...yogurt, my son, and handfuls of spaghetti...

[kpb]

the above is the only winning combination I've had for the past three weeks....DS, just 12 mo, had come down with a nasty cold virus that DH had and then BAM! Totally lost his appetite and his palate for everything.....This is a boy who was more NT than my husband and I combined--CLO, CO, chicken and beef liver, soaked grains, raw milk, lamb/venison/beef, salmon, fermented pasta noodles, beet and cabage saurkrat OBSESSION, goat milk kefir....you name it, he ate/drank it...we never forced anything...ever....he just came into it on his own. And now, not but one week after he turned one, everything has gone down hill....he was even pushing away his beloved banana at one point. I understand that when you're sick, your tastebuds aren't really humming for liver pate....makes sense...but everything else? Oranges? Chicken Stock? Forget FORGET vegetables...he actually throws them on the floor after making it known that they're awful. And he's never had sugar...he had maple syrup once in a pancake recipe I made...but a tablespoon...in a recipe? You catch my drift....no fruit juice, no crazy mixed up schedules (although I have recently started working again...hmmm...correlation?) and we always sit to eat together, if not the three of us than he and I.
I just don't know what to do....I know toddlers go through this....but I thought that was more later in the toddler years....
Long story short, even though I'm still BFing on demand, I really want to up his intake again--at least veggie wise--anyone have any ideas for entree items and fun yummy snacks for the wee lad? I've tried everything on the WAP site, but to no avail....
Any help would be SOOWOWJOWJDOWJ much appreciated. I want my vacuum cleaner boy back!
TIA
Kyara

[welldone]

I've so been there! Both of my daughters have had phases like that. My best advice is to wait it out, though I know that's probably not what you want to hear. (That's never what I wanted to hear, at least!) Once I had to wait two months to get the little one to eat something, anything that wasn't plain yogurt!

The other trick that works well with my second daughter is changing the format. She wouldn't eat cut up bananas one day, so I peeled a banana and offered it to her whole (with supervision, of course). She was in heaven! Now I offer her lunches to her on a plate, with a variety of different foods. (We call them Picky Plates.) She picks at what she likes first, but eventually, most of the plate gets eaten.

The last thought I had was sauce--will your son eat spaghetti with sauce, at least? I know that's messy for you! But if he will, try mincing a nutritious green (we like kale and collard greens) and mixing it in with the tomato sauce. You could always serve it to him in the bathtub...

[Kittymom]

Wow. Your son ate all that already? My son wasn't even doing solids regularly at 12 months. : It didn't become a daily thing without exception until 13 months. It's hard for me to wrap my brain around how young most kids eat quantities of solids.

Still, we've been through the same thing at different ages. The best advice I can give is just be patient, stay low key, and keep offering the foods. Changing presentation, like with that banana example, is a good idea. My son used to love to scarf sauerkraunt, and now he mostly will only enjoy it in a sushi roll with avocado. *shrugs*

Your son's appetite will come back, though. Just wait until the next growth spurt, and he'll be a vaccuum cleaner again.

-Kittymom

[Tcarwyn]

My girls in general are good veggy and meat eaters but occasionally when I cant get them to eat anything else but cheese and eggs ( Luna) or bread and fruit ( Liefke) I make a batch of "high nutrient" pasta sauce. Beef and heart, and tons of veggies (onion, garlic, leeks, celery, brocolli, carrot, black olives, kale...all shredded very small) in tomato sauce. Served over brown rice noodles with tons of fresh parmasan....they always love it. Works wonders with dh as well but I have to make sure the heart is cut really small....he doesn''t trust me

Tanya