So frustrated with this picky eater!!

[kristah1000]

Oh my word...I am at the end of my rope!  My 2 year old daughter has always been a super fussy eater, but it has gotten much worse lately!!  Every single meal is a screaming, crying frustrated mess....and she spits most of her food out.  Some of the foods that she used to love are out the window now.  She loves cheese, yogurt, and nutrigrain bars.  These are currently the only 3 things I can depend on getting her to eat.  She hates the texture of fruit, and used to eat it pureed, but now won't do that.  Most veggies are out, but once in a while I can convince her to eat a few peas or some broccoli.  Forget about meat altogether!!

My in-laws had her for an evening once and gave her McDonalds fries - which she loved.  Just freaking great!! 

For a while I was mixing veggies and fruit into muffin batter and she would eat that, but now just crumples it all up and makes a huge mess, which I wouldn't mind if it would mean she would eat a tiny bit....but it's not happening.  I am feeling so upset/frustrated/like a failure who is not making sure her little girl is getting all of the food groups and vitamins she needs!!!

Anyone have suggestions for websites that have good toddler recipes that I might try with her?  I am picturing a lifetime with a child who will only eat McDonalds and I am not liking what I see!!

[Imakcerka]

Bake some carrots and sweet potatoes cut up as fries with a little olive oil.  I once tricked my picky eater with using a french fry carton from McD's and baked carrots.  Ha ha ha Jokes on you little girl!  She ate that up.  Then I overused the french fry carton and she figured it out.

[Snapdragon]

yes- try "roasting" (which I think is just another word for baking?) sweet potatoes or regular potatoes cut up in chunks or hwatever on a tray with oil and salt baked hot. They can get soft in the middle and a little crispy on the outside.

My ds wouldn't east sweet potato boiled but he loves it roasted.

what about bread? cereal? those kinds of things?

what about putting something on the broccoli to make it more appealing? My ds will eat broccoli sometimes if I put butter and salt or pesto on it.

will she eat bananas?

[kristah1000]

Thanks so much for the suggestions!  She used to love bananas from the jar, but I have given her whole ones and she doesn't like the feeling on her hands (same with all other fruit, she is a girly girl who cries when she gets anything on her hands.  We are working on teaching her to use a fork and spoon but it is slow going).  I have pureed bananas and made smoothies, both of which she refused.

I laughed at the McD's carton idea - not sure if she'd fall for that but it is a good one!  She will eat cheerios and oatmeal, although not consistently.  She refused eggs the other day, but I might try them hard boiled or something to see if that helps.

She will also sometimes eat toast, so I am put things like cheese, peanut butter etc on it to give her a little bit of nutrition.  The other issue that it might be is that she is a very late teether and is just getting her canines in now, and still doesn't have her 2 year molars.  She won't let me anywhere near her mouth, so I am suspecting that has something to do with it too.

Any ideas for meat?  I am not very creative with my cooking (because I hate  it!!) but I will try anything to get this kid to be a bit more open to eating food.  Thanks so much for the replies :) 

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by kristah1000 

Thanks so much for the suggestions!  She used to love bananas from the jar, but I have given her whole ones and she doesn't like the feeling on her hands (same with all other fruit, she is a girly girl who cries when she gets anything on her hands.  We are working on teaching her to use a fork and spoon but it is slow going).  I have pureed bananas and made smoothies, both of which she refused.

I laughed at the McD's carton idea - not sure if she'd fall for that but it is a good one!  She will eat cheerios and oatmeal, although not consistently.  She refused eggs the other day, but I might try them hard boiled or something to see if that helps.

She will also sometimes eat toast, so I am put things like cheese, peanut butter etc on it to give her a little bit of nutrition.  The other issue that it might be is that she is a very late teether and is just getting her canines in now, and still doesn't have her 2 year molars.  She won't let me anywhere near her mouth, so I am suspecting that has something to do with it too.

Any ideas for meat?  I am not very creative with my cooking (because I hate  it!!) but I will try anything to get this kid to be a bit more open to eating food.  Thanks so much for the replies :) 

My dd is getting her canines now too. She is usually a pretty good eater, but not so good when she is teething. She has been gnawing on her fingers, that a tell tale sign of teething for us. 

I found a recipe for turkey meatballs that my children absolutely love. We call them pizza balls, since dd1 thinks they taste like pizza (well like oregano and basil and garlic). It is similar to this one. Dd will eat these for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all in the same day if I let her. 

We just eat them plain with a side of rice noodles and a veg. If we could have tomato sauce, these would be yummy in that. 

You could try chicken soup, hummus, plain black beans, grilled cheese, frozen fruit like blueberries or raspberries...my kids would eat these everyday if I let them. Good for teething too!

What I have noticed with my kids is that I need to be eating the food for them to be interested. For instance dd1 never liked broccoli or green beans, but I was eating it and enjoying it and then she wanted some. Yes, it took time, but now she loves both. 

[Snapdragon]

if she likes crispy things like french firies- what abouit giving her hcicken tenders or chicken nuggets> you can get them frozen and if you want you can even get them organic!

[FrugalGranolaMom]

I found this book when DS was a baby and it has a lot of great meal ideas that work for the whole family:

http://www.paperbackswap.com/Baby-Toddler-Meal-Nicola-Graimes/book/1405443685/

DS has become a really picky eater too and also has issues with textures of certain foods. You mentioned your DD likes cheese, have you tried it as a topping? You could melt cheese over broccoli or try quesadillas and maybe add small pieces of chicken. For the times she will eat oatmeal you could mix in some pureed fruit. Also, try offering dipping options for foods, such as hummus, black bean dip, yogurt to dip fruit in, etc.