Help, my daughter is a picky eater!!!

yochella

Thu, Dec 29 2005, 1:43 pm

What can I do!! About the only thing she likes to eat is rice and
pasta!
She's quite adamant at one and a half years, and I can't force
her! shock

She doesn't look healthy. I have to supplement her with Similac Gain
formula and she tends to suffice with this.
What can I do?
She needs veggies for sure!
Any ideas?
I would appreciate all the help I can get!

supermommy

Thu, Dec 29 2005, 3:05 pm

keep offering veggies with every meal, but don't force. At this age children are exploring their independance and will resist just because they can. The best time to offer it would be when your child is in a good mood like after a nap. You can also try cutting the vegtables into fun shapes or make pictures and faces out of veggies. Does your child like to dip things? maybe offer some sort of dip and it will be more fun and tasty. You may also want to try introducing a vegtable while other children are around such as at a friends home. My daughter wouldn't touch vegtables except for cucumbers untill my sister was once came over and happened to be eating a peice of pepper. My dd asked for some and actually liked it. Now it's one of her favorites.

MOM222

Sun, Jan 01 2006, 8:31 pm

The best time to introduce a new vegetable is when she is playing and have a friend over who is eating the food. If the weather is nice you could meet up in the park and the kids usually get very hungry. As supermommy said don't force her. She'll eat when she wants to.

yochella

Mon, Jan 02 2006, 7:58 am

Thanks Supermommy and Mom22. Will try your recommendations.
I was very proud of her today as she sat like a big girl on a
picnic bench in town eating tomatoes and cucumbers with a pita.
It was so cute! We sat there while she finished up! She is very much
the independent one! Very Happy

SMG

Mon, Jan 02 2006, 8:07 am

I am a big fan of shredded zucchini. If you peel it it cooks well with other bland colored things (like rice and pasta). Does your daughter eat sauce on her pasta? Pureed veggies mixed in with that or ketchup works sometimes too. Also, muffins like zucchini or carrot muffins frosted with whipped cream cheese and ta da! cupcakes!

MOM222

Mon, Jan 02 2006, 2:53 pm

Just remember what portion sizes are for kids. I read somewhere that 4 bites of a hamburger is a portion size........

elisecohen

Mon, Jan 02 2006, 6:18 pm

My youngest sister really did go for about a year eating yogurt with wheat germ and honey for breakfast and lunch and hamburgers for dinner every single night. She graduated college phi beta kappa and is in medical residency, so she doesn't seem to have suffered intellectually too much! Don't obsess too much over it. If everyone seems to enjoy vegetable and fruit dishes, maybe she'll decide it might be worth trying some?

Crayon210

Wed, Jan 04 2006, 11:22 pm

I once heard a pediatrician say that kids will eat what they need when they need it; when their bodies need the veggies, they will come around and eat it. I know that it's true for me as an adult, I begrudgingly realized in seminary that I had to eat protein in order to function so ta-da I started eating chicken. LOL. When I was little, I swore I'd never eat chicken when I was a grown-up.

supermom

Sat, Jan 07 2006, 4:26 pm

SMG wrote:

just what I was thinking!!!