TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Hello,
My husband & I are having a very hard time feeding our 19th month old twins. They throw everything we give them to eat on the floor. We have tried everything! As of now all they eat are cheerios, pasta and vegetables, animal crackers, pancakes, and rice cakes.
Help! We don't know what to do. Are they testing us?? We are so frustrated that some nights they go to bed without eating anything. I feel like we are starving them but yet they still sleep through the night. My daughter is still getting a few teeth in and my son has just about all of his teeth.
They have no problem drinking.
What are your suggestions on how to handle a picky eater??

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

It sounds about normal to me - both of my kids went through that at about the same age. It took them until about 3 to want to really eat again. My ped said as long as they were growing it was ok for them to slow down on eating. I would just continue to introduce foods to them. My preference was to provide at least one thing on the plate that I knew they would like to eat. Are they getting milk? Will they eat apple sauce, yogurt, cheese, chicken nuggets? The more you react to them throwing things the more they will do it because it gets a reaction from you.

TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

I am going through the same thing with my 17m old. He will only eat string beans, (apple sauce and yogurt when he feels like it), pasta, cheerios, chicken and hot dogs. If I give him anything else it ends up on the floor or on me. He will drink milk all day long if I let him. I have been feeding him pasta for the past few days just to make sure he at least eats something. I have no real suggestions, but what my dh has been doing which is kind of working cause it gets ds excited is as dh is eating, he puts ds in the high chair next to him and shows ds that daddy is eating the same thing.

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Sounds like my 16 month old dd...some days she hardly eats and on other days all she eats is chicken nuggets, sometimes for breakfast, lunch and dinner...lol...i gave up being frustrated with it, if that's all she wants then so be it...I'm just glad she's eating something...she does drink a lot of milk through out the day

TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Omg DD is doing the SAME. EXACT. THING!!!! I don't understand it. She throws everything on the floor and I'm at my wits end. She's a good eater, and will eat most things we give her, but suddenly she thinks its funny to throw it on the floor, I'm guessing to get a reaction out of us?

I know the dr says to ignore it but its so hard to. Esp when she destroys the floor and the wall behind her. We have a splat mat but she throws it past that.

I wish I had some suggestions for you, but I don't. I'm going to tell the dr about it at her 15 month checkup next month.

Message edited 3/19/2014 9:06:56 PM.

TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

My twins are 28M & hard to feed also. When they were throwing it on the floor, just say all done & let them play. When they are hungry they will eat, although will still be picky. Just keep trying diifferent food.
Just make sure they have there vitamins & they will catch on.

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Mine are getting pickier. I think its a phase. The do eat so that's a plus. At that age I was a terrible eater--pancakes, cheese, baby oatmeal-that's it. I was (believe it or not) underweight and my mom couldn't get me to eat. My friends DD went though a stage where all she would eat is ketchup so it could be worse.

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

I feel your pain

dinner is rough here. ROUGH. I try to introduce new, different things, but it's always a gamble. and then when I find a meal that she seems to do well with, i'll make it again and she won't eat a bite. for the longest, she would throw food. then she decided she would take it and chew it happily, then spit it out. it drives me INSANE. I would rather her just refuse the fork, and eat nothing, then spit. it's so nasty

I'm probably not doing any good, but, to save my sanity, I let her watch tv during dinner a lot. dh works during dinner time usually, so it's just her and I - it's not like we're sitting down to a family dinner. when she's a bit distracted by the tv, she eats SO much nicer. and I am teaching her cause and effect, bc if she stops eating nicely, or spits something out, the tv immediately goes off until she starts eating nicely again.

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Posted by MrsKelly

I feel your pain

dinner is rough here. ROUGH. I try to introduce new, different things, but it's always a gamble. and then when I find a meal that she seems to do well with, i'll make it again and she won't eat a bite. for the longest, she would throw food. then she decided she would take it and chew it happily, then spit it out. it drives me INSANE. I would rather her just refuse the fork, and eat nothing, then spit. it's so nasty

I'm probably not doing any good, but, to save my sanity, I let her watch tv during dinner a lot. dh works during dinner time usually, so it's just her and I - it's not like we're sitting down to a family dinner. when she's a bit distracted by the tv, she eats SO much nicer. and I am teaching her cause and effect, bc if she stops eating nicely, or spits something out, the tv immediately goes off until she starts eating nicely again.

Message edited 3/19/2014 10:43:37 PM.

TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Ugh, I feel you 100%
My twin DD's are 16mo, and they used to eat literally everything. Now, they only want pancakes, waffles, grilled cheese, ham, bread, any fruit is still in, pasta with anything, (even veggies) meatloaf, meatballs, and yogurt. Anything green gets spit out unless I make spinach meatloaf, then they eat it. No more fish, pork chops, pot roast...

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

I only give them things that I am perfectly Ok with them eating.

Otherwise they go hungry. Sometimes they pick at food for 3 days... and then they go back to eating regularly. They are NOT thin.

They don't get to choose: they eat what we eat (except for sushi & raw food). They have never had hot dogs, nuggets, french fries. We don't do kid's meals unless it is adult like food or pasta. We don't do snacks at all (DS does get crackers and sometimes fruit & milk at school). Apples & fruits are dessert or served as breakfast or lunch.

They both eat fish (regularly: salmon & branzino are favorites), meat (steak, meatballs, pork, chicken is a favorite), & veggies (they love potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, spinach, corn, green beans). We usually do 1 meat & 2 veggies on the plate. If they skip 1 component, they have to eat the other 2 or go hungry. If they want MORE of something, they have to eat the component they skipped (either the whole thing if it's something they used to like or a big bite if it's something new). We do pasta once a week for dinner (yes, they LOVE that & ask daily for it).

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

Posted by Atherley

Posted by MrsKelly

I feel your pain

dinner is rough here. ROUGH. I try to introduce new, different things, but it's always a gamble. and then when I find a meal that she seems to do well with, i'll make it again and she won't eat a bite. for the longest, she would throw food. then she decided she would take it and chew it happily, then spit it out. it drives me INSANE. I would rather her just refuse the fork, and eat nothing, then spit. it's so nasty

I'm probably not doing any good, but, to save my sanity, I let her watch tv during dinner a lot. dh works during dinner time usually, so it's just her and I - it's not like we're sitting down to a family dinner. when she's a bit distracted by the tv, she eats SO much nicer. and I am teaching her cause and effect, bc if she stops eating nicely, or spits something out, the tv immediately goes off until she starts eating nicely again.

you and I are both using tv as motivation. lol

TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

DD is approaching 2 and getting pickier for sure. Breakfast and lunch are usually good so I don't stress too much about dinner anymore. I've finally accepted that she'll be okay if she doesn't eat dinner and I'm not interested in making a separate meal every night. There are times that I'll make her something separate bc of allergies or something being spcy. If there's no reason for her to not eat what we're eating then that's all she's served. That's often enough, I don't need it to be every night! Last night she ate corn for dinner and didn't touch her steak, potatoes, or brussel sprouts even though I know she would like some of those. You can't force them to eat, so why make yourself crazy over it? I've gotten good at catching her plate before she can push it off the tray. She will toss the fork over or a piece of food but I just keep repeating that she shouldn't. I try to be calm about it so she doesn't get a rise out of me and will make her apologize or repeat the rule "no food on the floor" and leave it at that. DD is not starving or underweight so I don't worry.

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

I'm mean when it comes to food!

I don't "accept" picky eating!

I make one dinner and if the kids don't eat it.. they don't eat dinner. There's no fighting, battles, arguments. My 4 year old is well aware of the rules and sometimes has nights where he chooses not to eat dinner. Sometimes he chooses not to eat vegetables and then he knows that he will not get dessert. My younger 2 have the same rules and have also gone to bed without eating dinner. They're not starving and this doesn't bother me at all.

As far as throwing food goes... my little ones (25 months) don't do this anymore but when they did, their food was taken away with no replacement given.

I don't FORCE my kids to eat anything, but they know that if they don't want to eat what's provided.. nothing else will be given. This is what works for our families. I go out of my way to make foods that I think my family will enjoy and nearly everything is made from scratch and usually pretty well-balanced. My oldest has severe food allergies and my little ones have their own developmental delay/issues. If they can't find anything on their plates to eat... sorry! Breakfast is tomorrow morning

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

DD is 18 months and all she eats at home - PB&J, grilled cheese, meatballs, pasta, chicken nuggets, rice and french fries. (Breakfast is a bit better.) I give her everything we eat and daycare swears she eats everything they give her. She will try other things - meaning she will put it in her mouth then spit it out.

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

DD is 20 months. Is and always was a picky eater. She has a few things that she'll eat religiously: chicken nuggets, meatballs, pb&j, eggs, pasta, cereal, cereal bars, but to get her to try healtier options is pretty hard. We bought the Nutribullet and make her fruit/veggie juice every morning, which she LOVES. So, at least she's getting some nutrients there.

If I make something that she doesn't feel like eating, I will make something else that I know she'll like. If she doesn't want the other thing I make either, then she just doesn't eat. She drinks watered down juice and milk throughout the day too.

I feel your pain, it's very frustrating, but her Ped said that as long as she's eating a solid meal every couple of days, it's fine.

Message edited 3/20/2014 3:12:22 PM.

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

The twins eat yogurt, string cheese sticks, and drink milk. My husband & I put our foot down tonight. If they want to throw their food on the floor, let it be. We are not going to react anymore. They will just eat when they are ready if food is in front of them.
Thank you for your advice!

TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED

My DS isn't just a picky eater. I truly believe he just doesn't like to eat period. It's so stressful. He refuses to feed himself, throws everything ln the floor and will only eat if he's distracted with the iPad and I feed him. The worst is when he takes a bite and then holds it in his mouth for 10 minutes. The only thing he eats willingly every day is yogurt so I give him Fage yogurt. It's a good source of protein and calories. I have given up at this point. He 19 months....I try to keep telling myself one day he will eat and feed himself! So while I have no advice you are to alone!!

Re: TOUGH PICKY EATERS HELP NEEDED