My toddler eats like 8 things and I don’t have the energy to do anything about it

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dmhanson511

New member
There’s a narrowing cast of food my 19 month toddler will reliably eat (porridge, Weetbix cereal, veg/fruit pouches, hummus sandwich, bananas, baked beans, miscellaneous snacks) He used to eat more meat and try proper adult food, but stopped a couple months ago for no apparent reason. And though I used to have energy to prepare and offer him new foods he will almost certainly throw on the floor, my patience and energy is waning. I have a job. I need to eat dinner too. It’s unrealistic to do this every night.

So will he grow out of it or am I making the problem worse if I don’t expose him to new foods on the reg? Every dinner feels like a battle I’m not willing to fight some days. Can I just give him the food I know he will eat?
 
@9ikanews This is what we do. As my now 3.5 year old got more verbal, I added in a few things.
  1. If you don’t like something on your plate, just ignore it. No need to toss it or complain about it.
  2. We use the term “learning to like” instead of just letting her say she doesn’t like it. Food tastes aren’t fixed or permanent. She’s more than happy to tell us she’s still learning to like things.
  3. If I think she would like a food if she just gave it a chance, I ask her to smell it, lick it and taste a nibble. Sometimes she doesn’t, but because I don’t give her a hard time about food, she’s usually willing. And we’re building trust that I haven’t asked her to eat anything genuinely gross. If she still doesn’t want the food after going through the steps, I let it go.
  4. We’re way more liberal with condiments than I ever envisioned. Apples with ketchup sounds disgusting to me, but if it gets the Apple eaten, I’ll just make sure we have the healthiest version of ketchup I can find.
 
@dmhanson511 That’s what I do. Mine is just turned 3 and will eat a decent variety of breakfast foods, a couple of sandwich options at lunch and then at dinner has some combo of: plain pasta, veggie nuggets/sausages, raw carrot and cucumber.

Thats it for dinner, nothing mixed, nothing with multiple ingredients, and nothing with the things he likes in a different form eg pasta with sauce.

I can’t be bothered to make different things anymore, he eats the same dinner every day and is welcome to try anything my partner or I eat, he just doesn’t want to 🤷‍♀️
 
@dmhanson511 my son did basically the same change at that age. he used to be all about proteins. now he is a little carb machine. the simpler the carb the better. I figured he must be keying in on what his body is craving. whenever I find myself being stressed I just tell myself he must not need it.
 
@dmhanson511 I have no idea at this point what's effective long term and what's going to ruin his life for all time. I'm so tired of trying to make children eat. My bad eater has a feeding aversion and still takes 99% of his calories from a bottle.

With his twin, who is generally a decent eater, I do a variation of exposure feeding. A few times a week, he gets two known winners and a new food. He doesn't really have to eat the new one- this is a no pressure situation. I'll generally try to eat it in front of him, too, with exaggerated chomps and lip smacking.

Many of our big "wins" have been entirely unexpected. He loves chili, but only if he can eat from our bowls. Eating mommy or daddy food in front of him, with a slight bit of reverse psychology, seems to prompt more exploration. Think: "Oh, I don't know if you'll like this, it's mommy food."
 
@dmhanson511 My picky eater is 4, and it doesn't get a whole lot better for us. I've talked with his pediatrician about it for two years running (at least) and his response has been that he's thriving physically and doesn't see an issue with it. Just to keep trying all the usual approaches and let it work itself out as he gets older. Sometimes meals are wildly stressful despite our best intentions and calm approaches, and it is what it is. Meanwhile my 2yo will try almost anything (and lately loves salad? little weirdo.) so I know it's not anything we're doing differently.
 
@dmhanson511 When mine refuses food that I KNOW she likes, I’ll bribe her into tasting one bit and then she’ll eat the whole thing! But she’s 2y8m so probably understands ever so slightly more reason than 19m… “if you taste just one little bit of that food, we can have raspberries after dinner” or sometimes (and I feel bad doing this one), “ok no problem, I’ll just give your baby brother the food instead” … currently she hates him getting anything instead of her lol
 
@dmhanson511 I could’ve written this a year and a half ago. My now 3yo is finally starting to branch out from fruit, hummus, oatmeal, yogurt, and cheese (verrrrry slowly but surely). She ate chicken nuggets the other day and I could’ve cried. Mostly I tried to keep things very low pressure and waited it out. And now she is finally open to trying things again.
 
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