17 Months Old Picky Eater - I Need Help

This is one of the most frustrating issues for parents have to go through! I have lucked out as a parent in this area, but professionally I have worked with many parents and children. There are a couple of things to think about to know what to try next. The number one question is if your son is just picky, or if he is doing this because of sensory reasons. If it is just because he is becoming more independent and showing his opinions (terrible twos) then you will make it through this with time. If this is what is going on then the more you expose him to things the more he will just want to try them. If you think his picky issues are due more to sensitivities then you might want to get help with this. Something else to ask is he overly sensitive to other senses (touch, noise, visual, ect) If this is true then you might want to see a pediatric occupational therapist to help with this. A good website to read about all this is www.spdfoundation.net If you have further questions or just want to chat about his stuff feel free to contact me. Hang in there. You are doing the best that you can!

I think it's normal for kids to go through periods where they become very picky. Presenting food but not forcing the issue has always worked for me.

My son used to avoid meat of any kind like the plague. I kept presenting it in a no-pressure manner - "here it it - Mommy and Daddy eat it, you can try some if you like" - again and again. He finally became curious enough to try it again. Same thing with veggies. He's back on the veggie wagaon again.

If you have a farmers market nearby, I'd suggest taking him with you. Maybe he'll like seeing the fruits and veggies in a different environment. I did that with my son when he was six months old and haven't stopped. I'd peel peaches seconds after purchasing them and just let him gnaw on them - sticky juices didn't matter to me as long as he enjoyed them.

I think the biggest piece of advice that I received from my friends and pediatrician was that this is just a phase. Eating Cheerios is great because they're fortified and filled with fiber. You're doing the best a mom can do during this picky phase.

I have a 23 month old who has been a picky eater for a long, long time. My doctor just had us start giving him Flintstones multivitamins when he was around 18 months old just to make sure he got all of his nutrients. The best you can do is to let them eat what they will eat and just keep trying to introduce new things over and over again. My son just decided that he liked waffles after multiple "introductions"...of course, that's all he'll eat for dinner every night now, but he eats every single one of them! It's calories in! Before waffles, it was banana bread and before banana bread it was yogurt. It's all cyclical--hang in there!

Dear L E,
I hear your frustration and empathize with you (about your son's eating habits (or lack thereof)!
Though my children were teenagers when they first tried the solution I am going to give you, I know of many moms with little ones, whose tastes for certain foods truly turned around with the following solution.
The solution I speak of is a wonderful whole food gummie called Juice Plus+ Gummies that taste like candy even though there are no junk ingredients in them (including no sugar), but yet include seventeen fruits, veggies and whole grains!!!!
Why do they work? Because scientists tell us that we can change what foods we crave by what we feed ourselves. Because the gummies are so delicious, the only problem you will have is keeping your your son out of the gummie jar!
If you would like more information, contact me at ____@____.com and/or go tp my website at www.jpjenn.com.(By the way, for your age child, the cost is only 27 cents a day)!
One more thing....I am in a field with thousands of doctors and scientists who lecture and train us daily. One word I hear repeatedly is 'don't serve your children hotdogs'. Why? They have been linked to diabetes and are even carcinogenic.
As for the meat issue, if he will eat beans and raw nuts in some form, they will give him protein. Of course, the dairy products he does eat do as well.
Last comment....it takes 15-20 tastes of a food before children start to ask for it.
Hope all of this helps!
Blessings!
J. F.

We are in this phase right now with my 2 year old daughter. I think it goes along with her growth spurts. As long as yours isn't under weight/height I wouldn't worry too much. This might sound silly but to get my DD to try a new food we do the choo choo game with the food (pretend the food is a trian). Yes, it is annoying, but at least it gets the food in the mouth for a taste. She might spit it out but tasting it is the first step. She'll even stab a green bean (or other food) with a fork and do the choo choo herself which makes me very happy. Another thing she enjoys is dipping her food. She's the only one of my children that would ever do this. She dips things in ketcup or humus. Forth Spice Humus is her favorite. If your son is underweight you could add whole milk cream to his milk. I had to do this with DD #2 for several months because she refused to eat pretty much anything with any fat in it and was off the growth chart on the underweight end. Finally, don't let him get you flustered. He's a toddler and if you keep offering him food he won't starve to death. Oh, and don't you love the way we can peel a perfectly good banana for our children only for them to yell and scream at us because the peel is off?? Good luck!!

L E,

Toddlers go through phases when you wonder how they continue to live--it seems like they're just living on air! He'll eventually start eating normal food.

My 2-yo just went off real food and insists on baby jars. We're humoring her now, but I know she'll get back to wanting our food instead.

Just be patient and get whatever good stuff in him that you can until he's interested in eating other stuff. It looks like he's getting fruit, dairy and bread/cereal, so you're just missing protein. Don't use formula and the other formula-type drinks--they have more bad stuff in them than good.

Good luck!

I have fought with my daughter, now 4, about food since she was your son's age and we now have an appt with a feeding specialist because of it. for my son, now 2, I started really early. Often I will quickly rub the food against his lips so he knows what he is refusing and sometimes that works. The other thing that helps with him is that he will try things if he is sitting on my lap and eating it off my plate, somehow it makes it tastier that way. So far he is a good eater and will try most anything at least once. I also make a lot of "mmmhhh" noises when I eat foods I want him to try. He loves dipping things too. Messy, but get some catchup, ranch dip, yogurt, and let him dip finger foods in. Sometimes the combinations he comes up with are gross, but as long as the food goes down, I dont' care. Good luck.

Pick eating is normal with most kids. Keep offering and be creative. My boys loved pumpkin zucchini bread and I froze the vanilla carnation instant breakfast and made "ice cream" which also went over well. The little snack bars are good (and if he doesn't eat them the first time you can wrap them for another try later). Also, give him what you are having. Pull out a choking/allergy hazard free,low spice portion of your food while you are cooking to offer him. You may be surprised on what he goes for. But remember what he liked yesterday(or every day for the last 5 days) he may turn up his nose to today. If he is growning normally and hitting his developmental milestones, relax, if he is hungry he will eat. I think trying to feed your kids a healthy diet is one of the most frustrating parts of parenting. Good luck.

My son seems to be a picky eatr when he is getting teeth!

I agree about offering food many times and not pressuring him. Also, does he eat off your plate, sometimes what's on your plate is more interesting. Try having him "help" you make some food. He can dump the oats and raisins in the pot for whole grain oatmeal, green beans in the pan for green bean casserole. Let him pick a piece of fruit at the grocery store. My son used to like to pick out an avacado, but would only eat half of it. It killed me, but my pediatrician said it's one of the best foods he can eat, so he's still picking one out and eating half of it. Lastly, my son is a major snacker and I give him all healthy stuff so if he doesn't eat a meal, it's no problem. Snacks like strawberries, grapes, watermelon, carrots, oatmeal, raisin bran, whole grain toast, etc. Good luck!

Hello LE, I feel your pain. I have a 16 month old that is the pickiest eater I have ever seen. It's interesting to me that our children like the same things. My son will eat applesauce, yogurt, crackers and cheerios without problems but everything else is a big problem. We did the same things you did using applesauce to cover meat and vegetables and it worked for a little while but what I noticed was, he didn't like the mixture of textures and if I fed him one thing at a time he did better than if I gave him meat, vegetables and a starch all together. Maybe you can try this. Recently he has started eating zucchini and loving it. I give it to him everyday because it is something that he recognizes and likes. I find he is more willing to try new foods if he sees me eating the same thing, so I make sure to eat with him as much as a can (I know this is hard to do). I hope this helps.

Hi. My oldest was a very picky eater and one day, I made soup and gave her only the broth over rice with some veggies smushed and the next thing I knew, she was eating the meat out of the soup off of her dad's plate. The point???? Keep offering the food to your child, he will eventually even out his eating habits. One more thing, I just found a great cookbook on how to "sneak" good stuff into your child's food. It is called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. I bought it at Costco. Don't worry!! Kids go through these stages. I have three kids and all of them went through stages of eating only certain foods. Now my oldest loves Filet Mignon and shrimp :-)

My son had the same problem...He only ate yellow food for like a month. It's a phase they go through and it gets worse as the get older. Just keep giving him the foods that he will eat and when he gets hungry enough he will eat. I know that seems like bad advice but I thought the same thing when my aunt told me. My son was only eating bananas, apple sauce, pancakes, carrots and apples; all the stuff that your son eats. He would not eat any meat. The Dr. told me to try to give him things that he could dip; it makes it fun...did not work. Just know that he won't starve and when he gets hungry enough he will eat. Now, at 25 months, he never misses a meal.

L. K.

My 2 year is like your son. Especially when it comes to meat. She rarely touches it. She takes one Pediasure a day, per the doctor's orders. What works for me is that she likes eggs, peanut butter, sunflower butter, yogurt, cheese and beans. She seems to like ground turkey in chili too and loves soup. I always offer her meat and occasionally she'll eat it. One thing that I have done and works is cook meat and pour the juice from the meat over white rice.

You just have to keep offering him other foods besides the ones he likes. He'll probably reject it a dozen times before even trying, but try to sneak in the protein where you can. Believe me I know how frustrating it is, but he won't starve himself. Keep giving him his milk and vitamins. He'll come around a little eventually. Hope this helped you out a little.