Any ideas for a picky 19-month old eater???

Question

My son loves certain foods - toast, turkey bacon, chicken sausages, blueberries, bananas - and we're giving him the same foods over and over again because he is so picky. I've introduced new foods, but he rejects most. He doesn't want to use a spoon at all. I also can't get him to eat veggies - although he loves fruit. We give him V8 Fusion Juice to help with that issue (diluted w/water of course and not too much). He is gaining weight adequately and enjoys eating what he likes. Any ideas???

Answer 1

As a toddler, your child may start to refuse to eat some foods, become a very picky eater or even go on binges where they will only want to eat a certain food. An important way that children learn to be independent is through establishing independence about feeding. Even though your child may not be eating as well rounded a diet as you would like, as long as your child is growing normally and has a normal energy level, there is probably little to worry about. Remember that early childhood is a period in his development where he is not growing very fast and doesn't need a lot of calories.

Related Topics
Nutrition Center
Food Refusal


Also, most children do not eat a balanced diet each and every day, but over the course of a week or so their diet will usually be well balanced. You can consider giving your child a daily vitamin if you think he is not eating well, although he probably doesn't need it.

While you should provide three well-balanced meals each day, it is important to keep in mind that most younger children will only eat one or two full meals each day. If you toddler has had a good breakfast and lunch, then it is okay that he doesn't want to eat much at dinner.




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Although your child will probably be hesitant to try new foods, you should still offer small amounts of them once or twice a week (one tablespoon of green beans, for example). Most children will try a new food after being offered it 10-15 times.

Other ways to prevent feeding problems are to not use food as a bribe or reward for desired behaviors, avoid punishing your child for not eating well, limit mealtime conversation to positive and pleasant topics, avoid discussing or commenting on your child's poor eating habits while at the table, limit eating and drinking to the table or high chair, and limit snacks to two nutritious snacks each day.

You should also not prepare more than one meal for your child. If he doesn't want to eat what was prepared for the rest of the family, then he should not be forced to, but you should also not give him something else to eat. He will not starve after missing a single meal, and providing alternatives to the prepared meal will just cause more problems later.

Answer 2

Don't worry about it. As long as he is healthy, don't try to push him to eat things he doesn't want. Keep feeding him what he likes, and just keep some small portions of other foods available for him to try. Kids go through picky stages on and off, even through the teenage years. As long as you don't make a big issue of it, eventually they start to eat other things again.

I did have a trick for getting my 3 year old daughter to eat. When she needed an antibiotic, and would not take it, I would mix it in her pudding. The problem was she knew it was in there and refused to eat the pudding. I grabbed a camera, and told her I would take a picture of her every time she took a bite. She was such a little ham and loved having her picture taken. The camera didn't even have film in it. I'm not saying tricking a kid into eating is a good thing, but sometimes you have to nudge them along with little things that you know would work for their personality.

Answer 3

Kids go thru stages. At least he's eating healthy foods! Six months from now, you may not be able to force feed him any of this stuff! Keep offering different foods - especially if you're having the same thing. If he sees you eating stuff, he'll want to try it eventually. (Monkey-see, monkey-do, kinda thing.) As long as he's growing fine, there's no reason to worry. (You'd be surprised how many kids live on peanut butter and jelly for months.... At least he's not asking for chicken nuggets and fries all the time!)

Answer 4

Stop giving him the foods he wants and give him other foods. If he doesn't eat don't give him anything else. When he gets hungry enough he will stop his little "power play" and eat whatever is in front of him...because that is what it is...HE has the power and the control over what he eats and you've been giving it to him, he will grow up this way if YOU let him.

Answer 5

don't worry , he is only 19 months old , he will eventually begin to try other foods, and if his weight is okay , he is fine,my son wouldn't swallow meat at this age, he would chew it and spit it out, but his doctor said he was okay and just a fad, now he is 16 and never stops eating,lol so good luck and he will be okay, he is still a little young for a spoon just let him eat finger food for a while

Answer 6

I also have a toddler your childs age. She is a picky eater sometimes. We continue to introduce new foods. There taste buds change often so he may begin to love those healthier foods of your choosing. Dont give up just choose foods wisely

Answer 7

My 18 month old is really picky too. I can get him to eat yogurt, mashed potatoes, carrots. peanut butter toast and crackers, pureed fruit, bananas, and that's pretty much it. You could try any of these suggestions, and instead of mashed potatoes you could try diced ones so he can eat them himself. Good luck, I know how hard it is.
Diced cheese, or string cheese is also a good toddler food.

Answer 8

Children apparently need to be introduced and re-introduced to new foods in order to get used to them. They are, of course, creatures of habit.

Do you eat them? It helps when a parent also eats the food (although if it's baby food, maybe not.)

I'd suggest you speak to your pediatrician if you're still concerned.

Answer 9

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it, when my cousin was little she wouldn't eat hardly anything but as long as she was gaining weight the doctor said not to worry about and that she would grow out of it which she did. So just wait it out and hopefully he will grow out of it.

Answer 10

just continue to do what you are doing. he is in a faze right now and will eventually start to eat and like new foods.