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Meal ideas?

W

wahaneebelly

Guest
So i have an extremely fussy 2yr old and am in desperate need of some meal ideas.

He wont eat beans, spaghetti or anything with sauce on. If i put beans etc on his plate he wont eat anything.

He wont eat sandwiches, doesnt matter whats in them.


And vegetable are a no no.

The only things he really likes are sausages, apples and kiwi fruit.

I dread mealtimes, he'll have a couple of bites and refuse to eat the rest.
 

jewel

Senior Member
Messages
195
Ah, the 2-year-old foodie, they can be so particular! Most kids have a bit of a drop of appetite in that toddler phase, so if his pedi is not concerned, his little diet of a few bites of sausages, apples and kiwi may be all he needs. (It doesn't seem balanced, to us it is boring, but....I actually have a friend whose lovely daughter, now a healthy young adult, only ate rice and plain pasta for most meals at that age. She is not an overweight young woman.) It is frightening for caring parents, though, to see their little ones pick a few bites and be done.

Different families have different rules about meal times, and it is really nice to that you are wanting to have nice meals with him, sincet good meal time routines are important. So caring that you are trying to think of different meal ideas before setting in for the night.

I don't have specific ideas for you, except to recall that when my children were small, I would sometimes be so tired that I just fed them something out of a box (e.g, mac and cheese ). They always loved the box meals, not the healthy meals that I tried to make with plenty of fresh veggies, and fruit salad on the side, and so forth. It can drive you to distraction!


This link (midway down the page) has some very simple recipes for the little ones; sometimes if they "help" make it, they can be a little more inclined to try to eat them. http://http://www.first5kids.org/parents/childrens_obesity
/HealthyEating


(The page is on healthy eating due to the obesity epidemic, which is not your concern, but the recipe suggestions seek fine. Healthy and simple.)

Another resource might be to look at the Zero to Three website, which has wonderful, centering and informative articles on all aspects of parenting the very young child. Here is their nutrition page, including sections on the feeding relationship. http://http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/health-nutrition/tips-and-tools-on-health-and.html

Hopes this helps some. Get some rest; I'm going to see if I can sleep. Night, J.
 

filfla4

Senior Member
Messages
236
This is how I got my kids to eat veggies when they were little: I'd made a thick pureed vegetable soup (carrots work well since they're sweet!) Then I'd make home-made croutons (crusty bread baked with olive oil, seasoning and some herbs)......

I'd say 'We're having yummy crunchy croutons for lunch today!' and then just add a little soup to a bowl of mostly croutons. I would gradually reduce the croutons and increase the amount of soup, till eventually they were eating mostly soup with just a sprinkling of croutons!! :) It worked!!
 

leaves

Senior Member
Messages
1,193
Hehe :)
a friend of mine refused to eat veggies when he was young. It drove his mum nuts. She even took him to the hospital for all kind of tests.
He still doesn't eat veggies. All he eats is cheese, meat and carbs.
He is doing alright :)

if kids are very averse to a particular food, or are completely addicted to it, this could indicate a food intolerance/ allergy.
I wouldn't eat fish when I was young because it made me nauseous, Now I know I'm allergic to most fish and have histamine intolerance.
When kids don't wanna eat veggies or fruits or are addicted it could be that they have intolerance to phenols/ salicylates or oxalates.
 

HopingSince88

Senior Member
Messages
335
Location
Maine
I was a picky eater as a child. I loved dairy and grain, but hated meats and fruits and veggies. I did not expand my diet until I was about 17 or 18 years old. I just had really sensitive taste buds and many foods just tasted horrid to me. Over time I slowly built up a taste for good foods.

My youngest daughter was also a picky eater. Because I recalled how stressful it was at the dinner table for me as a child, I never pressured her to eat anything she did not want to. As I recall she ate Mac & Cheese, Cheerios, pb&j, cheese, and hotdogs, until she was about 14 years old. Then I think peer pressure set in and she started venturing out and discovering new things. She now eats anything, or at least will give anything a try.

I only started eating fish in the last couple of years (I am 57!), and have come to really enjoy haddock and scallops. I guess it is never too late to learn new things.