<- A year ago, I was SO excited when this started. Now I am...not.I miss it when I could quiet Melissa instantly.
I miss it when she was too little to get away from me, or to do too much damage.
I miss not stressing out about preparing her meals (and worrying if she'll even eat it, or if it will end up on the floor or - most likely - both).
I miss being able to call my baby a baby.
But really, the thing I miss the most is the assurance that she's receiving all the nutrients she needs. I know, I sound like a Gerber commercial :), but it's a real worry of mine. I don't even know how she can be my daughter if she barely eats any meat! She'll only take cheeseburger pieces (bun, cheese & meat), but if we offer beef or chicken or you name it by itself, she won't have it.
My hope everyday is to make her have enough yogurt, cheese and Nutella & wheat bread sandwiches to give her some protein. I also haven't weaned her off of the pureed baby foods (though her doctor said I should) because that's the only way she'll ever eat veggies like sweet potatoes and corn. By the way, these are the ONLY veggies she'll take. At least she does like my V8 Juice (which is a fruit and vegetables combination). Too bad it makes her puke occasionally.
I've tried eggs, egg whites, ham (which she liked for a bit and now declared death to it), fish... I can't believe I gave birth to a vegetarian! Hopefully this is like when I offered her chocolate cake for the 1st time on her birthday and she hated it, but now she's definitely pro-chocolate (if I don't hide them, she even figures out how to unwrap 'em by herself). Whew. For a moment I thought we'd brought home the wrong baby.
So, anyone out there with toddler eating concerns? Tired of cleaning up their mess (because she will NOT let me feed her anymore) and changing them several times a day? Please send your advice and commiseration!
7 comments:
I kept the peapod on toddler formula until she was two years old. Just a cup a day in a sippy to make sure she was getting everything she needs. She's thankfully a great eater so I don't worry about that so much anymore. I'm sure your girl will grow out of her phase soon!
I'm not sure how old your little one is, but my 3 yr old almost completly refuses to eat meat. Sometimes I get lucky and he'll eat more then chicken nuggets but not very often. Our pediatrician says that as long as he eats eggs, peanut butter, and stuff like that not to worry about it. Although she did put him on PediaSure and it's made a huge difference. Plus he loves it. Even my 7yr old asks for it. Good luck and I promise it'll get better eventually. :)
you are so not alone. i too have vegetarian on my hands. he's been getting his share of peanut butter sandwiches for protein. he will eat sausage though. he likes scrambled eggs. we've been stocking up on all different kinds of sausage to get him eating meats. we found a chicken sausage with apples baked in. he loves those. also beans are a good option. good luck!
Stopping by from LB tea party. LOL to the chocolate - we're chocoholics around here too. In my experience, EVERYTHING is a phase. My (now 22-month-old) daughter was a strict vegetarian and then one day she wanted some of the chicken off my plate and now she eats meat semi-consistently. They just have their own idea about when they will do things.
I went to a toddler nutrition seminar and the message was basically "just keep offering it to them, but don't forcefeed and one of these days they will decide to try it." And I have found that to be true. Granted, she doesn't always like what she tries, but it's a start. Shes' not huge on veggies, but she's now sometimes eating cucumber, brocolli (hit or miss), and frozen or heated peas. Oh, and we found edamame beans to be a huge hit, and all her little toddler friends like them too - I'd definitely give those a try.
Also, does your little one drink whole milk? That's always a nice fail-safe.
Good luck! Just remember it'll get better!
Yep, those little ones and their not really understandable taste buds.
My boy (2 3/4 yo) only started to eat cheese a couple of month ago, but now he cannot stop anymore. He has a love for fish his dad is cooking, not the one I'm preparing though :-( and meat he's only eating in the form of a sausage (or when I tell him the chicken I've cut in rounds is a sausage) and Papaya (one of the fruits we have here all the time all year long) he just started to like a week ago.
Don't worry, your girl will come around, try to cheat and get her to eat the nutrients in any form she's accepting and keep trying. I'm giving my tot additional vitamins (A-Z or something similar), just in case.
Visiting from LBS! It's so ironic that you wrote this post b/c I'm planning on doing one of my own shortly about how to get my 2 1/2 year old to eat veggies. Up until about a month ago I still mixed baby food peas into his oatmeal each morning for breakfast! I HIGHLY recommend Plum Organics. It's a squeeze baby food with fruits and veges (organic and nothing added). My son drinks it like a smoothie and LOVES it. I also do the V8 juice (i do 1/4 juice, 3/4 water)...which kind do you use? V8 fushion is the best I've found in my research. I, like you, stress about nutrition. Have you tried any of the sneaky chef recipes? Those are also great to sneak in nutrients! Peanut butter is a great protein (better than nutella!) if she likes that? I'll make him scrambled eggs and mix in spinach to trick him too. If she likes the potato baby food...maybe sweet potato fries would be good to make? They say it takes a child to be exposed to a food 10 times before liking it so don't give up! I too miss breastfeeding much more than I ever thought I would and I'm looking so forward to having baby #2 this dec to get to breastfeed again! I honestly wouldn't stress TOO much over the protein, I don't do much meat here and my son is always very healthy...if you can get her to eat fruits and veggies she'll be fine especially with a good daily vitamin!!! Love your blog!
ps: i'm a new follower too :)
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