Non/super picky eaters?

[nattybumppo]

Anyone else with a LO who doesn't eat or is super picky?  LO still won't eat most foods and I don't know if I'm more annoyed or worried.  I've tried to be patient and keep hoping she'll figure eating out in time, but still waiting...

DD1 was/is an incredible eater.  She was eating spicy and ethnic food (e.g. - indian curries) before 1.  She eats (or at least tries) most things and we've never had any food issues with her.  Could go out to eat anywhere and could always find something she'd eat.

DD2 on the other hand.....has never been into food.  She'll eat pouches (straight from the pouch).  She'll eat purees from a spoon.  (Most flavors for both, but if she's not into the flavor, she'll refuse.)  She'll eat yogurt.  She loves cheese.  She drinks milk.  She's okay with crackers (depending on cracker/mood) and cereal (again, depends).  She loves mac and cheese but not really other pasta (plain or w/ tomato sauce).  She will occasionally eat a bit of meat.  She sometimes likes peanut butter.  She does like freeze dried fruit (not fresh).  She likes rice and couscous. 

However, most everything else, if we put it on her tray, she throws it straight to the floor.  She won't even try.  We've tried leaving food on her tray - gets thrown immediately on the floor - like it offends her it just being on her tray.  Feeding her with a spoon (little chunks of stuff or like a mashed bean) - she clamps her mouth shut and turns away.  Feeding her bits from our hand - no way.  We've tried letting her pick and take food from a plate - nope.

She will not eat fresh fruit (occasionally will eat a bit of banana if she can bite it while I'm hold it in the peel).  She will not eat veggies.  

This is not a phase - this is how it has been since we intro-ed solids.  (We tried BLW but seeing that she wasn't into that, we went to purees.  Maybe if we had waited and pushed BLW she would be better?  Dunno.)

She basically lives on milk, cheese, pouches, crackers/bread/cereal (if the mood allows).  

Pedi basically said to just keep offering her good choices but where does that end??  It wasn't clear to me if it's okay to offer her XYZ and if she doesn't eat any, she'll be hungry next meal.  Because basically we offer her what we are having and when she doesn't eat that, she gets some of her standby (usually "top her off" with a pouch or two and maybe some cheese or a cracker with peanut butter).  She's growing (weight and height) so she's eating something....but....?

Anyone else?  I've had the baby who's a "good eater" and now I have the baby who doesn't eat at all (basically) and it's really hard.  :/  

[ellabee]

I'm sorry you're going through this. It must be really tough feeling like every meal is a battle.

DD is a bit picky, but not to the extent as yours. I'm not sure if any of this helps you (it may just be her personality?), but here are some things from my experience.

- Around 10 months DD started refusing to be fed by spoon or hand. She had to pick up her food herself or she wouldn't eat.
- A few months later, she got upset if we cut her food up. She wanted the whole piece of whatever she was eating, or she wouldn't pick it up to eat it.
- Around that same time, she stopped eating anything off of her special toddler plate. She wanted the same plate as me and DH, otherwise she'd get upset and wouldn't eat.
- Now she prefers to be holding a fork/spoon in order to eat. She hates getting her hands dirty.

- We also implemented a few things when we saw she was getting more and more picky:
- No food except at designated snack/meal times and we always sit down to eat. DH was guilty of handing E a chip, or a bite of his banana, or whatever while walking around the kitchen. These little treats were sabotaging our meals because DD wouldn't really be hungry.
- We also stopped offering alternatives to what we were eating. E would refuse our dinner, then hold out for a yogurt or something more desirable later.
- After a few days of these changes we saw an improvement in the amount and variety in what DD would eat.


ETA: My pedi also said that it can take up to 10-15 times of offering a new food for LO to want to try it. Hang in there.

[nattybumppo]

Thanks, ellabee,! You've mentioned some things that I've been meaning to implement:

(1) Be better about scheduling meals and snacks. It's tough now because she's between 1 and 2 naps. Today she had two naps so she slept thru her morning snack and I just fed her lunch. If she's awake, she'll get a snack. Hopefully this will level out soon to 1 nap and a better eating schedule

(2) Trying different shapes of food and/or getting her more food that is easy for her to feed with a spoon/fork. Maybe she doesn't like little pieces and would prefer big hunks to gnaw on. And she loves to feed her self with the spoon for yogurt/purees. She'll dip the spoon in and get it to her mouth and everything! (Which is the opposite of DD1 who, because of BLW, refused a spoon from anyone (me or her) and just wanted to use hands until she was almost 2!)

I do think there is some texture issues involved because she doesn't seem to like fresh fruit - even touching it - and she's fine with freeze dried fruit. But she has no problem putting her hand into wet slimy yogurt so I don't know.... This kid is weird.

[fishbulb]

Have you tried non-slimy fruits? J will eat his weight in blueberries. I also lightly steam (3 minutes in a covered bowl in the microwave with a few TBSPs of water) sweet pepper strips for him.

[fish8412]

@ellabee Great suggestions!

Have you tried smoothies? I got a banana/strawberry smoothie at Panera the other day and LO drank half of it. I don't blame her because it was delish. Smoothies are a great way to "hide" fruits and veggies.

Have you heard of Shaped Food Cutters?

inventorspot.com/articles/shapeshift-your-picky-eaters-food-funbites

[rachelle813]

Lurker. I have an april14 baby and I could have written your post myself. I can literally count on my hands the number of foods DD eats. Usually everything just ends up on the floor. We were using pouches to supplement as well but I think she's starting to grow tired of them. Our pedi is sending us to a dietitian next week to see if they can offer any help. DD isn't gaining weight so we need to see a change somewhere.

[ellabee]

rachelle813, sorry your DD is struggling with food. Hopefully the dietitian has some help to offer.

Come play with us more! We are a small group, and a bunch of us have end-of-the-month-almost-A14 babies.

[rachelle813]

Jul 22, 2015 10:22:39 GMT -5 ellabee said:

rachelle813, sorry your DD is struggling with food. Hopefully the dietitian has some help to offer.

Come play with us more! We are a small group, and a bunch of us have end-of-the-month-almost-A14 babies.

Thank you! I'll start coming around more often!

[nattybumppo]

fishbulb, - yep, blueberries are a no-go too I've even tried drying them off after rinsing them and she still just throws them on to the floor. I've tried bell pepper strips with no luck....maybe steamed??

fish8412, - I could try smoothies - she definitely likes drinking from a straw. I make green smoothies for me - I should let her try them. And I actually did run into a post somewhere with those shape cutters. They are cute!

rachelle813, - sorry you are going through this, too! And sorry that your LO isn't gaining. I think the only reason my pedi wasn't too concerned was that DD is still gaining weight. AND my M14 baby is really an april baby so yes, you are welcome here anytime!

[Deleted]

I have a picky eater too. If we are out away from the house she will eat/try almost anything. At home, she is extremely picky. I just keep offering. If she throws food, I end the meal and she eats again at the designated meal time.

DS is a super picky eater. I think his is more of a texture thing. It has been an ongoing battle his entire life. It is frustrating.

[babycaps]

I have a partially picky eater. At home, he's sort of picky. When we are out and about, especially at restaurants, the kid eats ANYTHING! At daycare, he has his days. He HATES peanut butter though, anywhere we try it.
We try to offer a variety of textures and colors and we don't use a lot of utensils. We also don't do pouches because they take away the sensory exploration that is necessary for kids. The only time we do pouch is yogurt if we are on the go and after swimming as a treat. But he's sort of not wanting them anymore.
Eating is somewhat a contact sport in our house. We encourage him to smell and squeeze/mash up the foods. He feeds me foods, and he loves to try anything I am eating!

Also the more we try to make him eat something, the less he does!

He also eats just about anything we put in a snack cup!

[nattybumppo]

Ugh. parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/picky-eating-in-children-linked-to-anxiety-depression-and-a-d-h-d/?_r=0

I realize picky eating does not guarantee depression/anxiety but it's interesting that there is a relation. I was never a picky eater and I've dealt with high anxiety my whole life. And I know some adults who are extremely picky who don't (seem to) have anxiety/depression issues (though you never know). And DD2 seems to be a very happy baby and not anxious (though she does get a little clingy to me sometimes, but I wouldn't say more than normal)

I would describe DD2 as being my "sensitive" child. We've noticed since early on she seems much more sensitive to EVERYTHING than DD1 was. (as the article notes "sensitivity" related to food pickiness)