Sunday, December 21, 2008

Just eat it, You'll like it I promise

I think I've said that more times than I can count. Meal time is such a drag at my house, at least when it comes to Anthony's mealtime. He is such a picky eater. He is bored of baby food yet he doesn't seem to be interested in regular table food. Whenever I feed him something if he doesn't like it he just spits it out. Drives me crazy. He should be off formula by now and on to whole milk, but of course he doesn't like it. Yes I've tried mixing it and he cannot be fooled. If there is milk in it he wont touch it. I have tried numerous things and so far have not found much he likes. This is concerning to me because he was only in the 10th percentile for weight at his 1 year check up, weighing 19 pounds 14 ounces.

Here is a very short list of what he will eat.
Pancakes with butter and maple syrup
yogurt
peanut butter and jelly sandwich (sometimes)
bananas
peaches
watermelon
applesauce
rice pudding
jello

Here is the longer list of the things I've tried that he spits out.
vegetable risotto (from baby food recipe book)
macaroni and cheese
grilled cheese
avocado
squash
sweet potato
mashed potatoes
crackers
cheese chunks
milk
pasta noodles
pizza
bread cubes
rice
spaghetti O's
cheese ravioli
scrambled eggs
papaya
oatmeal (baby oatmeal or regular instant oatmeal)
cottage cheese
broccoli cheese soup
tofu

So could somebody please tell me what babies like to eat, cause I can't seem to figure it out.
Do I just give him the few things he will eat over and over? Surely it can't be that nutritious to just eat yogurt, pancakes, fruit and pbj's day after day.
Any suggestions for getting him off the formula and onto milk? My friend suggested adding Ovaltine to flavor it, but I haven't tried that yet. I plan on picking some up next time I'm out shopping.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lori, your going to think I am a mean mom. But, to get him off of formula, you could be mean and just only offer him the milk. He will get thirsty enough and drink it. We had to do this with two of our children to get them off of the bottle. They hated sippy cups but it was time to take that bottle so we only offered the cup and eventually they took it.

As far as food, I would not worry about it at this point. All you can do is try. He will eventually adjust. Maddie will not eat ANY meats at all. As long as your pediatrician is aware and has no concerns then I would not be worried. Are you giving him any vitamins?

Michelle

Natalie said...

Leah loves mexican! She even likes to dip her chips in the salsa! Try rice and beans, and not made by gerber.
We ARE in NY. We already opened presents. Those are all the presents from all of Adam's family, we did Chistmas there this year. We only have one more hour to go, but we were so tired, and the snow was getting bad, so we got a hotel. Tomorrow will be a fun day!

Tina in CT said...

I also am a toughie. I'd take the bottle away and give him milk in a sippy. When he's thirsty, he'll drink. The longer you keep his bottle, the harder it will be to break him of it. My pediatrician told me when Tami was a toddler, "I never heard of a child starving to death when food was put on their tray."

Lauri said...

Have you tried one of those feeder thingys ( link below)..... like a pacifier with netting.. that way he can taste the flavors of foods without the texture?

seems that some children gag on the textures... this is a good way to introduce foods

http://arktherapeutic.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ATSI&Product_Code=BabySafeFeeder&Category_Code=EarlyIntervention

Shanna said...

My oldest would not do the milk thing. He still does not like it. I can only get him to drink chocolate milk (ovaltine) and that is only since he was about 3. My pediatrician said not to worry because he was such a yogurt and cheese eater. My kids are still very picky. Thank goodness they are finally at an age were I can tell them if they don't eat their green beans they can't get anymore noodles! I tend to puree veggies and hide them in their food.
Good luck!

Rachael said...

I do not ever remember it being that hard. But, probably that's because my boys were in the 95+% so I'm pretty sure we didn't have that problem. And, it's been too long with Kristen, so I don't remember. So...all that to say, I probably don't have any words of wisdom for you. But, you know that I could never go the tough love route. Just keep trying...

Maybe he doesn't like the milk because it's cold? Have you tried setting it out to room temp?

Rachael said...

Oh, one more idea: maybe he would drink soy milk or rice milk. It's probably a little less expensive than formula, and maybe it would be a bridge until you can switch him to regular milk.

PrincessGreen17 said...

Wow, you have tried everything! I wonder what flavor he's looking for!

Denise said...

Have you tried adding the Danimal's yogurt drink to the milk? I did that with Max and he loved it. Don't worry about the food thing... their likes and dislikes constantly change.