes and i don't expect her to eat everything but i feel like she's eating very little meat and no fish. for instance how small do you cut the meat or have you any tips how to make it more appealing to baby - meat can be stingy and i think this might be her issue with it? she will eat sausages, not that i'd count that as nutritionally dense but isn't taking to other meat or fish, even fish fingers and chicken nuggets. if i give her ketchup with it she just uses it to eat the ketchup and then throws the meat? maybe i'm missing some or maybe it's her preference, and probably i'm being a little obsessive

bulmersgal

with fish i still mash it with a fork, meat i try cut into as small a piece as possible, i sometimes even tear it with my hands to make it smaller. Sometimes she likes to eat it as finger food. She doesn't like fish fingers or nuggets on there own but likes them mashed into her food

Have you tried pasta, we had that again today and it was a hit, I use tiny little star pasta i got in boots baby isle. I've noticed Elisha will spit out potatoes if i try spoon feed her them but if she does it herself its grand.

Have you tried give her spoon, even empty one. I find this distracts her and i can shovel some food into her mouth without her noticing. I end up using 3/4 spoons at each food.

You could try blend some of her dinner up and see does she accept this more.

It was a complete battle her the last few weeks at meal times so dont worry too much, your not alone

loishasdied

yup pasta is one of her faves. ya know i think you're right, i'll have to start blending her food - it just feels like a step backwards but at least she'll be eating more and probably once she starts to like the tastes she'll accept it lumpy. she has a spoon, all of the spoons if i tried to feed her myself i'd be complaining even more as she wouldn't be eating anything. my little boy would just sit there and let me spoon the food into him it was great, this little madam is a law on to her own as they say.... thanx for the tips - blending it is