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Food glorious food! ...
Yes it's me again ranting about food! As u may remember maddox has had numerous phases with his food, either all or nothing kind of boy.. But I am at the end of my tether at the mo and feel like I cud explode I'm that stressed my insides hurt?! So thought I'd share in hope that someone else is going thru something even remotely similar..
Maddox used to eat so well, all homemade, but the past good few months ( must be about 3 months) maddox will not eat anything other than a few things.. I no it's good he's eating somethin but surely I carnt keep giving him the same things for dinner and tea? He won't TOUCH any of the homemade stuff he used to love, lasagne,spag bol, carbonara, risotto, potato and fish, the list is endless... Everything people suggest I've tried.. For example today he always gas weetabix along with separate bowl of cheerios which he loves, won't have anything else for brek tho, sarnies for dinner he only eats phili with chives, jam or pate ( strange I no) milk or bown bread, the usual crispy nibbles, and yogs/jelly etc, then for tea I tried risotto and he screams and crys wenever the food goes near him I've tried everything.. Not giving him a snack so he's hungry, giving him the bowl and spoon, he tries to push it off, I tried him with baby waffles and gougons he won't touch anything like that even tho he used to eat fishfingers etc, he likes to dip into gravy etc but didn't touch the food just ate prawn crackers?! And the only other
r food he eats is the baby hoops and toast. Literally. Surely I carnt give him this every night?! I moved him away then brought him back three tines with same response.
I feel at a loss, it's not even like I've got two meals he will eat so u cud rotate them?! He used to eat everythin loved lasagne etc?! I cud cry in that confused/ frustrated etc, he then didn't have anything else cos I want him to understand that that's his tea and if he doesn't eat it that's all there is .. Then u
I feel bad cos he's hardly ate! But then if I give him just the toast and hoops surely he will think he can create and then get wat he wants then turn into a very fussy child? My insides hurt i'm that cut up about it ... He got so upset tonight then went on a rampage round living room wen he's normally such a good boy?!!! He is dribbling loads and also won't brush his teeth he will cry his eyes out.. Is it possible he cud be teething for such a long period as this?! Help : ( x
Maddox used to eat so well, all homemade, but the past good few months ( must be about 3 months) maddox will not eat anything other than a few things.. I no it's good he's eating somethin but surely I carnt keep giving him the same things for dinner and tea? He won't TOUCH any of the homemade stuff he used to love, lasagne,spag bol, carbonara, risotto, potato and fish, the list is endless... Everything people suggest I've tried.. For example today he always gas weetabix along with separate bowl of cheerios which he loves, won't have anything else for brek tho, sarnies for dinner he only eats phili with chives, jam or pate ( strange I no) milk or bown bread, the usual crispy nibbles, and yogs/jelly etc, then for tea I tried risotto and he screams and crys wenever the food goes near him I've tried everything.. Not giving him a snack so he's hungry, giving him the bowl and spoon, he tries to push it off, I tried him with baby waffles and gougons he won't touch anything like that even tho he used to eat fishfingers etc, he likes to dip into gravy etc but didn't touch the food just ate prawn crackers?! And the only other
r food he eats is the baby hoops and toast. Literally. Surely I carnt give him this every night?! I moved him away then brought him back three tines with same response.
I feel at a loss, it's not even like I've got two meals he will eat so u cud rotate them?! He used to eat everythin loved lasagne etc?! I cud cry in that confused/ frustrated etc, he then didn't have anything else cos I want him to understand that that's his tea and if he doesn't eat it that's all there is .. Then u
I feel bad cos he's hardly ate! But then if I give him just the toast and hoops surely he will think he can create and then get wat he wants then turn into a very fussy child? My insides hurt i'm that cut up about it ... He got so upset tonight then went on a rampage round living room wen he's normally such a good boy?!!! He is dribbling loads and also won't brush his teeth he will cry his eyes out.. Is it possible he cud be teething for such a long period as this?! Help : ( x
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It's so frustrating when your healthy home cooked food gets left and they just want to eat a few things. Isaac LOVES cheese and philidelphia and would be happy to have it with bread every meal! Argh! :x
I posted in the toddler forum about it the other week. Seems to be such a common thing with toddlers but usually when they're a bit older. If you search in my topics, you can see what was suggested to do.
Now I don't give Isaac anything alternatives. So if he doesn't eat his much dinner, I won't give him another option. I will give him fruit as usual at the end of the meal though. I think it's good to keep offering foods as sometimes Isaac will eat something that he's refused before!
Since I posted about it, i've chilled about it a bit more. If he doesn't eat, maybe he doesn't need it, he's teething badly, or just asserting his independence. Isaac does eat a good breakfast so at least he's getting good nutrition then, sounds like Maddox does the same? So now I just think well he won't starve himself!! Leave him to it!
One good piece of advice I got was to praise Isaac loads when he eats a spoonful of food. So make a huge big happy fuss of him when he eats and not give him any attention when he's not eating or playing around with the food. We've been doing that and I was so shocked cos it really works!!
Isaac is the same with teeth brushing! He hates it unless he has the brush and then he just sucks it! He goes loopy whenever he sees it coming his way, real struggle. These independent boddlers are a handful aren't they? :roll:
I find the one thing that Isaac never refuses is pasta especially in a creamy or cheese sauce. Then I hide fish and veggies in there! There's a fab healthy recipe in the Annabel Karmel book, salmon and broccoli pasta and he LOVES this. And he eats it himself picking up the pasta with his fingers which he's happier doing as he won't let us feed him and he can't get it on the spoon himself! I find he much prefers finger food overall. The food he refuses tends to be food that has to be eaten on a spoon. So I offer the spoon to him and let him decide how he wants to eat, spoon, fork or fingers!
Ooooh I'm going on a bit now. But I sooo feel your pain. It is so frustrating! Hope Maddox starts eating better for you soon! xx
Well today, like Isaac he ate loads of brek he always does! Then same old sarnies for dinner, garlic pate?! Or phili with chives! He hates normal cheese tho! And no snack then I got home from work and cooked him some tiny waffles and two nuggets and he just looked at them then started pointing to the kitchen! Then I gave him
bit of tom sauce as he loves to dip, he dipped but doesn't eat wat he's dipping?! then I took him away and reintroduced it three times wen he started crying, he was standing by the sofa looking hungry and moaning, so I put the waffle on his bib on the sofa arm and he stood there and scoffed it as if he hadn't eaten in days!! So me maddox and mum in law all ended up on the kitchen floor while maddox ate 3 small waffles and some prawn / spicy Thai crackers !! How random!! So I think the issue is not only does he not want to be spoonfed anything ( only at teatine) cos he has his brek off a spoon!) he also hates his highchair! So tomoz I'm going to eat at the table with him in a booster seat at the table and see how we get on!! Il look at ur posts in toddler thanx for that xx
Typical day:
3oz milk in beaker
Breakfast
- 2 weetabix with milk
- pear or other piece of fruit
Lunch
- Fish Pie
- Banana
- Yogurt
Snack
- 3oz milk, fruit and piece of cake/biscuit
Dinner
- Scrambled egg
- Milk dessert (custard/rice pudding)
3oz milk before bed
Abby has now decided that she doesn't want to be spoonfed anything. Luckily she is quite good at feeding herself so it's not too messy. She struggles with the last few spoonfuls from a yogurt pot but even then I have to ask permission "do you want mummy to help?" otherwise she throws a tantrum and waves her arms around.
My typical day is as above because she doesn't want anything else for her 3 main meals when I feed her. On a regular basis I try another meal but she rarely eats it and just throws a temper tantrum. Actually it's more than a tantrum, she gets so upset she starts wretching and occasionally vomiting. Abby has a great appetite but lets hunger get on top of her. I find that we are much more likely to have issues if she is really hungry at mealtimes, often we give her the yogurt first and then she will eat her main quite happily.
I've decided not to worry too much about her eating habits for a number of reasons:
- she eats a much bigger variety of foods at nursery (although still doesn't eat meat very well)
- fish pie contains potato, fish, cheese, milk, peas, corn, leeks - a fully balanced meal in my opinion
- she eats food from our plates when out for a meal in a restaurant (she looooooves chips
- she sleeps through the night and doesn't need/want too much milk
and, most importantly...
- she's active, intelligent and happy
Basically I would give a couple of bits of advice:
- give him some bread or fruit 30mins before a meal so he's not too hungry
- don't put him at the table until you're ready so that he doesn't get stressed at the table
- let him feed himself if possible, use a second spoon only if necessary
- tell/ask him what's happening - "it's dinner time, go to your highchair", "mummy's heating up your dinner", "have you finished?", "do you want mummy to help?" - they understand so much at this age that it's only fair to keep them involved. Abby can communicate "yes" and "no" in answer to a lot of questions.
- don't just sit there and stare at him or constantly pressure him. Either eat something yourself, read a book or find something else to do in the room. Abby eats best either when at the table on her own or at a table when lots of us are eating and chatting together. She then gets to eat at her own rate and decides herself when she has finished.
- give him what he wants for 1 meal a day and then try something else for the other. If he throws a temper walk away and ignore him. If it continues ask him if he's finished and remove him from the table. Don't return him, just cuddle him and calm him down. If Abby's really hungry she runs back to the highcahir and tries to climb in.
- try adding things to his favourite meal, eg melt cheese on the toast with the hoops, give beans instead of hoops, add chunks of sausage to the hoops,
TBH I think they are too young to not eat what they need. If you let him have hoops and toast for every meal for a week he'll soon be begging for some pasta.
Good luck,
H xx
Well I made a lurvely fish pie yesterday, creamy, cheesy the things Isaac likes. Well he refused to eat any of it, he just squidged it in his fingers and threw it over. He kept looking over at the fruit bowl as if to say I want one of those instead! :roll: So after a few attempts of encouragment we just left him whilst I got our dinner ready. Then we started eating ours and after a while he started picking up his with his fingers and eating it! So we gave praise for each mouthful. So after 15 mins of sitting there playing and throwing food he suddenly started eating it, it was cold by then!!!!! He ate a good amount and liked it. Think we will def try that again, rather than just moving onto fruit or taking him out of the chair! So it was definitely him not wanting to try something different and asserting himself! Sounds like Maddox also came round after a long while too. Arrgh, these little terrors! :x
So I did resort to philli on toast and ham, his fave. He ate the lot!! :roll: Dinner is always the worse for us as well! Good that Maddox ate something for you tonight, even if you had to be sneaky! xx