What can i give my one year old (picky eater) to eat?

Question

Suddenly my now nearly 13 month old will eat almost nothing during the day except munch of rice wafels and crackers.

Answer 1

I believe all children go through this stage and it's nothing to be overly alarmed about. Make sure the baby is drinking plenty of fluids. At this age they don't want to be spoon fed - they want to do it on there own. Bring out a variety of foods and textures for your baby to "play with". Such as
fresh fruits - cleaned, peeled and cut to size.
(banana's, apples, pears, pineapple, peaches)
Cheese - marble is a good one to start with, sliced cracker size.
Crackers - Ritz, Vegetable Thins, Soup Crackers, Wheat Thins.
Toast and/or bread - with different toppings
Cereals - Rice Krispies, Puffed Wheat, Cherrios,Fruit Loops, Etc.
Cookies - Arrow Roots and/or Pablum Biscuits.

There are many varieties and textures that you can introduce. Try them all and see where her preferences lie. Some babies don't like the slimy texture of banana's and peaches but gobble up the apples and pears. Some prefer a soft cracker such as ritz in comparison to a hard cracker such as Wheat Thins. It's time to experiment with your child. Always give her a little bit of everything you are eating at meal time, to muck with on her tray. Repetition is the best bet. I wish you Lots of Luck - it takes some longer then others to come out of this stage!

Answer 2

This is very typical toddler and preschool behavior. Often older children get stuck on favorite foods as well. The hardest thing to do is to resist the temptation to give her just the things you know she will eat. At meals and snack times, offer her a wide variety of bite-size pieces of food. For example, at breakfast, give her a waffle, but include some fruit as well and add a scrambled egg to her plate. She will probably only eat the waffle, but that is OK. Include crackers with a mid-morning snack, but add some pieces of string cheese, some more fruit and some veggies, too. Children have a survival instinct and will not starve themselves. Do not force her to eat anything. Offer her a lot of choices and let her choose what she will eat. Make eating a non-issue. If she eats, that's great, if not, remove her from her high chair and put the food away. Little children have little tummies and will often "graze" throughout the day instead of eating 3 big meals. My youngest child survived on watermelon and cucumbers for months when she was about 18 months old. Occasionally she'd eat some pasta and some chicken. Our pediatrician said that as long as children get something from all the food groups in a week's time, they will be fine.

Answer 3

Make the child a variety plate, nothing big just like a half slice of peanut butter and bread, grapes maybe a half slice of deli meat, cheese,crackers, maybe even a cookie, his rice waffles. and make it available for only one hour, you don't want the child eating all day. Just put it in front and let him munch, don't force but give him choice, if all he'll eat is the rice thinggy's then that's all he'll eat, he'll get hungry eventually

Answer 4

Here's a neet trick I learned with my boys Take some fruit { softer if your child does not have many teeth, bananas are great} and some yogurt or even pudding{ instant chocolate works good} slice the fruit into bite size pieces and let your kid dip. very messy yes but oh sooo much fun and very tasty too. Cheese that's been cubed is good,Just basically give lots of different healthy choices, eventually they eat. Instead of 3 big meals also try lots of little ones . My boys went through what my mom likes to refer to as the grazing age to. they do grow out of it don't worry.

Answer 5

Breakfast foods are always a loved food with my 21 month old. If she doent want the pork chops or spaghetti we are eating, i can guarantee she'll eat a waffle or mini pancakes. I buy the waffles with the fruit in it.

Also, try jarred fruit chunks (the gerber kind). She loves those too, especially peaches.

Banana's are a favorite as well as yogurt (i prefer yoplait yumsters as they have the 'spoon hugging texture' and is not as drippy as the other yogurts).

Best of luck!

Answer 6

Gerber has a bunch of little snacks like apple wheels and cereal bars. My son is picky too. You could try scrambled eggs, fruit, whole wheat toast. My son loves pancakes and string cheese. One more thing is granola bars. Good luck!!

Answer 7

My son is that way. I try to make sure he gets yogurt or applesauce. He likes very few other foods. Maybe try to put peanut butter on the crackers (unless baby is allergic).

Answer 8

Have you tried the Gerber fruit puffs. My two year old just loves them. I've even tasted them myself and they taste like real fruit. Perhaps you could try some sliced cheese or fresh fruit. That's what my baby snacks on.

Answer 9

My daughter had the exact same problem with my grandson. She was very worried about it and kept trying to feed him and it was always a fight. It is just a stage he/she is going thru. Just wait it out and he/she will want to eat anything and everything. My grandson always likes fruit no matter what. Try that if you haven't already. Good Luck

Answer 10

You really need to try to be persistent with getting him to eat other foods. A diet, even just in the day, only consisting of rice wafels and crackers is not enough. You are risking malnutrition with him if you don't get him to eat all the fruits, veggies, protien, and calcium that he NEEDS.