1yo picky and sporadic eating - normal???

453 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by mominchina, Apr 1, 2006

ladybugchild77

Discussion Starter · Mar 31, 2006

Sorry if this has been posted like a zillion times...This is actually my first post in this forum so please bear with me!

Here's the deal:

Kiera is 1yo and just became interested in solid foods since I became pregnant - before the age of 11 months she was EBF. She still has a very strong gag reflex although it seems to be getting better. I would not be concerned but since my milk supply seems to be dwindling, I want to ensure she gets adequate nutrition in addition to the breastfeeding she is still doing. She has had severe food allergies in the past but they seem to be dwindling - the only one that seems to be holding on is an allergy to cow's milk (they gave it to her at day care the other day and she was miserable).Here is what she will eat:

Cantalope
Grapes
Bread or any type or cracker
yogurt
applesauce
pears
rice cakes
Cheerios
Eggs (rarely)
Carrots (rarely)
cicken (rarely)

That's about it. She has mainly been living on toddler crackers and cantalope. I offer her two meals a day plus keep a "nibble tray" for her but she is just more interested in nursing still and most of the time the food goes uneaten. I am more than willing to nurse her but it is getting very painful because she wants to nurse a lot and there is not as much milk in there. (I know this post is jumping around a lot - sorry - I just want to tell you everything!) I just am wondering how your toddler's eating habits are and what else I should be doing to ensure she is getting adequate nutrition. I try to offer her what we are eating since the food on Mama's plate is oh-so-attwractive to her! I am just leery of giving her too big of pieces since she chokes so easily. I also have been feeding her a bit of the jarred stuff but she will only take the fruit - not the veggies...Any thoughts???

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apple_dumpling

· #2 · Mar 31, 2006

Hi there!

My dd is a reluctant eater at 13 months. She was EBF for almost 10 months before we started solids at all (she just wasn't interested) and now at 13 months I have had to stop BF due to meds, and she hardly eats anything (I do supplement with formula.. but I'd rather her get her nutrition from solids since I can't BF!) She won't use a cup at all (not even a sippie) and she has been refusing any pureed/jar foods for the last couple of months. She likes stuff she can pick up and feed herself, and that's about it.

Here's what she eats regularly:

Kashi mighty bites
Chunks of banana
Turkey
Smoothie (with some peaches and kefir in her bottle)

That's it! I can get her to take a couple of bites of avacado, melon, chicken, egg, and cheese (sometimes grilled cheese) every once in a while, but it's totally on her schedule and sometimes she won't even touch it.

Interestingly enough, I have noticed that she eats MUCH better if it isn't so structured.... by this I mean if I let her eat in the living room while she is playing (sort of snacking or grazing I guess) she will eat much more than when she is sitting in her high chair at the table. She seems to need a lot of stuff going on in order for her to eat, if that makes any sense! She does excellent at restaurants, when there are a bunch of other people around for her to pay attention to, but when it's just us at the table and she is in her high chair, 9 times out of 10 she will refuse to eat anything.

You're not alone! I'd be interested to hear any other thoughts too!

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mominchina

· #3 · Mar 31, 2006

My dd took a long time to really do well with solids. Like you all, we EBF for the first 10-11 months. Then started very slowly on veggies, fruits, etc. She still mainly nursed for a long time...I think as long as we were nursing during that second year, that's still where she was getting a lot of her nutrition. Sometimes that was great, sometimes it was frustrating. Her eating was very sporadic, which I think is totally normal for a busy toddler, and even more so for one who is BFing quite a bit.

I remember reading somewhere (a mainstream source) that if you put off introducing solids until later, it will probably take that much longer for your little one to get used to them. I'd say that was true with our experience. But there were enough advantages to delaying solids (we were living overseas) that we went ahead and delayed them.

But dd is 2 1/2 now, and a good eater. Loves fruit; does okay with veggies; loves whole grains. But I guess most importantly, she's very, very healthy. Never sick.

Anyway, so that's been our experience.

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ladybugchild77

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 1, 2006

Thanks so much for your replies, ladies!

Mominchina - are you still nursing your dd or has she weaned? I would be interested to know if your milk supply is still there.

Thanks again!!!

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mominchina

· #5 · Apr 1, 2006

We were nursing until a couple of months ago, but were down to bedtime and naptimes. I'm 8 months pregnant now, so my supply was basically gone by the end of the second trimester. We might have kept nursing if not for my pregnancy, but I wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of tandem nursing, so it's worked out for the best.

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