My twins are the most horrendous eaters

My girls are exactly 2 years 3 months old. I fed them the same way I fed their 2 older brothers. Lots of fresh fruits & veggies, whole grains, no fast food, tried to stay away from high fructose corn syrup, added sugar, etc. We aren't huge into organic, with 5 kids it just isn't in our budget. But we do eat pretty healthy.
WELL...my girls are proof that you can try and try and sometimes, your kids will be crappy eaters anyway. Feeding them stresses me out and sends my anxiety through the roof. They refuse all dairy unless it's those yo kids yogurt smoothies. Veggies- will only eat corn, cucumbers, and sometimes green beans or peas. Meat is a big no no. One twin will eat chili or my meat sauce with pasta- so ground beef. Plus chicken nuggets. Breakfast is awful- they refuse eggs, cereal, oatmeal, waffles, pancakes. They will only eat peanut butter on a slice of whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread. Every morning. The only winner is fruit- they love all kinds of fruit. It's healthy, but it's also full of sugar and they can't eat fruit 3 meals a day. They are snackers- they like goldfish, veggie straws, pretzels, things like that. I cut them off from snacks for awhile, but I started again because they would starve themselves rather than eat real food- so at least they are eating SOMETHING. It is insane. They don't even like carbs- no pizza, no potatoes, no rice, pasta only once in a blue moon. Please tell me this will get better. I am pulling my hair out over here!

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

I wouldn't stress. Dd has always been a horrible eater and is as healthy as a horse and always perfect in weight/height etc.
She eats a bit better more at 6 now, but still not a huge fan of veges and very picky.
I really can't stand veges myself so I feel where she's coming from.
Don't stress yourself out. A lot of kids I know are bad eaters and they all survive!
And I rarely touch a vegetable and amazingly I am still alive at 43 so maybe veges ate just overrated!

Message edited 6/4/2017 10:45:59 PM.

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

I found that my kids went through phases of being picky, some longer than others. I think part of it is about control especially at that age. DS1 was much pickier. Out of the blue, he'd start refusing things he loved. I wouldn't battle over food. They should eat if they're hungry and the variety of food will probably increase again over time. Does watching their siblings eat things have any effect? I think my kids actually ate the most variety at times during daycare. Seeing everyone eat the same thing at the same time helped.

Once my kids got a little older, I had them at least try food that they refused unless I knew they absolutely wouldn't eat it. There were plenty of times they ended up liking stuff that they initially didn't want. DS2 was always a good eater, but DS1 became much more adventurous as he got older. He had a very limited amount of things he'd eat as a toddler. I think it's pretty normal what you're experiencing, but hopefully things will get better soon.

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

I'd love my dd to eat what yours eat! Mine ate no fruits, no veggies, no meat (except Perdue chicken nuggets, soggy from the microwave), and only cheese for dairy, and only string cheese at that. Breakfast was only Cheerios, and lunch ad dinner rotated between pasta, nuggets, and tortellini (dry). Snacks: only pretzels and goldfish. I'd hem and haw as to whether to push the issue. But if I did, she'd just go to bed hungry - she didn't care. And I'd be a screaming lunatic. At age 4, I took her for feeding therapy. She's low tone elsewhere, and her mouth is also low tone, and she has some sensory issues for food, they discovered also that she wasn't manipulating the food on her mouth properly and that she wasn't chewing using her side teeth. After a few weeks, her repertoire improved. We had to stop going beciase at $20 a pop copay twice weekly, it was just getting to costly, and we saw enough improvements. She now tris new things and has added in a small handful of fruits. Broccoli is the only veggie, but it's an improvement. She dapples with proteins, which is what my concern was.

So yes, I do believe that picky eating is a phase the vast majority of the time, and it sounds like your twins are getting some protein and fresh produce, which is great. But, also trust your instinct and their developmental history. I'm glad that eventually I did take dd for more, given her low tone and other feeding concerns from when she was an infant.

My twins are the most horrendous eaters

It really is so frustrating. My 2.5yo is okay in comparison but my 5yo is terrible. She eats less and less variety and refuses to so much as taste anything new or anything she suddenly decided she doesn't like. She eats oatmeal every morning, yogurt or pbj for lunch, and dinner is awful. She likes quesadillas and grilled cheese (open face with cheddar), mac and cheese, and that's about it.

I saw on Pinterest recently to try snack platters. I put out a big plate with a variety of stuff for them to share. A few goldfish, fresh fruit, cheese, carrot sticks, raisins, peanuts, etc. Whatever I feel like throwing on. That's it for the afternoon, no refills in the favorites and they each pick and choose and hopefully they venture to try something they wouldn't otherwise. I also saw the idea to spiralize raw veggies for snacking. I tried that and was thrilled my 5yo actually ate some carrot! I've also been buying the applesauce pouches with veggies mixed in for a little extra and I keep pureed roasted butternut squash in the freezer and add a cube or two to mac and cheese, sauces, pancake batter etc.

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

You have other kids... so you know the drill.
It's an annoying phase.
Worse with some kids... but I'm 3 for 3.
I do the starvation thing (not offering other stuff) because it works and my kids are not underweight... except for the 6 year old who eats everything in sight. They will sometimes eat very little for two days, but day 3 seems like a tipping point. Meals are also at a set time of day and they don't get anything after meals.
Some of those yogurt smoothies are crazy loaded in sugar... try making your own... or at least check.
Making your own chicken cutlets is an alternate to nuggets... takes a few minutes to fry and I make extra for the week. You can ask fry up other meats like that: bra and fish. Not saying it is great to fry everything... but it's a nice way to sneak meats.
Fish seems to be something that the kids will eat well sometimes.
Weird things like kale and Brussels are hits with the kids... so have them try everything.

My twins are the most horrendous eaters

The peanut butter on whole wheat in the morning is probably a healthier breakfast than anything else you listed. I used to see a nutritionist and she said PB&J was her fave breakfast.

You said they like fruit- maybe try incorporating a fruit with their meals- a quesadilla with shredded chicken and mango salsa? A salad with chicken and strawberries or mandarins? A veggie dip (my DD loves spinach dip) to dip their pretzels in? It sounds like you're not a big fan of prepackaged, but Earth's Best makes cheddar stuffed pretzels. Chicken cutlets with a dipping sauce maybe?

I'm beginning to have eating troubles with my 17 month old. She will only eat dairy, and occasionally the crackers I give her with her cheese. She just decided she likes blueberries, thank goodness. Oh and Zorn's turkey. ONLY Zorn's.

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

My twins are the most horrendous eaters

Thank you, everyone! My boys went through picky phases, but nothing like this. My little one is only 11 months, so she still eats anything and everything. I make my own chicken nuggets so it's not terrible- but again, I just wish they liked more meat than ground beef and chicken breast. I will try making fish nuggets and see if they eat them. I am sure it is a phase, it's just a frustrating one. Thank you again!

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

That sounds pretty much like my DD. When you ask her what she wants to eat, she only ever answers, "chicken." Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack. That's what she asks for. The sight of pizza makes her cry. She's never even tried a bite in her life, which drives me insane. I would love to just order in a pizza once!

DS is 4yo and never quite this bad, but now that he's older I can start to reason with him to try new foods. He's still not a good eater, but I can sometimes at least get him to try a bit. I tell him that it could be his favorite food, but he'll never know b/c he won't try it.

Re: My twins are the most horrendous eaters

My twins just turned two and eat well when it's what they like. So I stick with that. But there are days where they just don't want anything to do with real food and will scream for cake!!
Breakfast: Yogurt, cereal, waffles/pancakes,muffins and fruit (favs are watermelon, strawberries and mango)
Lunch: Mac and cheese, grilled cheese, chicken, veggies and fruit
Dinner: chicken, veggies, pizza, mac and cheese.
Snacks: cheese, veggie straws, pirate booty, raisins, goldfish, yogurt melts, Plum organics puffs, Annie's animal crackers or cheddar bunnies, Earth's Best cereal bars