Blueberries, Cheese, and Crackers...

[MayasMama88]

...are all that my 17 month old will eat!! She still isn't eating much in the way of solid foods. We've tried to offer her all kinds of things, but she'll put it in her mouth, make an awful face, and spit it out. She won't eat rice, couscous, steamed veggies (occasionally she'll eat steamed broccoli), prunes, raisins, cereal (hot OR cold)... We haven't given her much in the way of summer-y fruits because they aren't in season. She eats apples sometimes, but sometimes she doesn't seem to like them. Is anyone else having this super-picky issue with your LOs? I guess I fear that she's not getting enough in the way of solid foods (though I do still breastfeed her). Intuition tells me it's just a phase, but I want to make sure before blowing it off as no big deal.

[lifeguard]

Ds is a super eater. Seriously. Everyone comments on it. But at first he didn't really take to food completely. I think it was somewhere around 15 months that he became really interested - before that he could care less if it was available or not. Maybe she's just not there yet?

As well, all I've ever done with food is put in front of him whatever we are having & at the end of the meal take it away. If he wants more he gets more. If he eats all of it - great. If he eats none of it - great. I really have never stressed AT ALL over how much he eats & of what & I think that has helped us all be relaxed about food.

[Caitlin0919]

My DD still has phases like that and she's 2.5. There are days(like today) where all she'll eat is cheese and milk or some other combination of only 2 or 3 things. She'll go a week eating cereal every day for breakfast, but then she'll decide she doesn't like it and go 2 weeks or more refusing it. I offer what I would like her to eat first, but if she refuses to eat it I feed her what she's willing to eat(within reason). I still nurse her so I know she's still getting some nutrition from that. She's not super picky and actually likes a lot of different foods, but she has phases like that sometimes and the best I can do is make sure she eats, even if it's just two or three things. Your LO sounds completely normal to me. I wouldn't worry too much.

[MayasMama88]

Thanks for your responses, mamas! I guess it's hard for me to know what she WILL eat because she's only 17 months and doesn't really have a large vocabulary yet. I know the words for blueberries, cheese, crackers, milk, water, apple and peanut butter, but she can't really go to the cupboard or fridge and tell me something else she'd like instead of whatever we're eating. I suppose I'll just keep trying. You guys made me feel better about it, though, so thank you again! :)

[thedenverduo]

Just wanted to reassure you too!  My ds is 19 months and went through a serious phase like this recently.  I think part of it was teething and he just didn't want to chew anything.  We just kept offering him all kinds of foods, and accepted the fact that the few things he would eat consistently were fairly healthy and wouldn't hurt him to eat them for a month.  He is still nursing as well, so that really helped me to relax.  The past couple weeks or so he has been eating everything I put in front of him and asking for more, so I am happy about that!

Does your dd know any sign language?  If not teaching her "hungry" and "all done" could really help... maybe she is hungry at weird times during the day? 

[MayasMama88]

Denver, I didn't think about the fact that she is teething, but that does make sense. And she does know sign language for "hungry" and "all done." I'm sure it isn't the actual ASL signs, lol, but for "hungry" she'll stick her tongue out a little and repeatedly point to it. And then when she's "all done" she just hands her dishes to me. Off I go to try some oatmeal! ;)

[angela67j]

My DD eats more when we are eating with her....or I will put her food on my plate and give her pieces like that.  I think she likes the fact that it comes from my plate.  Little begger is what we call her.

[kismetbaby]

My 17m DS is the same!  A few more foods, but not by many. And while I do hope he learns to love lots of foods, it's definitely not a phase, as he has been super picky about food from the first spoonful.  I am very glad that I still BF, b/c otherwise I would be really worried about his health.  As it is, I just try to offer lots of foods, knowing that he will inevitably only eat hummus, berries, cheerios, roasted seaweed, or the few other foods he likes. 

I do always give him the food he eats, b/c he needs to eat something!  But I always offer other foods.  And every once in a while I have found something new he likes this way. Turns out he likes the broccoli soup I make--he won't eat the ingredients on their own, but the soup he'll eat. So I have made it once a week for the past month.  And since it's a blended soup I can sneak a few extra good things into it and he doesn't notice. 

Its kinda sad to me, b/c I love food and we eat all sorts of foods. . .but I hope that by not pressuring him about food or making it a battle and by providing a good example he'll eventually eat well.   It is true that he will try foods from my plate that he would never touch on his own.  And even if he only eats one bite and then refuses at least he tasted something else.

[colsxjack]

We try to give our DD stuff from different colour groups. She likes squash and sweet potato chunks, broccoli, apples and pears, avocado, red grapes, is just starting to like quinoa and rice (at 20 months), likes coloured sweet pepper strips or chunks, etc. 

We put a variety of things on DD plate, but only one or two pieces at a time as to not overwhelm. We will put chunks of avocado, broccoli, peas, chunks of chicken. And then she will eat her favourites (avocado) and sometimes eat some of the other things. But only if we just let her be and not try to get her to eat them too much. And although she eats a wide variety of foods, she goes days or weeks eating the same 3 or 4 things over and over again. We recently saw a pediatric nutritionist about her food intolerances, and the nutritionist was very happy about the food she was eating. If I were you I would try not to worry too much and try to just get something from each colour group for your child to like and eat. A variety of colour can mean a variety of nutrients. 

[MayasMama88]

These are all great suggestions, ladies, thank you! I do try to make her plate colorful when we have a variety of foods at meals, but I may overwhelm her by giving her too much of each food. I still give her small portions because I know she won't eat a lot, but I think I may still put enough that she doesn't know where to begin, or what to try first, and so she just goes for what she really likes. This morning and yesterday morning she actually ate oatmeal with peanut butter and a tiny dollop of maple syrup in it, so I was pretty please about that. And tonight we're making mini calzones, so she'll probably eat those because there will be cheese in it, lol! We always put broccoli and spinach in them, though, so if she eats those I'll be happy, too, even though it's not raw, which is more nutritious. :P