18 month baby boy fussy eater?

Question

we are mashing the food, and feeding him with the spoon. He can eat peta bread, Broccli himself with mashing, Any tips to improve his feeding habit, Any good receipies, loosing weight 1.5lb in 8 weeks,

Answer 1

He probably doesnt like being fed with a spoon and prefers to be doing it himself making a mess and that try baby carrots n wee sausages things he can hold and munch on,

Answer 2

Well, depending on how many teeth he has, I would feed him everything you eat. Does he prefer to feed himself? If so, let him. I have a very picky eater and he's so skinny, I worry a lot. But if I feed him and pretend like I don't care if he eats he tends to eat better. Don't put any pressure on him. Try Barilla plus noodles, they have ground flax seed and legumes but they taste like regular noodles. Put some extra virgin olive oil on them and maybe a little Parmesan for flavor. Give him whole milk and if he won't drink it plain put ovaltine in it, it has lots of added vitamins and that will add some calories too. Try soft fruits and veggies and buy him some special soft forks and spoons to eat with, that might motivate him a little. Above all don't worry too much or make him worry. He will sense it. I tell my fussy 2 1/2 year old eater when he says he doesn't want something, "OK, i will put it right here in case you want it" and he almost always ends up eating it. Don't force or bribe either. That just makes them more defiant usually. Hope that helps. I can relate with you on the worry a fussy eater causes you. Just make sure he doesn't lose too much and offer a wide variety of foods. He'll come around.

Answer 3

Your baby is old enough now that you shouldn't be mashing his food so much and feeding him yourself. That's could be why he's fussy about eating. He's telling you that he wants to use the spoon on his own. Also,give him finger foods he can pick up by himself. Here's a link with some good information.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Stick to basically what he likes, and combine those foods sneakily with others. Broccoli is a good thing, and easy to mush up with other things like meat and vegetables.

As long as he's introduced to a large variety of fruit, veg, meat, pasta rice, bread etc, don't worry. Finger foods are a good idea, especially if he can feed himself. And you don't have to keep mashing everything up.

Most kids get really fussy by age 3.

Answer 5

Don't stress, my son used to live on bananas, fromage frais, weetabix and spag bol baby food for a year and it never did him any harm. He now likes anything and is strong as an ox. Strategies I used to try to wean him off the routine were adding stuff to the bolognse food, e.g. loads of extra veggies, small pieces of bread mixed in, making food weird like creating green mashed potato by adding peas to it in the blender, ditto anything that looked like a face was a plus too. If you find he likes broccoli, mash in other green veggies e.g peas, sprouts, green beans-I bet he won't notice the difference. Generally children are fussy because of the way food looks rather than how it tastes. To add extra calories/nutrition to the veggies, mix in some stock, chicken is best. When it comes down to it as long as he is healthy anything you give him is o.k. If he likes broccoli give him sack fulls of the stuff, same for the pitta. If you feed him enough of the stuff he likes he will maintain his weight.

Answer 6

In my experience ( 3 kids) they will eat when they're hungry and like nothing better than copying mum and dad. Try to eat at the same time as your little boy and dont make a big issue out of it if he doesnt eat. just shrug and carry on yourself.

My neice was horrendously fussy as a baby, because my sister made such a fuss at mealtimes. Yet when my neice stayed with me, she ate everything I put in front of her.

Also, does your baby still take a lot of milk? this may be filling him up so much he's not really hungry for solids.

good luck, everything will work out I'm sure.

Answer 7

my daughter was exactly the same at this age, she is now over 20 months and eats great. I thought it would never pass but it does dont worry. she used to prefer to eat finger foods though at that age, i hated it, she was such a horrible eater. Just keep trying to feed him he will accept it eventually. But dont give up, try giving him sandwiches as a finger food. Although people say just let him feed himself, it may work but i tried it and she couldnt feed herself, more ended up on the floor than in her mouth as it usually does. But i like to make sure my daughter is getting a good meal so i used to feed her, she now feeds herself most of the time, now that she has learned to get it in her mouth. Why not try adding a nice cheese or tomato sauce to food such as pasta or vegetables, i find it goes down well. If you need any more help please email me.

Answer 8

Ask you Dr. if he can have Pediasure..I'm not sure how old they have to be before than can have it but when my now 4 year old had his tonsils out he did not want to eat anything and for about a month he pretty much lived on that..
Picky eaters are the worse but at least if he can drink the Pediasure he will get all the Vits. and Nutrition that he needs and that way if he only eats a little or certain things at least he'll get what he needs and not lose so much weight!!
Good Luck!!

Answer 9

Babies (and children) go through phases of eating (one extreme to the other) usually associated with growth spurts. If he is eating pita bread and broccoli then feed him pita bread and broccoli but offer him some other choices along with it. He may want to explore this new food or may choose to make it wall art but at least he will eat the other stuff.
Perhaps limit snack time prior to meal time too, maybe he's not hungry.
If this problem persists speak to your pediatrician about this, I'm sure they will be able to tell you if there is anything to worry about.

Answer 10

have you tried cutting it up small as the mashing might be bugging him. and letting him feed himself, they love being independant. you need to move onto the next stage of weaning and get off the mashed stuff. i have 2boys and the youngest is 19months he has been feeding himself cut up food for at least 6months. just put him in a highchair with the cut up food/dinner such as potatoes/ sliced bannana, soft stuff at first so he wont choke and leave him to figure it out himself, mine used his hands for ages, just started to use a fork this week actually! give it a go, hope it works. by the way dont listen to the idiots who say 'dont give him snacks leave him to scream till dinner time' thats just cruel they dont understand, mine eats all day long, it doesn't hurt them.

Answer 11

WELL GENERALLY AT 18 MONTHS OLD, A CHILD CAN USUALLY EAT MORE THAN MASHED FOOD. TRY GIVING HIM SOME SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH LITTLE TINY PIECES OF TOAST OR MAYBE SOME DRY CEREAL, SMALL PIECES OF BANANA OR OTHER FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. HE PROBABLY WILL EAT BETTER IF HES ALLOWED TO FEED HIMSELF. AND DONT WORRY ABOUT HIM MAKING A MESS OF HIMSELF...THATS THE FUN IN LEARNING TO FEED HIMSELF. WAIT UNTIL HE EATS PASTA AND SAUCE BY HIMSELF...WHAT A MESS THAT WILL BE