[nukuspot]

DD used to be a great eater. Everyone commented on it. She'd eat a whole avocado a day, not kidding. Then one day around 11 months I gave her avocado and she spat it out like it was rotten. I thought that was odd. Then it started happening to almost everything! Now at 13 months each meal is a guessing game to see what she will eat. If she eats something and seems to love it one day she might never eat it again after that. Like one day she was obsessed with goat chevre, now if I give it to her she just throws it on the floor. Same with little cubed carrots and zucchini, same with colby cheese, same with watermelon, same with eggs...The list of things she ate once or twice but never again goes on and on!<br><br>
And the whining...Say I give her something from my plate (like I cut up Ezekiel bread toasted with almond butter today that I was eating) she ate it, but in between each...bite...she whined and whined like she wanted something else. But then she'd keep eating it.<br><br>
Our only sure fire "eat every time" things are fruits. Pears, blueberries, frozen red cherries, strawberries. And meats (If we are eating beef or chicken she will eat lots.) And puffed cereals but they have basically no nutritional value so I really try to limit them. The fruits are good nutrient wise, but the strawberries started giving her a facial rash and I want her to eat other things too! It's especially inconvenient because I really want her to eat what I am eating....And I don't always want fruit and I don't eat meat for every meal! She will not touch yogurt or kefir or most cheese with a 10 foot pole, and is super picky about beans, grains, and veggies. We've introduced most all foods except peanuts, sesame (just because my friend's baby had an anaphylactic reaction to it and I've been chicken about giving it to DD yet) and fish (fish is coming soon after DH goes fishing this weekend for salmon but I don't hold my breath that she will eat it!)<br><br>
She's also nursing less often as well. I'm worried she's starting to self wean already! Sometimes its like she's living on air, and she's already a pretty skinny baby. So I worry and I feel like my whole day is spent trying to get her to eat or nurse. I offer each so much that I don't want to push it, but I really want her to get what she needs.<br><br>
Does anyone have any good food ideas I can try that their toddler just loves? Even one or two more ideas will be helpful at this point!<br><br>
PS...If this helps anyone reading this get a bigger picture, she's not walking yet, though is very mobile with crawling and pulling up and walking holding on to things, and she still only has TWO TEETH! (I wonder if she will eat more once she finally gets more teeth-wise?)

 

[mckittre]

My 15 month old is not quite as picky, but is not a big eater and also prefers fruit. He really loves salmon, so that might be a good thing to try. The only vegetable he'll really eat is peas - either in the pod or out. Dried fruits are good (still fruit, but they aren't messy and shouldn't give any rashes). Oh and soup. He really likes soup for some reason, and it doesn't seem to matter much what kind.

 

[lyra1977]

I'll second the peas...they and sweet potatoes are the only veggies my picky DD really loves. Something you might try with avocado...my DD was exactly the same, used to love it plain and then suddenly started refusing it. But I realized she will eat it as guacamole, especially if I serve it to her on the end of a chip <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> I don't give her the chip, just let her lick the guacamole off, but she adores it because it's "just like Mama." You might want to try that, since avocado is such a healthy food. One thing that worked for us was tofu (extra firm) cut into cubes and tossed with cracker or cereal crumbs to coat the outside of the cubes. Those were a big hit here for awhile.

 

[honeybunmom]

My 13 mos old seems to be entering a similar phase. I just figure he's moving to the grazing phase and I can't expect him to sit and eat anymore. So, he'll be getting a grazing tray soon of the foods I'd like for him to eat and he has eaten so he can eat at his leisure.<br><br>
The other important thing for us is that he does not want to be fed much of the time any more. He'll let me scoop or pick up the food for him, but, he wants to put the fork or spoon in his mouth by himself.

 

[kikimezz]

What about beans? My son thankfully loves beans (*knock on wood*). Unfortunately he loves the beans out of the can better than the ones Ive mad from dried beans. Either way, I just rinse them off and he eats them a lot, chickpeas, black beans, red beans...

 

[blumooned]

I second the avocado into guac suggestion. DS stopped eating avocado but likes it as guacamole.<br><br>
He also will eat something if I stick it on his fork for him to put into his mouth. Even if just threw some on the floor, if I put it on the fork, it's more interesting I guess!<br><br>
DS prefers all his veggies seasoned, with herbs, olive oil, butter, etc - maybe that would help.<br><br>
I do notice that DS is less likely to eat something if we just ate it the day before - he likes a lot of variety. It's a little hard to keep coming up with new stuff, though!

 

[mbm]

For a while, DD would eat anything presented to her on chopsticks.<br><br>
Dip is also big -- chips into guacamole or salsa, pita bread into hummus, fish filet into ketchup, you name it. California rolls are a huge hit, too.

 

[nukuspot]

She does sort of eat peas, and she will eat black beans (but no other kind, I l keep trying to rotate beans, though.) I will for sure try chopsticks and dipping things, good idea! We plan to try salmon soon. I wanted to give her salmon earlier but DH is a salmon fisherman and really wants her first fish to be caught by him---But he's had terrible luck lately. I do put olive oil or butter or coconut oil on lots of her veggies, but she's still not interested <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"><br><br>
Regarding the suggestions of dried fruit or even chips with dip---How do you offer these to a baby with only 2 little teeth? We don't do purees anymore but I cut everything hard up or bite it myself into bite size non-chokable pieces. She's really slow to get any more in the teeth department and I am concerned how she would gum certain textures with no teeth.