I am excited to announce that I am sharing my first guest post today, over at Playing With Words 365! This post is for anyone who is struggling with their kids variety of foods, but any parent can take away some great ideas.
“Picky” eaters can be frustrating and drain our patience reserves quickly. When that happens you need a game plan, you know, some new strategies. I have that game plan! Click here to check it out! Feel free to leave comments for me here or there!
If you are new to Playing With Words 365, Katie is a speech therapist and Mama. Her blog is fantastic, loaded with tons of ideas to improve speech, engaging play ideas, and therapy ideas for other therapists. Spend some time there, you will be glad you did!
Hi My Daughter is 12 month old now and since past 20days she has rejected every food except some veggies and crackers. Previously she use to eat various flavours of pancakes, tikkis, steamed idli, boiled potato, sweet potatos, veggies. She has never liked pureed food so I never forced her to eat instead offer variety of finger food. Now I don’t understand why suddenly she started rejecting every food. I have tried various new food like potato fries, liquid food, pancakes but she does not want to eat any. Now I am very much confused what should I offer her.
Hi Puja,
Keep offering her these foods in a variety of ways. Lots of kids go through phases. You can try building a bridge from preferred foods to make sure you’re adding variety. But don’t stop serving foods, it’s likely this is a phase.
Best,
Laura
Your Kid’s Table team member
Hello, I’m new here and was really just hoping for an great positive answer and motherly support. I have a energetic, daredevilish, beautiful 3 year old daughter. Growing up she was always eating something. But lately… say the past year and a half she refuses to eat. It baffled me at first because it was crazy that my once chicken eating kid is now saying no to actual meat. Now dont get me wrong let me go in a bit. See she will eat, but only certain things like chicken nuggets, pancakes, fries, strawberries, cuties, and loves milk. But that’s it like literally. And it’s gotten to the point I’m making two separate meals 3 times a day just so she I know she does eat. She hasnt changed as far as energetic or outgoing because she fits right in with the boys. Lol but it scares me to think she’s not getting enough. Then comes the snacks, chips and fruit snacks. She doesn’t like cakes or cookies like that unless their fresh from the oven. Point is I’m tired and if I dont she WILL NOT EAT! Seriously! Please somebody please tell me what to do. Thanks in advance.
Hey Thanks for reaching out to us! We can understand this situation and how hard it can be! Making all these separate meals can be exhausting! I’d try having her help you in the kitchen to get her engaged with any of the foods as much as you can, this can be a huge step forward. We do have a free workshop that is helpful for picky eaters full of great information and help for you! You can save your spot HERE
Best,
Desiree
my 22 mo old is the same, i leave snacks out on his table to let him know if he’s hungry he can eat when he’s ready. I normally try to share the food I’m eating and sometimes allow him to sit on my lap and play with my food so he can try it. works some days. i try to stick to the fooda he has eaten successfully and give him 2 options to choose from (pizza, taquitos, broccoli and chicken nuggets) it’s a hit or miss but he does come back to his table every now and then to. nibble.
he’s on 3rd % for his age and i do worry he’s not eating enough. We supplement with pediasure and the breakfast shakes mix we put in his milk to make up for lack of calories 🤷♀️. I’ve learned he will eat on his own time and not when i try to get him to eat.
Hey Gloria,
We understand how hard picky eating can be! Sounds like you are doing a great job at making sure there is a preferred food for him at every meal, so keep it up. We do have a free workshop that walks you through some great tips/strategies for working on picky eating with your child. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
my son spent the first 2 years of his life tongue and lip tied. 6 month on up gagged on any foods that had thickness or texture to them. at 2 years he was finally revised. he has been seen speech and OT since 16 months old. Food is still a struggle for us. He has made some progress but still prefers pureed food over anything. Any suggestions i would love
Hey Jessica, The article still has some great suggestions that would apply!! We have also talked about tongue tie in our free workshop series!! You can sign up still and catch the replays if you are interested! Our final live video will be on Tuesday! Sign up for the workshop here
Best,
Desiree
my son is 3 years old , at the age of 7 months he stopped eating food , he only drinks or eat in the bottle , I tried everything to make him like food ,feeding his friends in the daycare , buying him new spoon , I took him to a psychologue, orthophoniste but nothing worked
any advice??
he eats everything with nescquick like eggs vegetable chicken fruits and everything but in the Milk bottle
what should I do ???
I know it’s so hard Aline. There’s actually a lot you can do, but in these more extreme cases it is a process. I know it’s hard but it’s best to start off with basic steps and move to more advanced. Have you seen my free picky eating workshop, I’d highly recommend this: yourkidstable.com/free
I’d also check out this article because it’s really important to get to the bottom of why he’s not eating so you can address it.
Hi Alisha,
I just found your website, and find it very informative!! My son will be three soon and I have discussed his problem eating with his doctor and he said that this is normal and if he’s 4/5 years old and still eating the same foods then we can consider other options. However, my gut is telling me otherwise and that I need to do more. Can kids eventually grow out of this, once they can communicate their feelings more effectively?
Well there is a normal picky eating phase that lasts until 3.5-5 years, but if it is extreme that indicates that there’s some underlying difficulties and the sooner those are addressed the better. How about this, check out this post on When Has Picky Eating Gone Too Far, does he fall into the extreme picky eater side? That should give you some direction. Then take a look at 5 Reasons Kids Don’t Eat, and look at the tips at the end too, following those basics. Those basic strategies will put you in the perfect spot if he’s just in a normal phase to outgrow it and if its something more you’ll find ways to overcome that there too!
Ok, so I have tried all of these suggestions at one time or another and I still have a picky eater. She is 11, middle child, was exposed to all the same foods as the other two at an early age etc etc . From about 4 she started to be a very plain eater, there is probably about five dinners I can get her to eat – won’t try anything new, or she doesn’t know, she helps me cook, goes on camps with kids, we do family style every week, she just eats what she knows. One or two veggies, sausages, chicken nuggets and a couple of other plain bits and pieces……. help !
Hey Natalie, I know its so hard! I have two resources I want to point you in the direction of. First, is go the menu bar and click start here. I have a step by step guide there, that will help you. Second, if you’re looking for something more in depth, I have a picky eating class you can check out here yourkidstable.com/join
Let me know if you have any questions after taking a look at the start here guide. I know how totally frustrating it can be!
“Cook and prepare meals with your kids” I think its a best idea, It creates excitement. Also he wants to taste food which was prepared by him. So, overall its best idea for picky eaters.
Yes Aliya, you are right, this is so important! I have a whole series of post called cooking with you kids where I discuss this. Thanks for commenting!