We usually pass on breakfast but if we do not pass on breakfast we can have anything from cereal, to pancakes, to oatmeal. Yay for something being consumed!
Lunch depends on whether or not we passed on breakfast. If we do eat lunch, it's maybe Mac and cheese...because that's healthy...or maybe we'll do apples and peanut butter with a cheese stick or yogurt. Then there are days where mom of the year here will get the kids nuggets and fries from the ever dreaded McDonalds because she is pretty desperate to just get something in her belly. Don't judge. I had that as a kid quite often and I am just fine. Moderation people!
Anyways, by the time dinner comes around, one would think my kid would be starving. Wrong! I ask what she wants for dinner and I usually get an 'I'm not hungry'. Ugh.
It wouldn't be so bad if she would attempt to eat what we were having for dinner but that is yet another problem. I can't get her to try anything new. Oatmeal? I had to bribe for with cookies to even take a single bite...but now she loves it. Spaghetti took three tries before we could get her to take a bite...now she loves it. But since I am usually making the kids their own dinner that is different from ours (which was a super huge mistake and I regret starting that!) it makes it very frustrating when she doesn't eat it.
Lately, I feel as if I am failing her. I am home all day with her, why can't I get her to eat. It is very very frustrating. I shouldn't have to pull teeth to get her to eat something...something that she has had before and liked!
Do you have a picky eater or in my case, a kid who doesn't want to eat at all? What have you done to get them to eat? Any tricks I should know about?
Someone please help this frustrated mama out before she goes crazy!
YES! I have the same issue with Kaleb! (I had to go back and look on Hannah's page to see how old she was) granted she and Kaleb aren't the same age, we still have the same problem! At *almost* 18 months old, he rarely eats. French Fries from mcD's is a given. He will always eat that. Sometimes the nuggets, almost always yogurt, 80% he will eat spaghetti, SOMETIMES chicken, almost never ground meat...the list goes on of the maybes. I'm sooo over it. I wish I could help you out but I have no idea what to do myself. I feel like a failure teaching him to eat mcdonalds but I feel like he does NEED to eat SOMETHING. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteHow well does Colson eat?
Yeah, Hannah has a lot of maybes as well. But I hear ya on the needing to eat SOMETHING! So frustrating!
DeleteColson is a pretty good eater. But I have noticed that he has become more picky as of late. Maybe because he sees his sister is not eating?
When Emma was around 2 or so she just didn't want to eat. I would also do the bribing thing. When we brought her to the doctor for her normal checkup she told me to just not worry about it. That Emma would eat when she was hungry. So I didn't force her, and sure enough she started eating really well. She's never really been picky though. If we offer her something and she doesn't want to try it, if we tell her that her grandfather just loves it, she will eat it. Crazy kid. Good luck with Hannah though. I'm sure it will get much better
ReplyDeleteYeah, I figure she'll eat when she's hungry...its just hard when I think she should be eating more. I'm sure it will get better though! :o)
DeleteMy doctor tells me as long as Mackenzie doesn't drop a whole food group from her diet she's ok. However I just started a multi vitamine with her because she is becoming picky herself.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Hannah drink a lot during the day? I know I give Mackenzie extra milk if she only had 3 bites of a meal. And if I give her milk right before a meal she doesn't eat much.
I've at least kept from making Mackenzie multiple meals to get her to eat.....but that's been a struggle cause I just feel she should eat very meal. But like others commented when she's hungry she will eat.
Good luck!! Maybe make her run around the basement or outside to make her hungry. :)
I will give Hannah one or two sippy cups of milk a day and two or three diluted apple juices. I have been trying to have her not fill up on liquids but that doesn't seem to matter one way or the other. :o/
DeleteOH and when Mackenzie was sick last week she got chicken nuggets with a little ranch and grilled cheese 3 days in a row because its the ONLY thing she would eat. :) (at least they were frozen nuggets) and yes in moderation there's nothing wrong with McDonald's!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can't say that my kids are picky eaters, they do go in spurts of eating a bunch and then not eating a whole lot. To me, it sounds like she is preoccupied and doesn't focus on eating. I don't make special meals for my kids, simply because I just don't have the time. We have two rules in our house that we follow pretty closely: 1.) you eat what is put in front of you or you go hungry, and 2.) if you don't eat your meal, you don't get a snack. We have taught that you are blessed to have the food in front of you and some kids don't have meals at all. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it, but don't expect me to make you something else. We don't waste food.
ReplyDeleteIf it were my child, this is what I would do. I would offer her breakfast. Allow her two choices, you can have this or that. If she turns downs breakfast, nothing more until lunch, including milk. Then I would offer lunch. Again two choices or whatever you are making. If she turns it down, nothing again until dinner. So on and so forth. I would only offer milk at meal time and cut the juice down to once glass per day. I would offer water the rest of the time. (I would offer the water in between meals if she is thirsty) I would offer all meals and snacks at the table. That way she is concentrating on the meal itself and not focusing on a toy or another activity.
She is probably going to be hungry, but that's the idea. She almost needs to be 'reprogramed' into the 3 meals a day and 2 snacks mindset. Is some of it age appropriate? Absolutely! But you also can't be a short order cook for then next 18 years while she decides when 'her' mealtime is going to be.
We also make sure the kids get some sort of physical activity every day. Whether its going to the park, riding bikes around the neighborhood, or playing outside. It helps work off energy, but also works up an appetite.
I hope that all makes sense. Its just what I do and it works out pretty well for us. This stage is a hard one and hopefully it passes soon!
Thank you, Courtney! I know I need to change how we do things. We have gotten into some bad habits. This morning was a success! We had a bowl of oatmeal and a milk. :o) I am sticking to my guns and only offering things at the table! We have been sucked into having our snacks in the living room and I know that is part of our problem. Hopefully the day continues to go well.
DeleteAnd NO, you were not harsh! You wrote things that I knew I needed to be doing. We got into a bad comfort zone and it's time to change that before Colson gets into this as well!
Yay for good days!!!! Hang in there mama!!
DeleteI hope that didn't sound harsh. I'm just thinking, she's 4 now and going to be starting school soon. At school, they will have a set snack time and lunch time. I just think its easier to already have them in that mindset of set meal times prior to school. It will be an easier adjustment for her. Even P has a hard time with lunch in Kindergarten. They only give them 25 minutes and sometimes he doesn't finish his lunch because he's too busy "socializing" and he comes home hungry. I have to give him reminders "eat your sandwich first, then everything else" so I know he is at least getting something in his belly.
ReplyDelete