Monday, January 3, 2011

Nutritious and Delicious…

Hi Everyone!  Happy New Year! 

I am in need of your experience and wisdom (once again).  The Littles have become very picky eaters.  Our favorite food one day is untouched the next. We are also seeing a lot of what I’ll call “twinfluence”. If one Little decides she doesn’t want something, the other Little takes her cues and also refuses it. We haven’t had teeth to help us, but…

The Littles are getting teeth! 

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This is what Little A did when I asked to see her teeth. :)  If you can look carefully, they both have one bottom tooth that has popped through and their canine teeth have popped! 

Don’t believe me, here, let me get closer.

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Needless to say, these teeth aren’t very helpful for their eating.  :)

Meals used to be a lot more fun and now The Littles refuse most of their food. I feel like they aren’t eating enough at their meals and they definitely want to snack all day.

Please, give me some ideas on what to feed children that is nutritious, delicious and doesn’t require teeth!

On top of this, we have taught the girls some sign language.  This is the sign for “all done” and we see this with lots of food after one bite. 

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If we try to keep giving them the food, they look at me so frustrated. “Don’t you know what all done means?” 

How do I explain to babies that they can’t be all done with everything besides cookies and ice cream???

8 comments:

Sandra said...

Im sure you know this, but my doctor told me when Liam was littler that just because you don't see their teeth doesn't mean they can't be used. So give them their soft meats like chicken and let them use those back gums to bite on that food:). And so you know, all kids go thru the stage of liking one food one day and not liking it the next. Its a tough stage but soon they will be eating everything in sight:)....including the nutrious....just keep giving it to them and don't stop just cause one day they don't like it!! I love their little teeth!! Hey, did you get my check in the mail?

Rachel said...

Amy, Layla can be a little picky, too! She does eat some things amazingly well, though, so she gets them a lot:) For suppers, she just eats whatever we are eating (sometimes she doesn't eat much of it, but oh well). For breakfast and lunch, though, I sometimes find myself making her what I know she will eat. So the things that she really likes are: oatmeal w/ bananas or blueberries, scrambled eggs, yogurt with bananas, macaroni and cheese, and pasta with marinara sauce. She eats all of those things really well, so she eats them a lot! I don't know how nutritious they are are, but...oh well:) Hopefully it gets better for J and A!

Sheila said...

It could be they don't like the food, but it is most likely they just don't want to eat. Babies/toddlers go through stages where they just don't want to eat. It could be also that they are teething and their gums are tender so everytime they eat anything it is uncomfortable. My advise would be to be take a deep breath and be patient. If it continues for more than a few days, you may want to call the pediatrician. My oldest never would eat when he had an ear infection - that was his only sympton so if it lasts, checking in the nurse might be necessary. BTW, they are so beautiful and are growing so fast!

Unknown said...

I feel your pain!! max is a horribly picky eater! if its green,yellow(other then bananna's and lemons) he won't touch! he hates mashed potatoes but loves potatoe soup. And this was hard for me because Leigha will eat and always has eaten everything under the sun. When they both started eating more adult foods, i would make turkey meat balls, but i would boil them in low sodium-organic chicken broth so they stayed soft. Pizza, but make it on soft whole wheat crust(i have a great recipe if you need) another thing was all white meat turkey hot dogs(i know hot dogs but they make good ones now!) try sauces to change it up, for instance when you have pasta, give them a tad bite of ranch and let them try to dip, the fun part=eating!! Thats how i have gotten max to eat carrotts(as long as they aren't cooked). Breakfast oatmeal cookies, i have an whole wheat,oatmeal pancake that is great. mitch eats two and is full! and the kids love them. Hard boiled eggs are a good one too. PB&J isn't horrile if you use low sugar jelly and make them on whole wheat bread. I did those for max on those little sandwhich rounds/thins when he started eating sandwiches. A whole wheat tortiala with a little shredded cheese and a slice of lunch meat or avacado, warm in the microwave for 45 seconds and they soft and easy to eat rolled up. those are a staple in our house. I have tons of recipes and things i have learned, shoot me an email and I can send them your way! HOpe all is well!!
:):)

Carissa said...

That "all done" is adorable! :)
Hope you find something that works!

L, Ann and boys said...

As the other sage commenters have said, "stages". Hopefully they get through the picky stage fast. One thing I thought worth adding is, try half frozen/thawed apple sauce out of the freezer or other really cold purees and see if that is soothing on their gums. If they are getting teeth it may be bugging them to feel texutres. If they are only picky about a few things later, see if they are common allergens. Like eggs for example, may make some kiddos feel icky and they avoid them for a reason-doesn't count when they refuse anything and everything though. ;)

Jennifer said...

12-15 months is when they get super picky and just don't want to eat much anyway. My pediatrician warned me with both kids, and true enough they hit the picky stage around that time. The advice I was given which I held to was, "Don't force it. Let their bodies rule. They know when they're hungry and when they are not. If all they take is two bites, so be it. Don't make it an issue." Neither of mine ever starved. In fact, I'll bet you see your girls starting to lean out a little as they continue to make the transition from baby to toddler. I think the pickiness is just nature's way of helping that transition along. That being said, it's still no fun for either the Mama's heart or a Mama's brain to watch her Littles not eating. Ouch.

Kelly said...

Try the book, Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. Has some great recipes in there and how to make them yourself! I'm using it with Coleman right now as I'm introducing new foods to him, but it has great ideas for children of all ages! About $20 at barnes and nobel, but I'm sure you could get it cheaper at amazon.com