She has always loved oatmeal and baby foods that are sweet. She has also, usually, somewhat liked the orange foods, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash. But, NEVER, has she been able to stomach any of the vegetables or pasta baby foods. She has always gagged any time we've tried to feed them to her. But try and try again. We've spent countless dollars on wasted baby food because of trying, trying, and trying. Now that we're moving to primarily regular food, with some 3 foods mixed in here and there, we are struggling to find a variety of foods she'll eat. She hates pasta (aren't all baby's supposed to love pasta?!), hates meat (except all beef hot dogs), and likes very few vegetables. She has shown interest in peas, carrots, black beans and Lima beans. But, she'd be much happier with fruit (almost any kind, especially grapes and strawberries), yogurt, cheese, and bread.
Now that she's moved to whole milk versus formula I'm worried that she's not getting enough variety and vitamins in her diet. Am I just a first time parent and worrying too much? We continue to try everything but she won't give. I try pasta at least twice a week. Two bites max is all we get. We've bought the "Graduate" meals to try, again, and again, thinking what kid wouldn't like that. Our kid of course! Help! Any suggestions from the seasoned professionals?
Pictured below, our picky eater then (5 months) and now.
9 comments:
she may be picky, but she is adorable!
She's a doll! My unprofessional advice is to just keep trying. You'll have to introduce and re introduce foods over and over again for a long time. There are things Cam eats now that he wouldn't eat a few years ago, but we just kept trying over the years. Sometimes they just don't care for the baby food any more and they need regular food. Quit wasting money on baby food and just offer her what you are having . It also may not be that she is picky. One year olds don't have much control or choice over things, but they can choose what they eat and so they just are stubborn. Don't give up! Keep trying! Give her different choices and textures to choose from on her tray! Don't worry about her nutrition. The doctor always told me that they will eat what their body needs and they will be fine. Especially if she is eating fruits. That is good because some kids won't even eat that!
Look at you blogging before 3 months time has passed :)
One thing I did was to mix veggies in with her fruits. It works if you can get the right combo going.
Introduce and reintroduce things.
Ok, so I have not one but TWO picky eaters. They each were good at one time but have both decided they don't like ANYTHING green. I know what it's like to have a hungry baby screaming at you so my advice and what I do is to offer up options with something that they WILL eat. I give them what we are eating and sometimes throw cheerios on their plate as a side :) This way they eat something so that they aren't MANIACS before bed time.
She will eat more. I promise.
My kids have always been picky eaters. They did better when I stopped feeding them baby food and just started them on what I was eating. Have you tasted baby food lately. It tastes like sh*t. You wouldn't want to eat it either.
Give miss Riley loves from me :)
We need to get together soon!!!!
I am with Mel! the food is yucky. as soon as I added a little butter and a little granualted garlic and celery salt when cooking green beans my kids started devouring them... It is hit and miss I have found that ella will eat salad now..espcially if it is with ranch dressing! I think it is all about flavor! (sometimes texture too)...good luck!
Wow - look at how big she is! What a growing girl!!
Andrew is far from a picky eater, but most seasoned mommies will tell you to keep trying (like Merr and KJ said).
Andrew will love yogurt for a week, then turn his nose at it for 3 days, then love it again.
Sometimes, he is disinterested in trying something unless we make a game out of putting a cheerio on the spoon along with the food.
To be honest, we scrapped the baby food thing almost completely when Andrew turned one. The baby food pasta is terrible. ugh. But we feed the boy usually the same things we are eating for dinner so he sees that he's eating the same thing.
And one thing we learned early on is that sometimes, when Andrew was turning down food, it was because HE WANTED TO FEED HIMSELF. We'd struggle to get him to eat something, he'd push it away, even cry, but if we put it down on his tray with the fork, he'd go to town.
Holy Shit! You blogged again? Wow! I love it!
Merr's advice is perfect!
Wonderful pictures! She has such a beautiful smile.
Here are a few things that Kylie likes that aren't on your list:
Morning Star veggie sausage patties & chicken nuggets. Nutri-grain whole wheat & blueberry waffles (microwaved 30 seconds instead of toasted which makes them softer).
I've tried giving Kylie scrambled eggs 6 or 7 times, and she just ate a few bites this week and seemed to enjoy it. I gave some hummus to Kylie and it broke out her mouth for a few hours so I haven't tried it again; but I know several babies who simply love it.
At this point, Kylie really isn't eating our food because so many of our dishes have ground beef or non-breaded fish or chicken and Kylie doesn't like these yet so you aren't alone there.
Kylie is a fruit freak- eating 4-5 servings of fruit a day which balances the cheese we give her. And she eats around 5-6 times a day.
Almost everything we give her is finger foods. Some days, I can plop a tray of veggies and fruits in front of her and she will eat like crazy. Other days, the full plate it seems to overwhelm her so I'll give her a few pieces at a time on her highchair tray.
She eats much better if I have everything ready before I put her in the chair and if I give her my full attention while she's eating. We'll play games like she'll hold out a bite and I'll pretend like I'm going to eat it (sometimes I'll take it from her) and then I'll take something that she doesn't love like peas and pop it in her mouth. She thinks this is fun and I've been able to feed her on "hard" days by making it into a game.
This may be WAY more than you wanted but just wanted to help.
We have a picky Riley on our hands too. Must be the name. ;)
We still give formula, actually, because she doesn't eat enough food to get everything in, we feel we have to continue the formula for now. She also hates Homo milk.
One thing that I've noticed helps is having her feed herself. We haven't done baby food in ages (before she was 1) and she is really into using a baby fork now. I find she eats better that way.
Have you tried Kraft Dinner? (Mac & Cheese) because it's like crack to Riley and she will shovel it in. Hey, whatever works.
And their tastes change over time, as others said.
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