Picky eater is driving me crazy! Need to vent...

[OliveJewel]

If you want to share some tips feel free

I have two boys, 5 and 2.  The 5yo is sooo picky AND has days where he barely eats.  His choices of food would be anything sugary, meat, and bread, in that order.  This morning my 2yo has already eaten steel cut oats and two eggs.  The 5yo has had one Amazin' Grass chocolate supplement drink.  He is refusing to eat anything, but would eat pie or cake or cookies in a heartbeat if we had it and if I let him.  Normally I just don't make a big deal about it and if he starves he starves.  But now he has been sick with a cold that seems to have progressed into a secondary infection so now he's taking an antibiotic.  All the rest of us had the cold, including the 2yo and my older parents and worked through it.  His is just hanging on.

So I am pretty sure that he has a weak immune system.  I feel so stressed when I put dinner on his plate and he just picks at it while the rest of us eat.  Admittedly I was picky when I was a kid, but now I eat everything and make sure my kids see me eating lots of veggies, which the 2yo loves.  My MIL says that DH was notoriously picky as a child and that she and her mother were constantly worried about him because he would "never eat".  She never mentioned anything about him being sick all the time.  Today he is at a slightly more than healthy weight and eats a lot, but still does act admittedly picky about certain things.

I am so so frustrated.

[BRmama]

I have never posted here in this forum but I feel compelled to because I'm in a similar boat with you. I was planning on writing a similar thread when I found yours. I too have two boys but their ages are 21 months, and a three week old. My 21 month old is sooooo picky I'm at my wits end. The only way he eats is if I literally shove something down his throat then he cries but then ends up liking it. He wont even eat junk lol. 

So , I hope your little one gets better and I'll be watching this thread closely too for tips. A friend of mine suggested including him during the meal preparation but my toddler is so young I'm not sure what I can include him in. Maybe if your lo makes something with you he'll be more compelled to eat it after. Good luck

[GardenStream]

I had my son help me with harvesting from the garden.  I would have him help to dig potatoes or pull the carrots.  Then we would go inside and wash them off.  He would sit next to me while I did a little of the preparation.  Then at dinner I would make a big deal about how he had helped me to make whatever it was.  He would always try whatever it was that he had helped with.  Sometimes he liked it and sometimes he didn't, but he would happily try it and he was always proud of the food he helped with.
 

Originally Posted by BRmama  A friend of mine suggested including him during the meal preparation but my toddler is so young I'm not sure what I can include him in. Maybe if your lo makes something with you he'll be more compelled to eat it after.