Picky Eater = My 3yo DS

[Hannahkatiebell]

My son will eat and drink the following:

pasta, any type and color, no red sauce with or without butter and cheese

ravioli and tortolinni, filled only with cheese, no sauce, just butter and cheese

fruit of any sort

jello

yogurt 2X a week, no more

Cheese cubes, cheese slices, cheese sticks

Cookies, cakes, etc.

smoothies

vanilla, choc, or strawberry milk

V8 Twist juice

Any juice

And that's about it. No meat, no soups, no veggies, no legumes. I feel like he's missing out on something. What do you all think? Any ideas to get him to eat more foods? We always offer what we have and even put it on his plate, but he'll often cry when we do that, even if we say he doesn't have to eat it.

[imogenlily]

Smoothies could be a vehicle for hidden veg, ie kale or other greens.

[K1329]

My ds, 4, is an extreme picky eater, too. Even turns down pie/cake and other sweets! I just keep offering all foods we're having, and, like your dc, he will often balk at the idea of it even being on his plate! I usually accommodate him, and remove the offending food from his plate. But, he recently added broccoli to his short list, so I'm assuming that as he gets older he'll try (and like) additional foods. Also, I do supplement with a vitamin.  I'm going to be checking back to see if anyone can add some more insight!

[34me]

Except for the cookies, it seems that everything is soft food.  I would try two things - find out if he is having tooth issues, see if you can get him into an evaluation for food aversions.  He may have issues with textures and an OT or SLP might be able to help him with this.  My extremely picky toddler has turned into an extremely picky 14 yo.  I wish I knew then what I know know, I may have been able to help him more.  At this stage we just joke about him only eating "pre chewed food".  He will pretty much only eat food that falls apart in your mouth.  He also has other rules about grit re: no smoothies with lumps of any kind even just protein powder, smells re: he can smell celery from the next room, even in soups, etc. He also severely limits the amount of food he takes in at any one time.  It's fun in my house at meal times.  Good thing his brother and sister will eat almost anything!

[4evermom]

Kids slow down on growth around age 3, which is when many kids start becoming pickier and parents worry about them not eating enough although they don't need as much.  My guy was always very selective with foods having some mild sensory aversions (hated food like ketchup touching his lips, hated big pieces of food, didn't like most wet food).  

 

Anyway, muffins are a great vehicle for adding foods.  If he doesn't have allergies, you can grind nuts or flaxseed and add them to the recipe.  Almonds grind well but walnuts don't because they are so oily.  Grinding walnuts with whatever sugar is called for in the recipe helps them grind better.  I use my coffee grinder.  Or you can add nut butter so you don't need to worry about grinding smoothly.  Some people put nut butter in smoothies, as well.  You can add vegetables like zucchini, pumpkin, or grated carrots to the muffins..

 

How about avocado? You could put it in smoothies but he might like it plain.  Maybe make a modified guacamole, mashing it with a little salt. 

 

I recently tried a pizza recipe that had a crust made from 2 cups riced cauliflower, 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, and an egg.  You mix it together, pat it onto a pan, and prebake it before adding pizza toppings and broiling them.  My ds didn't try it because the crust was wet but it was pretty tasty.  It seems to me that the cauliflower with cheese mixture would be a good cheese filling for a pasta dish like stuffed shells. 

 

My ds eats pasta a lot.  Instead of butter, I'll use olive oil or even flaxseed oil.  I did that from the start, though.  He might have complained if I suddenly switched form butter to oil.  You could start doing half and half.  I like to mix up his fats so everything isn't from dairy.  I don't think dairy should ideally be a dominant part of one's diet so I avoid it when I can.  My ds actually prefers almond milk to cow milk.  He likes cheese (but not yogurt) and eats more than I prefer.

 

My ds will eat ravioli with spinach, but he tends to examine his food and complain about green specks in general.  I think I just said "Oh those are just pretty specks.  It just tastes like cheese" and he actually ate it (to my surprise!).  He'll eat broccoli if I cut it small and sprinkle the powder from mac n cheese on it (bletch!).  That's about the only green my ds will eat...

 

He just started eating a very simple soup in the past year.  I'll essentially cook carrots and pasta in chicken broth and call it chicken noodle soup.  It's not his favorite thing.  He's much better about food in general now that he is older.  He's much more reasonable and will taste things if I tell him I think he might like it.

[Hannahkatiebell]

Originally Posted by 34me 

Except for the cookies, it seems that everything is soft food.  I would try two things - find out if he is having tooth issues, see if you can get him into an evaluation for food aversions.  He may have issues with textures and an OT or SLP might be able to help him with this.  My extremely picky toddler has turned into an extremely picky 14 yo.  I wish I knew then what I know know, I may have been able to help him more.  At this stage we just joke about him only eating "pre chewed food".  He will pretty much only eat food that falls apart in your mouth.  He also has other rules about grit re: no smoothies with lumps of any kind even just protein powder, smells re: he can smell celery from the next room, even in soups, etc. He also severely limits the amount of food he takes in at any one time.  It's fun in my house at meal times.  Good thing his brother and sister will eat almost anything!

He was born with cleft lip and palate, so I'm sure that sensory issues are affected by this.  I've tried what they call "food chaining" but it a challange to implement without our feeding therapist.

[Hannahkatiebell]

4ever- thanks so much for all your ideas! I will try the muffins for sure with veggies! Homemade smoothies tend to be not a hit as they are never the right consistency.  He likes the ones in the little bottles from the store.  Maybe I could save up a few of those bottles to use to serve homemade smoothies? I will try to add nut butter to them as well. Good thinking!

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by Hannahkatiebell 

4ever- thanks so much for all your ideas! I will try the muffins for sure with veggies! Homemade smoothies tend to be not a hit as they are never the right consistency.  He likes the ones in the little bottles from the store.  Maybe I could save up a few of those bottles to use to serve homemade smoothies? I will try to add nut butter to them as well. Good thinking!

My ds won't touch any kind of smoothie, lol.  But he just ate corn bread that I made with pureed lima beans (the white ones that you buy dry)!  They are a lot like potatoes but the skin is off putting for some kids.  And my ds doesn't like potatoes, anyway...