Munchkin Meals: How to Deal with a Picky Eater!

Ahhh…eating. Something I love and Olivia is indifferent towards. I wanted to write about this today with Munchkin Meals link up. (Thanks to Brittany for hosting. I love reading all the different posts for inspiration and ideas!)

For the previous 6 months…or maybe even more, meal time has been torture. On REALLY bad weeks I would walk away from meal time almost (or sometimes) in actual tears. Olivia would refuse so much food and I’d be making multiple foods at every meal. The amount of food that was wasted pained me.

At Liv’s 12 month check up she weighed in at 19 lbs 8 oz. (Check out Munchkin Meals post I did then.)She dropped some percentage points. My pediatrician didn’t sweat it but told me to make sure I was using fats in her diet, which I was already doing. I was so nervous for her 15 month appointment because I was afraid she hadn’t gained any weight because she was (what I felt) barely eating. I was chasing her around with food, making her multiple things until she ate and just doing anything I could to get food in her.

I went to her 15 month appointment and she gained two pounds. I was kind of blown away. I spoke to my pediatrician about her food intake. I really trust and love my pediatrician (Dr. Rubin in Mineola). I asked her when I should stop catering to her needs and making her multiple meals. I knew it was around the time to stop. She explained to me that now was that time and it was more important to develop good eating habits than for her to gain weight (because she’s had healthy steady growth). She also explained that at this point it’s a power struggle and I needed to stop stressing about her eating. Dr. Rubin also said that it’s about the whole picture, not a meal. If she doesn’t eat at a particular meal, don’t worry about it, she’ll make it up at the next one.

This talk lifted a weight off my shoulders. From that dinner forward there have been NO multiple meals. If she doesn’t eat what I put on her plate then that’s it. Let me tell you, her eating has improved 1000% since I stopped stressing AND making multiple meals. If she’s hungry she eats, if she’s not, she doesn’t. I can’t even tell you how much more enjoyable meal time is.

If I’m eating also, then I sit with her and we talk and eat. If I’m not eating sometimes I’ll sit anyway and sometimes I’ll empty the dishwasher or prep food for another mealtime, like dinner. Liv hadn’t eaten ANY meat (besides bacon) since she was like 9 or 10 months. (Which is fine if she truly didn’t like it, but she LOVED chicken, chicken sausage, etc previously.) In the past two weeks she’s had chicken, pork or whatever protein we’ve had.

Trust me, it’s not perfect. She’s had a bunch of dinner times where she has had a bite or two and that’s it. I don’t stress about it and she’ll either come back and eat later (the same dinner foods) or she’ll wait until breakfast the next morning. (Note: She does still get 1 bottle of 7 oz of whole milk a day at 6:30. She won’t drink milk out of a cup, which both my pediatrician and I are fine with. We got rid of her morning bottle last week and soon we’ll start to get rid of this one too.)

She’s still not a huge fan of veggies, but she’ll try them (and usually spit them out). She loves carrots so I try to give her 2-3 baby carrots a day.

My biggest, biggest tips are to 1. NOT STRESS and 2. don’t cater to them. Of course I would talk about this with your pediatrician first to make this call, but for toddlers I’d say it’s probably a power struggle if they’re not eating. Let me also say that not stressing is easier said than done, but once I let myself stop stressing she magically started eating. I don’t think it was a coincidence.

Her favorites are still basically the same as they were at 12 months, but she’s broadened what she will eat in the past two weeks. Whatever we’re having for dinner, I give her deconstructed basically. Last night we had chicken, rice and steamed veggies. She had a couple bites of rice, couple bites of chicken and steamed carrots. She didn’t eat much, but again, that’s ok.

Typically:

Breakfast:

• ezekial toast, eggs, frozen blueberries
• almond butter muffin & frozen blueberries
• whole grain homemade pancake & frozen blueberries

Lunch:

• yogurt with pb, baby carrots
• quesadilla, pieces of apple
• toast with avocado
• turkey bacon, orange, yogurt
• leftovers from dinner

Dinner:

• Whatever we’re having. This is also when she tries different vegetables.

Snacks:

• Larabars
• Cashew hemp nut balls (homemade)
• Pumpernickel pretzels
• Fruit leather
• apple
• orange
• baby carrots

Like  I said, once I stopped stressing she really started eating. I actually cannot believe how much food she’s taken in, in the past two weeks. As for veggies, I believe the best thing Dan and I can do is model balanced eating and talk about why we eat the food we eat. I truly believe if she sees us eating vegetables she’ll become interested in them (one day) and it all will work itself out. For now I’m happy when she puts one in her mouth and attempts to try it. (Will I be eating my words later?)

I hope this helped anyone who is struggling with picky eaters. I’m sure I will have MUCH more to say on this topic as I continue to experience life with a toddler! I’d love to experiment more with different type of healthy muffins & cookies. I’ll keep you guys posted!

I’d love to hear your experience or any tips you have! Also share any favorite recipes!

Tagged as: family, meal time, meals, motherhood, munchkin meals, parenthood, picky eater, stress, toddler