My 14 month old has become a pickey eater....?

Question

My 14 month old has become a pickey eater.....all he will eat are crackers and juice. I have called his doctor and all he said was to get creative with meals and do 1 or 2 bites of several things till he grows out of it. Yeah...that didn't work...my child is smart enough to know when Mommy and Daddy are tricking him to eat. I have tried being entertaining, tried new flavors, tried bribing, etc....

Any suggestions on how I can get my son to eat more....He is low on the weight charts so I am concerned....

Answer 1

I have 18 month old twins that were below the growth chart, ha ha. I started by putting half a packet of carnation instant breakfast in their sippy cups. With thier first milk in the morning. It did wonders for their weight. It's a cheap, easy way, to be sure that they're getting some of the nutrieants they need everyday. Now toddlers are stubborn creatures. There are going to be days when it seems like he won't eat anything! There are going to be days when it seems like he eats everything too! Now you mentioned trying different flavors. Does that mean he's still eating some baby foods? I think he's big enough to eat solids. With all four of my kids, from the time they were 10 months old, they had veggies as a snack. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some health freak, it was just easy, simple, and good for them. My twins are 18 months old, and snacks still consist of peas and carrots and a couple cubes of cheese. Get his highchair up to the table, and give him very small portions of what you eat. Let him sit in his highchair while you eat. When you're done get him out, unless he's still eating of course. Give him two or three scheduled snacks. If he'll eat crackers give him peanut butter crackers. Give him milk, instead of juice. Juice is an easy way to get fruit servings, but at his age he only needs two fruit servings and 6 oz. on juice covers it all. My twins get juice once a day. They don't really like it that much though, weird, huh? Anyway. A snack in between breakfast and lunch, one between lunch and dinner, and one before bed. Other than that, he eats what you eat, when you eat. Like I said, toddlers are hardheaded, Mom and Dad just have to be MORE stubborn than they are. He'll come around, and eat. If you cater to him now, he'll grow to expect it.

Answer 2

this is normal, as long as you are offering lots of good foods, it will pass i once had a doc tell me if your child is being offered food but only eats the equivalent of a green bean a day it is OK, i just went thru same thing now my son is 19months and eats everything

Answer 3

He's teething. Look at your other question.