Its my first thread in Parenting section and I am not even married sheeeesh…
Alright expert moms the problem is:
My nephew is mashAllah 1 year and 4 months old. He is healthy and very active. Problem is he is very fussy about his food. He hates anything that is sweet. If you try to give him things like Furit, juices, biscuits, cereals etc he will remain hungry but wont take in even a grain sized piece of it. If you try to do zabardasti with him, he vomits out everything he does it deliberately. he knows how to make himself throw out the food.
He loves milk, yogurt, boiled egg, fried chips and noodles. My sis gives him a boiled egg in morning, not every day though, sometimes french fries, and most of the time noodles. Coz thats the only thing he loves eating. He will eat them twice thrice in a day if have to . my sis tried giving him mashed potatoes, which he rejected. Rice he only eats if you hide them under a lump of yogurt. Chicken no way…rotee depends on his mood. sometime he nibble on rottee n other times he makes small small pieces of it and plays with it.
He is such a picky eater. I am only worried about the noodles part. coz thats what he is eating most of the time. I am not sure if they are even good for anyone’s health and then he is a baby, he needs more energetic and healthy food.
Any ideas, tricks how can we make him eat other food. And what food should we give him?
ack! Fussy eaters are tough! Mine was extreme, we actually went to a special hospital for pediatric feeding. You may want to suggest that he be checked out by a pediatric gastroenterologist to make sure that there are no issues like gerd or gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying) because sometimes the symptoms are so mild you dont reallly notice them. And these things interfere with appetite and enjoyment of food.
Then, make mealtime really fun. Get some favorite toys or books or photos. Make a plate of food with a typical portion of favorite food and a tiny portion of other food. Have baby take a bite of favorite food. Make a HUGE fuss and then read a page of the book. Do this again with the favorite food. Then tell baby to take a bite of the other food. No rewards and no favorite food until he does. Make an even bigger fuss when he takes a bite of the other food. Repeat, alternating favorite with other food.
This will work, it may take a few mealtimes before it works well but stick to it rigidly and he will begin to eat more of a variety.
Does he eat any veggies? I make this spinach dish that he really likes ... and chicken noodle soup with carrots and potatoes. He likes that too. Or you can take some roti, shorba for flavour and a small boti and mash it up till it is really smooth. You can add some yoghurt too if he doesn't like it spicy. How about fish?? You can try giving him fish. Some haddock (bake it) and give him the inside piece that is soft. You can mix some baby vegetables that are sweet (like sweet peas, sweet corn, green beans, etc.) and mash it all up. If it is too stiff, just add a tiny bit of milk to it.
You just have to experiment until you find something he likes. I would stay away from the fries. Once in a while is ok but not everyday.
I have to keep him entertained to eat as well, like Mama mentioned above. Normall what I do is give him his own bowl (empty) and spoon. I'll put only one teaspoon of whatever he is eating in the bowl and he will try and feed himself while I really feed him out of another bowl. Another thing I do is sing to him, but he really likes music, so that works for him. Or I put on his favourite songs from Sesame Street ... and he knows that if he misbehaves, I'll turn it off, so he will behave himself ... and eat.
I do sing and do ultee seedhee harkatain like a monkey to entertain him. He is such a … arrgggh.. what can i say… okay such a clever boy that as soon as you introduce something new in his mouth, he tastes a bit and thoo out
This shorba with rotee thing i ll try. As i said he likes namkeen and spicy things. sweet will not work with him.
Mamaof3 I will tell my sis to take him to pediatric gastroenterologist (phew how did you spell it). may be its good idea to take his opinion too.
cool thank u so much ladies :k: I will try some of the tips u mentioned and let you know of results.
Mine is almost the same age as your nephew and super super fussy. Like your nephew she loves noodles too (chow mein style). She also really likes rice, especially pulao. Try that. Other than that, once in a while she'll have toast with butter. Depending on her mood, she'll also have baked pasta/lasagna. I usually just give her what we're having.
They say, by now toddlers can eat whatever you're eating. So whatever you guys have at mealtimes, just cut it up into smaller bits and feed him. Since he likes savoury stuff, I'm sure he'll like what you're having. Also, make sure you include him in your mealtimes. Whenever you sit down to eat, put him in his high chair and put some food in front of him so he can get used to feeding himself. Even if he doesn't eat, it'll be positive reinforcement for him.
^ thats the prob. his father tells us to take him out at meal time, as he makes noise and throw things here n there :( my sis wants to keep the baby with her at dinner table but coz of her hubby she cannot. so she sends him to my place.
anyway this butter n bread idea sounds good. not sure but just have a feeling he will accept this change. I need to try diff things with him. I dont know he is getting so cranky, i dont even understand at times what he wants.
You gotta fight fire with fire. You can make home-made pasta and add pureed veggies to the mixture. Or buy the "spinach" pasta. Its green but heck, its pasta. You can make fries with yams and use brown gravy as "dippy sauce". You can puree and add all sorts of healthy things to yogurt.
I went thru SUCH a strggle with my eldest. Even after he "graduated" from the feeding hospital's program. Its not easy for sure. And sometimes I felt like I had to be an emmy-award winning entertainer just to get him to take a BITE. Sheesh. But we got thru it. I got a number of gray hairs. But tough it out. In the end, they actually do learn to eat.
and I am not even married sheeeesh… 
he does it deliberately. he knows how to make himself throw out the food.