Food issues

[JMJ]

Ok, I know she's really a toddler now. We're having food issues. First of all, she sees me preparing food, and she wants to eat. If I give her snacks, she's not hungry by the time the food is ready, and I'd really rather she eat the meal, but I don't want to be withholding food if she's hungry. When we sit down and eat meals, she eats a tiny bit and then asks for "more" meaning "something else." Is it bad to tell her that her options are dinner or breast milk?

We were doing really well with the dinner or breast milk choice until we went on vacation last week, and we were waiting for 20-30 minutes at restaurants for our food and had to feed her snacks or the rolls they would give us to keep her happy. It was her first exposure to white flour, and now she's addicted, but we don't have any in the house! She'd eat just fruit if we let her, but I really don't want her eating three bites of egg and a whole banana at every meal.

[LadyCatherine185]

First of all, how old is your DD?

[JMJ]

14 mos... and still mostly breastfed, just now starting to decide that breast milk is not always just as good as anything else she could eat.

[LadyCatherine185]

My DS didn't really start wanting to eat much in the way of solids until about 15 months. I think what your DD is doing is normal. What I did starting at 6 months was just offered him bits of whatever we were eating and if he didn't eat it, fine and if he did, great! And BF'ed on demand. I didn't give him special meals/snacks either.. he could eat what we were eating or nurse. He is now a GREAT eater, hardly picky at all. Which is good because my milk supply has dried up from pregnancy and it is really important that he eats a well-balanced diet.

I say keep doing what you are doing with the BM or dinner thing, and don't worry if she doesn't eat much. She's getting all the nutrition she needs from you!

ETA: with the going out to dinner, and being out of the house issues-- I do always bring snacks with us for those reasons, (and he does snack quite a bit during the day now that he is on all solids) but just make sure they are healthy. Fruit is great!

[JMJ]

Thanks for the affirmation. I just don't want to get in the habit of offering her less healthy food just because she doesn't want the healthier food. We've been carrying around freeze dried veggies since I'm really bad about remembering to pack a fresh snack until it's time to go out the door. Freeze dried peas work where most people would use cherios or goldfish.