My Toddler is a Picky Eater

[kayliz]

Dear mummies, does anyone know how to deal with a fussy eater?

My daughter is 2 years old and weighs about 12kg. She drinks a lot of milk and refuses solids. She has 8-9oz of milk 4 to 5 times a day. I have tried to cook whatever I can to give her more variety but the most she would eat about 1/4 chinese bowl. Thereafter, she starts to spit out whatever we put in her mouth.

I did think it could be due to her milk intake, so I tried to skip or reduce her milk, but it doesn't help.

Here's her dieting habit:
- If I cook noodles/udon/beehoon soup, she only eats a few strands.
- She loves chinese soup & will drink a bowl of it but will not eat the ingredients.
- She is still eating baby cereal which she likes and I tried to make her self feed, so that she will start to self feed new foods too, but she refused.
- She also likes fried stuff like nuggets & french fries but I try to limit her to only eating it once a month
- Refuse fruits of all kinds, in whichever way prepared (baked, steamed, pureed, cut)
- Doesn't drink anything other than Yakult, water or milk
- Loves sliced Kraft cheese
- Eats biscuits

Eventually, I stopped cooking for her coz she doesn't want anything. She will only eat baby cereal and pieces of biscuits or bread and cheese throughout the day.

I told her PD but she said my child is healthy and weight is normal, so all I have to do is to keep trying to make her eat.

My PD told me not to give her Pediasure because it will make her even less keen to eat as Pediasure is higher in calories and will make my girl full.
However, I went ahead to try for a period of time but there was no improvement.

Is there anything I can give to make her have better appetite for solids?

 

[joycelyh]

Hi Kayliz, I'm no expert on this (pregnant with first child, grew up with 12 little siblings/cousins who had no trouble eating). But off the top of my head, here are some suggestions.

I hope they help, please let me know if they do

- Her taste buds prefer stronger tasting foods.

You mentioned she likes milk, cheese, fried stuff. Dairy and meats are foods that contain quite a bit of umami in them to make them taste good. Other foods that have umami are potatoes, eggs and tomatoes. Have you tried to make spaghetti? Tomato sauce can be very tasty, with minced pork, beef or chicken, with lots of cheese? Or pizza, lasagna etc, foods that are cheesy. How about some mashed potatoes and egg?

- She has trouble chewing.

From what you said, it seems she favours food that are easy to eat. How about making her some mushroom or broccoli soup? These can be tasty, yet easy to swallow.

- Get her acquainted with the raw foods/ get her to help in the cooking process.

I got to know of this from my husband, who told me when he was younger, he wouldn't eat anything he doesn't know the name of. Perhaps your child doesn't like to eat things she isn't familiar with. How about involve her in the preparation? Show her what a carrot looks like. Get her to help wash some rice. Let her watch while you prepare the carrots and rice together to make porridge. Maybe she will find it very interesting and be willing to try the porridge she "helped" to cook.

 

[kayliz]

Dear Joyce,
Thanks for your advise. I have tried spaghetti (used baby pasta) before and i did everything from scratch. I blended steamed tomatoes and potatoes. She refused to eat after a spoonful and it also took me a long time to persuade her to try due to the colour. She also spits out cos of the minced meat inside.

I cooked marcaroni too, in chicken soup, thinking that she can pick and eat with her fingers, so she will eat more, but same case, she only had a peiece and refused.

She is ok with pizza but she only eats the crust. Only plain crust and she is so fussy that I cannot give her the crust which has even a bit of tomato sauce on it, or else she will spit it out.
Though she likes cheese, the texture of the baked cheese on pizza is different. It failed too...

She loves carrots and corn and some other leafy veggies. But put everything into porridge, she wont eat the rice.

I will try your method to get her involved with the preparation.

Thanks and congrats on your 1st child, i'm sure you will be a great mummy.

 

[joycelyh]

Hey Kayliz, sorry I wasn't able to help much. In any case, my husband was a picky eater like your daughter throughout his childhood, but now he is healthy and strong. All the best!

 

[petite_love]

Kayliz,

My gal is 2, and is a picky eater. She loves milk more than anything else. Can drink 5 times of food or 1000ml a day.

Before she attended childcare, I cooked porridge or rice with one to two dishes but she often will just ate few mouthfuls. The food often ended up in my stomach as she refused to eat more.

Brought her to PD, was advised to keep trying, be it same type of food or new menu. PD said if she enjoys milk, let her be.

After she started childcare, she learnt to accept more food though at times, teachers commented she ate little or some. I tell myself, give her time, she will slowly learn to eat more and accept more variety of food.

She loves whole meal biscuits and bread but dislikes cereal and fruits. Despite this, she poos everyday. Her weight is coming 13kg.

 

[mumusings]

Joyce's suggestion is worth trying. Let your daughter watch you prepare foods and help with tiny tasks. That's how I got my boy eating soy beans (edamame) and some foods. Not all kids take to meat so you might want to leave out pork in the spaghetti. YOu might want to mix some rice with soup (without ingredients). Show you child what goes into the food and don't force her to eat stuff she dislikes. The more anxious you are, the more kids make things difficult (from my own experience). We simply cook/eat what we like and kid has learnt to be less fussy and more open to trying various ingredients in tiny bits.

 

[genn]

Hi kayliz,
Sounds like we r facing the same problems!!!
My boy is 22 mths , dislikes meat, fruits, sweet/ flavoured food....will occasionally take bits of biscuits n cakes...
But I let him take pediasure....

he will only drink if he's really hungry!
Feeding him really stressed me so much!!

 

[verluv]

Oh mine... my daughter who is 14 months old sound exactly what you all have describe. Only drink milk. When i feed her porridge, she will spit everything out. Tried rice with soup, she will take a few mouths. I am really stresed when its come to feeding time.

 

[genn]

2ww,
My boy dislike porridge too!
Hate it when some mummies/grandmas told me their kids can eat a big bowl of porridge every meal just within mins!!!!
I m just glad when my boy can eat half bowl of his food w/o any fuss!

 

[aprilaries20]

Yup, facing the same prob with my 2 yr old boy.
Getting fussier each day. Now he refuse to eat his cereal for breakfast.
I also dunno what to feed him besides milk and porridge. He is so bony!
But, he loves KFC & fries - so unhealthy! Will limit that to twice a month.
End up now i feed him cheese, biscuits, whipped potato, bread, fishball, noodle soup, rice with soup or whatever we are eating. Bits and pieces here and there.

 

[josiahgvick]

For a healthy baby after birth give him mother milk then after 6 or 9 months give him rice or cereals to eat. It will make the child to grow faster and healthier.

-----------------------------
http://doctorsnote.org

 

[elohz]

Your child has the same appetite like my kids. I tried it too, letting them eat on their own. But they are wasting food so much. My friend suggested me to be creative while preparing for his food,kids loves to play and they love toys and shapes. So i made snacks shape like his toys and shapes.It works for sometime.Its time consuming but its ok as long as he's eating well.

 

[bewildered]

My girl's v picky too!!

Will avoid food tt she dunno n also reject if the color's weird to her etc.. So food with sauce n all, she'll reject.. Will spit out foreign food like maybe veggies if tis hidden inside the scoop of rice etc..

Currently her weight at 3+yrs old is only 12kg.. Abit worrying n sch also mentioned tt she's v stuborn, if she dun like tt particular food,she'll nt even try etc..

Dunno hw to get ard this, to get her to be more open to trying.. Even if we eat the item before her to show tt tis nice, she also wont eat.. Headache..

 

[carababy]

Same for my 14 mths old bb. She used to love all food that prepare by me. By lately she refused porridge and everything. after a few mouthful will spit out. Adult food also no interest. But luckily she is still on exclusive bm.

 

[phenlee]

i have a problem w/ my daughter too..she's prefer to eat junk foods than the foods i prefer for her..

 

[kayliz]

Hi mummies, thx for sharing.. forgot about this thread.

My girl is turning 3 soon, I'm still experiencing the same problems whereby she still refuses all kinds of fruits. But she is able to eat more rice (with soup) and porridge and outgrown the cereal phase. Still, she is a small eater. She loves KFC too, especially the fried skin. She also likes pizza now, crust and all. The only good thing about her being picky with food is that she has never been interested in soft drinks, chocolates, candies, ice cream or junk food. If she eats, she will have a bite and tell me it's too sweet and reject.

Now my gal is about 13kg. Just gained 1kg in a year! And she is going to childcare soon. Knowing her eating habits, i'm actually quite worried because definitely she will not want to eat a lot of food the school serves. At least at home, if she doesnt have her meals, we will keep offering bread, biscuits, milk or whatever that can get into her tummy. But in sch, if she refuses to eat lunch, she might need to wait for the teabreak 3-4 hrs later. Sigh..

 

[petite_love]

Hi kayliz, time flies. My gal turning 3 years next month. Almost a year back when u started this thread, I also shared about my gal being a picky eater. She still is... She is not adventurous with food. However, compared to a year ago, she has improved, she eats the whole portion that teacher serves. Previous year, she ate just little or some. However she still refuses veg and will pick them out.

Same like ur child, she is not into sweetened drinks, sweets, cakes and ice cream, she eats only plain bread without spreads. It is hard to get her to eat vit c gummi bear when many kids love gummi bear..

When ur gal goes childcare, initial period she will reject the food there but give her time, she will slowly adjust and eat especially seeing her friends eating, she will as well. Take heart.

 

[kayliz]

Petite Love: hihi~~ yes your gal is just like mine! only eats plain bread. i even bought bread moulds to make bread & cheese sandwiches but she will pick and eat them separately.

Mine is ok with certain veg like broccoli, carrot, potato, watercress, spinach. For green veg, initially i had to puree them like baby food and mix into her porridge. She is fine with green looking porridge. But recently i tried to steam and cut them into small pieces, she did not reject too. Just add a bit to each spoonful i feed. Dont directly mix into the whole bowl, else if she rejects, i gotta throw everything.

So far, her fav porridge is corn & chicken. I put rice, corn and a whole chicken thigh (skin removed) into slow cooker and cook. it tastes nice even without any seasoning.

Same as yours, my gal doesnt eat gummy bears. i bought the goat's milk candy too and she only takes 1 once in a while.

i really hope she can adjust slowly in childcare like yours!

 

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