3 YO Never Eats My Meals...So Frustrating - Page 3

[Jennifer B]

Regarding Baby-led Weaning, I never fed my kids "baby food."  I breastfed exclusively for at least the first 6-9 months.  As I said before, even as babies they participated in family meal time by being with us.  As they got older and curious, I would simply share off my plate.  I would mash or shred as necessary, but basically they went from breast to "adult" food. I think that this had the biggest impact on their willingness to eat a large variety of food.  You can buy little grinders for very little money to make mashing heartier foods easy.  Now they even have those little mesh bags that you can put sliced foods in and let the little one chew/suck/mash without worry about choking - I will definately be getting one of those for this little one.

Jen

[DinaRose]

All you have to do is explain to your child that baking ingredients are just that - ingredients for baking.  Then, teach your child that we eat different kinds of foods in different amounts because that's what is healthy.  The concept of proportion (eating foods in relation to their healthy benefits) is a simple concept that all children can understand, and it translates nutrition into action guidelines.  Once you explain this to children, and set a reasonable rule around it (you can have one treat per day you decide when) and stick to it you won't have a problem keeping anything in your house.  If your child melts down and has a temper tantrum, or whines and begs until you're ready to pull your hair out, that's a behavioral problem, not a food problem. It needs to be solved the way you would solve any behavioral problem.  Eating isn't about nutrition; it's about habits.  http://www.itsnotaboutnutrition.com.  Dina

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by flyrabbitfly 

Question: were these kiddos spoonfed baby food? We are trying baby led weaning with DS (13mo) partly because my DH was so picky he only ate Mac n cheese or
McDonalds until he was like 19! Supposedly BLW prevents picky eating by keeping control in the child's hands making early eating about fun and play and textures and flavors and the variety of eating become part of the fun.
I think we won't know if it has worked until he is your kids age around 3 or so... I'm kind of hoping you won't say you did BLW!

We did BLW and 2.5yo DS does eat pretty much anything. I can't think of anything he's refused to ever eat, though he is inconsistent -- he does prefer certain foods, struggles with swallowing some textures, and sometimes just isn't in the mood for whatever I've served, so sometimes he will refuse to eat XYZ one day but happily gobble it up the next, or chew & spit out some stuff. He will eat everything -- artichokes, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, peppers, lemons, any kind of spice, any bean/legume, etc....

But, I have no idea if that's due to BLW or to his sensory issues or simply some ingrained trait... or even just because the only options available to him are vegan so he HAD to get used to veggies and other 'kid-hated' foods?? I don't know anyone IRL that did BLW so I don't have a comparison group and he's my only kiddo so far. I like to take credit but then I'd also have to take the blame for all his shortcomings lol. GL!!

[LadyCatherine185]

you have gotten LOTS of great advice and different things to try! I am with D_McG on coming up with some "goals" for your family first, before implementing your new "rules." We are pretty lucky in that DS1 (almost 3) is a great eater. I know part of it is his personality (he is very adventurous, has fear of nothing) but I'd like to take a little credit. ;) We did BLW with him, and just followed that approach (I offer healthy foods, and he decides if/how much to eat) throughout his toddlerhood. He was not introduced to crackers/sweets/junkfood until after a year old. And those foods are "treats" and he does not eat them regularly. Now, he would eat a PB&J for every meal if I let him, but I don't. For breakfast/lunch/snacks he usually gets a choice between 2-3 things. And for dinner he eats what I make. He rarely refuses to eat things, and when he does I allow him to, because he is such a great eater that I don't feel like I need to force him to eat.

As a child, I was forced to eat everything on my plate, I was not allowed to leave the table until my plate was cleared. Now, there were 4 children in my family and we were poor. My mom made most meals from scratch, and most of what we ate was very plain. But, it was food, and it was nourishing, (like a PP said.)

[James ch1 v5]

  Awesome book, very helpful. I do like smoothies, or shakes. I put all sorts of things in there, from tofu, to chocolate, to cucumber and berries. I try to put a fruit and a veggie in together. It's a great way to get a child to drink something that they normally wouldn't want. I find that if my hubby and I are excited about a food (this is going to be sooo good ), then the children usually want it. It is said that it takes 70 exposures to something to get someone to accept it.

We do a lot of gardening, and as mentioned above, the kids were much more interested in eating what they'd help grow. They especially love the harvesting part. :) I also find that some of my kids love raw food. If I give them the same thing cooked, or mixed with other stuff, they don't like it. I found that my toddler's loved dipping. If I gave them a garden veg. they would eat it better with dip. The dip could be anything from honey to hummus. I think as long as they are eating organic, and getting enough vitamins, it probably doesn't matter as much what they eat. I mean to say, a loving family environment, hopefully sans pesticides and tantrums is best. If I knew a particular child was going to be picky, I would make several choices part of the meal, instead of caving to tantrums. It might make some odd meals, but will be worth the peace at meal time. Special orders become unsustainable as your family grows, and will be just one more thing that goes out the window, along with all the attention the next child will take. I hope that some of that is helpful in some way.