I am at a loss with Hailey's eating habits right now. I feel like she will not eat anything but pasta and fruit. We have always given her whatever we are eating for for dinner unless I know it is something she will not eat because it is too spicy or to difficult for her to eat. I am not a short order chef and i don;t want to start down the path of making her something else for dinner ever night but I am not sure what to do.
Hailey has never been a huge fan of meat. She would eat chicken, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, eggs, meatballs and MAYBE some fish. Lately when we give her dinner she politely says " No thank you mommy I don't like it" and pushes the food off the plate. We try to encourage her to try at least one bite but we just get the same response. She will eat the fruit and the pasta or rice off of her plate but nothing else.
I am starting to worry that there is not enough protein in her diet. She drinks plenty of milk but really lately the only protein I feel like she is getting comes in the form of peanut butter and even that can be hit or miss. I know the pediatrician said that toddlers sometimes eat everything in sight and then don't eat at all but I feel like she needs to eat something. I know she is hungry.
Less than an hour after dinner she will be standing at the pantry asking for a snack. We usually try to tell her no because we don't want her to get in the habit of not eating dinner only to fill up on cereal later. I want her to learn that she needs to eat dinner but I feel guilty not giving it to her if she is hungry so I am at a loss. I may pick up some Pediasure hopefully she will at least during that to get everything she needs for now and hopefully her appetite will change.
Any suggestions that moms who have dealt with this might have would be greatly appreciated.
HI. I love nutrition and have 4 kids so I am always trying to make sure they get enough of all the good stuff and not too much of the other stuff :) I won't give them snacks if they didn't eat dinner. I keep the dinner and if they are still hungry I let them eat the dinner they didn't eat. That way they know they won't get snacks if they don't eat dinner. You can't feel bad since you are offering food and they learn they have to eat at the meal or feel hungry later if they are being picky. For protein rich foods I like plain yogurt sweetened with a small amount of honey, stevia drops (all natural sweetener from a plant), or a dollop of all fruit jam. I also make a lot of rice and beans that are great in quesadillas, or quinoa (a rice like grain full of protien). They even make quinoa pasta that has a lot of protien. I wouldn't go with the pediasure as it is a packaged junk food marketed as healthy that really is not. Whole real foods are much better. If you give her variety and don't allow her to miss meals and then snack on snack food she will eventually come around. Blessings and good luck! Kristy from www.apronsandapples.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI just wrote about this and my six.
ReplyDeletehttp://hotconfidence.blogspot.com/2011/07/diary-of-picky-eater.html (and two follow ups so far)
I don't care if my kids eat nothing but chocolate covered ants for the rest of their lives, but I don't want my six to have anxiety or control issues and use food to control. I want her to refuse foods b/c she truly does not like them.
Kids can sustain on next to nothing for several years, they won't starve themselves. Some of the pickiest kids grow up to be healthy eating adults (myself, case in point).
Continue to serve dinners, and make sure you include one item she likes with each meal.
It's our job to provide healthy food choices for our families, it's their job to eat it.
Good luck, and I totally feel your pain.
Hot Mama