I'm beyond the point of frustration. I'm standing at the gates of anti-foodie exhaustion. What the bleep am I to do? Maybe your input can help my sitch. But first, let's go over a little history here.
As a newborn our little tiny would not breast feed. For three weeks I tried to no avail, all the while pumping milk. After three weeks, an exhausted Mommy reluctantly decided to switch to formula after her supply started to dry up. At least Sophie would drink formula, although it was tough getting her to drink the minimum amount required each day.
At nine months old, the girl would eat anything that was pureed. Anything. It was a small success and I was happy. Though this made it even more difficult to get her to drink her 24 ounces of formula per day. But she had some chunk on her legs which made me feel like I was doing something right.
Finally in our transition to all solid food, Sophie decided she had an opinion. She started narrowing the foods that she would eat. Even if they were the same foods she had eaten previously in pureed form. And yes, I tried giving them to her again in pureed form... no dice.
So here we sit. Sophie's breakfast options are wavering at three, lunch options are virtually nil and dinner is down to three. We generally dice up what we're having for dinner in smaller pieces for Sophie's plate. And we've tried making a separate meal for her if we suspect she won't like what we're eating. In hindsight, that was a dumb idea. My toddler, unbeknownst to her, cannot thrive on strawberries and macaroni and cheese alone.
What's a Mommy to do? Any suggestions? Even funny stories about other toddler food tantrums would make me feel better about myself as a mom. :) I'll leave you with this cute pic for inspiration.
7 comments:
Jon and I were just having this conversation last night. Caleb had eaten what he liked (green beans) and picked at what he didn't (turkey). I usually save the best for last (in last night's case, tomatoes...figure that one out). So I went to get the beloved tomatoes since he wasn't eating any more of what he had. But then Jon intervened and thought we were rewarding his behavior of avoiding the turkey. We weren't really sure what to do in that kind of situation.
In any event, that picture of Sophie is SO cute!
We have a picky eater on our hands, too. One thing that helped us was to let a little toy dinosaur come to the table and eat Ian's chicken with him... one bite for dino, one for Ian. Sometimes one bite for mommy or daddy and then one bite for Ian works, too.
We also have to be somewhat creative... doing things like turkey bacon because it's crunchy or veggie chips... Ian loves the crunchy, salty, I suppose.
I usually make something separate for Ian but that does get annoying. But sometimes you just want the kid to eat SOMETHING, you know?
Old-timers say, just fix your family's meal, offer a variety of items in it, and let the child eat whatever they want of it. When s/he gets hungry enough, they'll eat. Constant snacking dulls the appetite, exercise increases it. Be consistent and don't pander to your child...you're the mom!Yes, there will be tantrums. Discipline (consequences)n needed for those and for direct disobedience. Otherwise, don't make table time the battleground. A side hint: if the child helps grow/prepare the food, s/he is more likely to eat it.
ok, no ideas as I myself am a new mom and may need these ideas for future. But love...love the picture of Sophie. But also love the new look of your blog.
Ditto to Brandy-- no great wisdom on the food issue, but Sophie is precious! And I love her little pink dress!
Thanks for all the tips ladies! We've tried a few new things, some have worked, some haven't. That's a whole new blog post! :)
@Carolyn: I've heard that involving the kiddos in preparing the food results in them being more interested in eating it too. Sophie has helped me make chocolate chip cookies... and of course she loves eating them and licking dough off the beaters. No surprise there, they're cookies! But I do need to try this method with dinner preparation.
Oh, and thanks for the sweet comments about my baby girl. I think she's a cutie-patutie. :)
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