My kid won't touch meat or chickien

amother

Wed, Oct 26 2011, 9:02 pm

He is 21 months and I am worried he is missing a lot in his diet by not eating essential protein?
He will eat dairy like pizza. He will eat pasta and spinach patties. He used to eat yogurt but stopped.
He eats pancakes and cereal at breakfast.
He will have eggs on occasion.
Tonight I said to him time for dinner, we have corn and rice and he started going to the kitchen and I said and we have chicken and he said no and shook his head.
I made rice/beans yesterday and he wouldnt eat it.
I give him chicken, meatballs, etc. and he wont touch it. I have tried many times. Even chicken nuggets - barely will eat one.
I am worried he will become anemic.

morah

Wed, Oct 26 2011, 9:16 pm

Plenty of people are vegetarians, some from very young ages. I have a brother who is 11 and he has not eaten meat since he was very little- I think by the time he was your son's age, he had already stopped. You do have to watch to make sure he gets enough iron, and your doctor may suggest supplements (my brother to this day needs iron supplements). I would keep trying to get him to try meat and chicken, because he's very little now and will probably eventually go for it. Unless he's ridiculously stubborn like my brother...

amother

Wed, Oct 26 2011, 9:45 pm

Thanks. I will try quinoia but my ped. doesnt allow nuts till much older - they told me closer to 5 years old.
I have to get him to eat more eggs (how else besides just scrambled?) for protein. Cheese he gets from pizza. We make them at home for him. Grilled cheese too.

rachel6543

Wed, Oct 26 2011, 10:50 pm

My son is the same. I can rarely get him to eat chicken or meat.

Does your son like oatmeal? If you get the iron-fortiefied baby oatmeal (like Gerber) that has lots of iron. My son eats the Gerber oatmeal almost every day, sometimes twice a day. He loves it with fruit, milk and a few chocolate chips on top. My son's dr wasn't worried about my son not eating meat since he was eating the baby oatmeal.

Is your toddler drinking milk or soy-milk? That definitely is a good source of protein.

If your son won't eat yogurt, how about making a smoothie drink for him? My son loves that. Some plain yogurt in the blender with banana, frozen fruit like mango, strawberries...etc and some juice or milk. You can even try sneaking in some protein powder or powered milk to get extra protein.

ra_mom

Wed, Oct 26 2011, 10:58 pm

You asked about eggs.
You can make

omelettes (stuffed with vegetables, or cheese)
frittata
egg roulade
egg and avocado salad
mashed eggs with mayo or oil and spices
mock chopped liver of blended eggs and peas

Quinoa is kind of like a cross between a berry and a legume, it is not a nut. It is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard.

You can make a rice and bean dish, heavy on the beans.

Humus.

Tehina (only worthwhile if the tehini paste you use has protein in it - check the container.)

Falafel balls.

ewa-jo

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 4:17 am

Hi OP.... I haven't eaten meat or chicken or fish since I was a little kid. I don't like it. It looks yucky. It smells yucky. The taste is yucky. I hate the thought of killing animals. My parents tried to bribe me into eating meat and even told me silly stories that I now know were not true... in an effort to make me eat something I didn't like. It's not nice.

You can get a lot of protein from grains and from dairy. Make sure your little one is getting a multivitamin supplement (no matter what they eat, this is always a good idea for toddlers... since they usually don't eat the widest variety of foods)

The more you pressure a child into doing something, the more they will resist. If he's eating other foods and he's growing ok, then it's not a big deal. IMO, it's only in the 'west' that people are sooo protein-obsessed about meat and chicken.... people in many parts of the world eat vegetarian all day and live healthy long lives.

Ruchel

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 4:45 am

Different ethnicities have different needs.
Indeed some go easily without meat but have lots of food items to make up for it that we don't find/like/tolerate here. I don't personally believe the European metabolism does well without meat. Neither do most docs here, especially for kids and people growing. My mom and my MIL, not quite growing kids, both became sick due to lack of meat living OOT (mom was lazy for the drive, MIL was in a place where no one delivered around period).
I feel a difference after 3 or 4 meatless days for sure also.

It's also not nice to force a child to take his meds, but sometimes health overrides manners even towards an adult. Unfortunately you can be ok until you're not anymore, or "build on shaky bases". Complements help, but never like real natural food.

In any case, everything is controversial. Soy, for example, I was told to avoid by little children.

yOungM0mmy

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 5:22 am

My son is allergic to eggs and dairy, and the only meat or chicken he will eat is homemade chicken nuggets or chicken soup.
You can find protein in all kinds of places - whole grains have protein, so I do a home made granola bar with whole wheat and spelt flour. Lentils are great and so easy. Chumous, or even just canned chick peas with some salt and pepper is a protein my kids are happy to have.
Dried fruit is rich in iron - dried apricots as a snack? Stick cranberries into the granola bars. Here they make a 100% dried fruit stick in a shiny wrapper which my kids love.
The nutritionist told me that frozen peas have iron as well, which I microwave for a minute as a side dish for dinner. And all the breakfast cereals here are fortified with iron (as well as another 7 or 8 essential vitamins).

amother

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 3:12 pm

OP here

A lot to say:

So he is extremely picky. I tried a soy chic pattie today he wouldnt touch it. He used to love yogurts, now he wants to pour the yogurt out on his tray and eat it that way if he eats it at all. He does drink milk - chocolate milk only but its something - and he likes orange juice too.
I made rice/ beans this week he took a bite and wouldnt eat any more.
He wont eat anything he cant feed himself so something like oatmeal doesnt really work because like yogurt, it becomes a huge mess.

He isnt growing well so that is also the problem. He has gained a few ounces since he was 15 months old. At 21 months old now he weighs 21 pounds. Off the chart for weight....

He likes snacks, he likes cookies, muffins....we make squash muffins once a week and he eats it as dinner with rice.
I think a lot of his issue is the quantity he eats - meals go fast for him.
When I take him to the pizza store he has so many people to look at that he sits and eats nicely. I have to take him out to eat just to see him eat!

I set up an appt with a dr. next week to see how they would feel about needing any supplements.

The prob is that I can try a ton of different things and he wont eat it after one bite. By the way I happened to have tried chick peas last night! One bite and he wouldnt even swallow it.

ElTam

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 5:14 pm

If he likes muffins, you've got it made. My DS also won't eat meat. I fry up some ground beef or bake some chicken. Then I chop it very, very fine (smaller than diced) and bake it into muffins. DS gobbles it up.

Hatzlacha.