My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

He used to love everything and now...NOTHING. I am not exaggerating when I say these are the only things he will eat:

bananas, watermelon, mango, strawberries- freaks out with any other fruit
corn, green beans, cucumbers- only veggies he will look at
yogurt but it HAS to be the yo baby apple- but he won't eat an apple, go figure
annie's creamy deluxe mac & cheese
grilled cheese
parmesan goldfish
cheerios
string cheese is the only cheese he will eat
and he has been asking to eat what I give the twins- gerber stage 1 foods. So he has those sometimes.
I at a loss. He hates meat, eggs, & beans so I am struggling with getting protein into him. I don't cook him anything extra for dinner but I will let him have a bowl of cheerios with a piece of fruit or a yogurt. Is anyone else in the same boat?? We are so frustrated.

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

I could have written this! Dd only eats Cheerios with milk, plain macaroni, string cheese, bagels, pretzel goldfish, and applesauce. She refuses all of her former favorites (which was nearly everything!!).

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

Have you tried peanut butter? DD has been super picky but loves, loves, loves it.

You can try hiding broccoli, spinach, or peas in the Mac and cheese. Brown rice, lentils, and steel cut oatmeal have a lot of protein as well. If you can find the brand Good Karma they make a flax milk with extra protein.

Don't get too crazy about getting enough protein. For some reason us Americans think we need to eat tons of it everyday, not the case. Besides, your DC will probably start to broaden his food horizons again- I hope DD will too

My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

It's a phase. My sister went through it but for her she would only eat pasta, pizza with no cheese, chicken nuggets, and fried rice. She's allergic to peanuts so that was always out. This lasted for a good long while, or what felt like a long time... Pasta, by the way, was often her breakfast. She is almost 17 and will try anything now.... Go figure.

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

My dd eats a lot less than your ds. We give the happy baby packets and refrigerated yogurt and vegetable packets to try to get in some veggies. As long as he is following his weight curve just let it be. Some days are just crackers and cheese. I got her to chew(and spit out) a carrot yesterday and was pretty happy with that lol.

My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

At least he will eat some veggies!!
I'm on the same boat, my 3 year old used to eat everything, now he refuses it all.
I grate veggies like carrots and zucchini and put it in rice. I also sneak veggies into meatloaf.
Will he eat pasta with tomato sauce? You can purée carrots and add it in.
I always buy veggie pasta (I think Barilla is the brand that makes them) and if I want jarred sauce they have a veggie one also.
There's many days when he will just eat a bowl of pasta for dinner.
I used to make myself crazy over it but now I just deal with it and hope he will change!

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

Julian isn't bad by any means but I definitely noticed a little "picky" kind of behavior lately with the food. He has always been wonderful about eating everything and eating very healthy. Although, then again, I would never give him a choice but still - he was great about it.

Lately, it's not so much that he is scaling back -- it's just that he seems to prefer the same darn thing over and over and over again. He is very particular about this routine of the same food.

Breakfast: whole wheat raisin toast, a banana, fresh blueberries and strawberries, and I always give him a tablespoon of pure local organic honey (the ped recommended it for allergies and to help with excess mucus from teething - as a natural option)...

Lunch: cheese, peanut butter, an apple, and organic sheep's milk yogurt. Any variety.

Dinner: he's been weird about dinner the past few weeks -- it's like he is not hungry. So, that is when I notice that he is the most "picky" -- so that is when now that he can communicate his wants will ask for things like mum mum's, goldfish, or more fruit -- again, nothing "bad" but I'm not going to give him that for dinner. That's ridiculous. So, I tell him those are not foods that are appropriate for dinner.

I offer him something that is like sweet potatoes, carrots, chicken, pasta with sauce, etc. and he lately has been turning his nose up. He doesn't throw a fit -- but then again I don't get worked up. I offer and if he doesn't want it I explain that the food I offered is his only option. Then I tell him that if he doesn't want it, then it goes in the tupperware for the following evening. And he usually is OK with it lately -- like, he's not that hungry! So, fine by me - when you are hungry, you will surely eat.

And then randomly one day he was like a bear - very hungry. So, he ate the potatoes and carrots with chicken I put in front of him. Go figure. But I'm NOT a short order cook and I do NOT offer anything else as a substitute for him if he refuses say, carrots, and asks for cheese or goldfish or whatever - no way. Because then that will teach him to refuse whatever I try to give at first and hold out for something better.

After a while, he'll get it. He's certainly not going to starve. I do not stress at all about meals. I feed him what I want to feed him - always a healthy choice - and what he eats, he eats.

But definitely, he's turning 2 next week and he has been a little picky for sure. I think it is the age. I think they "test" us. And I just think it needs to run it's course and he will come around.

In the meantime, it is the same types of food everyday - how he doesn't get bored, I'll never know. But at least they are all healthy options.

He does, though, eat whatever they put in front of him at daycare -- which is always very healthy -- so go figure that That's another reason I know he certainly won't starve and IS eating very healthy, getting all he needs.

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

My kids go through this phase on and off. For a while DD would just have yogurt for dinner. I offered the food we were all eating, she had to take one bite and then she could have yogurt. Nothing else. No treats afterward. So it was her choice and I let her make it.

Lately DS has been refusing all food. He won't eat what I make for dinner (past one or two bites) and he doesn't even want an alternative. So I just leave it. It's not worth the stress and eventually they will eat if they're hungry enough.

But I will say that most kids are creatures of habit, so IMO if there are certain foods that DC will eat, just let him have it (assuming it's a healthy food and not junk). The variety will come as they get older.

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

My advice is to try and sneak things into what he loves. If he loves mac and cheese then take just a little bit of butternut squash and puree it and mix it with the cheese sauce. They sell butternut squash peeled and cubed you just have to cook it and blend it. Don't mix in too much but every time you give it to him increase it a little. Can you mix in broccoli with the mac and cheese or will he freak out? Keep trying different things, I make veggie balls for DD, it's a skinnytaste recipe and she gets her protein from the beans but they are pureed so she won't see it. What about soups? Maybe buy alphabet soup and hide some veggies in that? DD is a pretty good eater but she has her days too and when she is in a mood I will put mickey on or give her my iphone to play with so I can feed her and it works. She will eat anything if she is distracted. Maybe try distracting him during meal times. Good Luck

Message edited 8/31/2015 10:19:04 AM.

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

That's way more than my 2.5 yo eats!

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

How about trying soup like chicken noodle. My dd is picky and is almost 4. I'm still waiting for the phase to end. She will eat chicken noodle no problem, but other soups and beef stew only if they are blended together, so everything looks the same color. If I leave it as it she won't touch it. I like those types of meals, even if I have to blend it, because she is getting protein and veggies.

She will also eat breaded chicken cutlets. Maybe you can try that to get him to eat meat.

My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

DS1 is 2.5 and has been obsessed with smoothies (we call them milkshakes) recently. We blend together every morning and he gets a full serving of fruits and veggies. I freeze baggies of fruits and veggies. He gets them out of the freezer, dumps them into the blender, and helps me add other things. They taste good and he loves helping toake them. Might be something worth trying!

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

Thanks ladies! Today I diced up carrots very tiny and stirred them into his mac & cheese, and I was also able to get him to try one half of a mini pancake and one bite of an apple slice at breakfast. It is what it is for now, I will try not to stress out too much.

My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

My 2.5 year old is the same. She will eat carbs and meat (sometimes). She refuses any sort of fruit!

Re: My 2 yr old is driving me insane with his eating

Just wanted to add- I went to Target the other day and they have vegetable purées. They say right on the that they're great for sneaking into other foods lol. They have butternut squash, spinach, and carrot- all organic too!

Some advice: I mixed 1 packet of the spinach with some tomato sauce and it changed the color to an icky brown. So next time I will just add and mix until the sauce maintains most of the color. DD didn't mind at all that the sauce wasn't red, to my surprise.

ETA: I think they were sold near the canned vegetable section. It's a teal box- simply balanced brand.

Message edited 9/3/2015 8:23:05 PM.