More on Eating Issues

My 10 year old daughter is not the only member of this household to have eating issues. Many of you with toddlers will know exactly what I'm talking about... ugh!
My toddler, D, will eat maybe a handful of foods. I talk to everyone I know with a toddler and hear similar issues (and it seems to be mainly boys). I vaguely remember my sister, T, talking about her Dr telling her to quit giving my nephew hot dogs all the time. Apparently that was all he wanted to eat. 2 of the ladies at the butcher shop also have similar eating issues with their toddler sons. Can't get them to eat squat.

It is so completely frustrating!! I remember thinking my sister was stupid for giving my nephew hot dogs all the time, but now I can totally understand. Once you find something they will eat, it becomes the back up, always on hand food. I always give him whatever we are having for dinner, but have one of his staples on hand for if (when) he refuses to eat what we're having. I try to plan meals around what I think he will eat. But then he will eat something one time, but not the other! The kid eats so very little it's amazing he's still gaining weight! I talked to the dr about it and she didn't seem to be concerned. And it seems pretty much the norm with others I've talked to. I don't know how many times I have made him 3 or 4 different things for lunch or dinner... only to have him refuse everything.

He spends more time playing with his food and throwing it. All I can say is thank God I have dogs!! Otherwise I would be sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor three times a day! For a while I thought the dogs were part of the problem, so I kenneled them while he was eating. That didn't work either. I just had 2 dogs whining their butts off because of all the food on the floor.

He loves to toss food to the dogs. He loves to see how fast they run to catch his droppings. His new thing is chewing up his food and then spitting it to the dogs. So disgusting, but I can't get him to stop. There's no way I would go eat in a restaurant with this kid! I can just imagine - he would throw his chicken over his head, it would hit somebody and we'd be asked to leave.

A guy I talked to has a toddler boy who has problems with seizures. They have him on a special diet to try to control the seizures - he has to eat what they give him and he has to eat all of it. I can't imagine. You just can't *make* a toddler eat anything. Believe me, I've tried. I don't know how they do it.

I'm all out of ideas on what to offer D to eat. His staples used to be mac & cheese and spaghetti o's. But now he only eats mac & cheese half the time and refuses to eat spaghetti o's. He will only surely eat mashed potatoes, garlic bread and stuffing. Sometimes he will eat chicken nuggets (very rarely any other form of chicken), refried beans (sometimes he will even eat taco meat), rice, lasagna, spaghetti, other pastas (as long as it doesn't have too many veggies in it). I can't get him to eat any veggies or fruit (except bananas). He does pretty good with breakfast though. He will always eat yogurt and most of the time bananas and fruit bars. He will always eat his marshmallow cereal (but only the marshmallows). Of course I can't get him to eat any of the chewable vitamins... I need to get some liquid vitamins.

Well, he'll be eating his mashed potatoes tonight...