The biggest frustration I’ve had with raising a toddler is his picky eating. OH MY GOODNESS. Yes, yes, I know it’s a phase. Knowing that brings down my emotional temperature when I see my son picking at his food. It still frustrates the heck out of me though! I think I’ve grown a couple of white hairs just because of this picky eating phase. (White hair due to baby making a gigantic mess in just 5 minutes yet to be counted).
So what does my picky eater pick? He’s gone through phases. He had a spaghetti with tomato phase. Now he’s in a noodles phase. Pancit canton, pancit bihon, those are all up his alley. As for rice, the toddler will eat more of it only if it has Star margarine all over it. “Star rice” is what it’s called. He also loves the raisins in raisin bread. Let me repeat that — the raisins in raisin bread. Not raisins on their own, but the raisins in bread. I think he enjoys the raisins more when he picks them himself. Oh, my picky, picky eater.
The experts say this is just a phase. Ask Dr. Sears says toddlers like to eat one kind of food at a time. Fruits today, veggies tomorrow. Parenting shares almost 40 percent of kids under 6 years old are picky eaters, and it’s a normal developmental stage. It’s within a kid’s instinct, they say, to be immediately suspicious of new things and so may be asserting their independence by saying “no.” Babycenter says eating solid food is a new experience for toddlers. Getting used to different textures and tastes may take some time. My favorite learning though is how toddlers crave familiarity, whether it’s in daily routines or food. So getting him to eat new varieties of food may take several, or maybe, numerous times. No wonder it’s been spaghetti today, spaghetti tomorrow, spaghetti the day after tomorrow…
When I asked my friends how long this phase will last, their answers both comforted me and made me want to tear my hair out. Cuckoo! It was comforting because I didn’t feel alone. All of their kids passed through a picky eating phase as well. One toddler didn’t eat anything but dark-colored foods. One wouldn’t eat anything unless it was color green (except vegetables). One toddler only liked sausages. The other only liked soup. The phase just continues on though. A toddler can move from sticking to one kind of food for a couple of weeks to sticking to another kind of food for a couple of weeks. I guess picky eating is a phase composed of many sub-phases.
There are good days of course. There are days when the boy will eat anything in front of him. There are days when he’ll eat his vegetables. It’s not all headaches, that’s for sure.
While I would love share tips on how to encourage a toddler to eat healthily, sadly I do not have much. The only thing that works for me so far in getting him to eat new things is to offer them in toddler-sized portions (for that toddler-sized tummy!). It’s offering him one cracker at a time versus placing a couple on his plate. It’s offering him little slices of papaya instead of showing him a whole sliver. I also try to slice vegetables really small and mix it into his rice or noodles. This doesn’t always work though, so when he eats his veggies I want to run around the kitchen with “Chariots of Fire” playing in my head.
This week, he’s on a spaghetti with pesto phase. Yes! I can mix in some chopped spinach into the noodles and he won’t even know it. I think. I hope. Oh goodness, I sure hope he doesn’t notice. Or if he notices it, I hope he likes the spinach.
Parenting assures that picky eating won’t be forever. Kids grow out of it by age 8 or 9.
8 or 9?!
I’d hate to think of how much white hair I’ll have by then.
Hi! I'm Toni Tiu,
and I've been blogging at
at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.
Martine | Dainty Mom
April 11, 2011 at 11:55 am (13 years ago)Hi, Toni!
What helps me greatly during this stage is Jessica Seinfeld’s book, Deceptively Delicious. It’s about using vegetable purees which you “hide” in your kids meals so that they get their veggie intake and still eat their food. I do this for my son, who pretty much eats everything right now. Here’s what’s been working so far:
1. Putting pureed carrot and sweet potato (the orange kind) into spaghetti or meatball soup
2. Mixing cauliflower puree into macaroni & cheese
3. Making a “creamy” soup using cauliflower, pak choi, carrots, a bit of tomato sauce and basil (You blend all that with some nice chicken stock)
4. Mixing spinach and cauliflower puree into mashed potatoes
5. Making Chinese style fried rice using tiny, tiny chopped veg: carrot, bell pepper, bean sprouts, baguio beans, celery, fresh mushroom and eggs (put a bit of low sodium soy sauce + sesame oil for flavor)
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haze
April 11, 2011 at 2:02 pm (13 years ago)i’m still in the middle of a war with 3 picky eaters. LOL! thank goodness we’re over the chicken nuggets phase. for kyle, we’re in the adobo & sinigang phase. for keon, it’s spam, for kade, it’s soup
so what we do is ask them what they want for lunch. but i impose that no matter what the request, there should be soup (so that i can sneak in those veggies!)
as long as you know your kid is eating heartily, there’s no need to worry. kids know when they’re full or really hungry.
it will get better. soon. (that’s what i say to myself) LOL!
CandyQ
April 11, 2011 at 4:54 pm (13 years ago)Jeolo and I are finally over his soup-only phase and have moved on to rice & soup, pizza and mac & cheese. I’m just thankful he’s eating more even though I wish he would eat healthier.
Guess we’ll just have to grit our teeth and be thankful for small blessings.
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Mom-Friday
April 11, 2011 at 6:13 pm (13 years ago)It is a phase, and with 2 kids, the older one is almost over that phase at 7 y.o. and my second is still in the eye of the picky-eating-moods at 4 y.o.
I just prepare a variety of food and not make anything special for them so they know that what’s set on the table is for everyone to eat. Only if they tried it and NOT like it afterwards will they be able to decide to choose what they “feel like eating”…maybe sandwich or oatmeal, instead of the rice+ulam fare.
Good luck! THere is no formula for this since each child is unique, with their own tastes and preference. As long as you expose them to a variety of foods, they will be familiar with it as they grow, and you’ll be fine too
Kay
April 12, 2011 at 10:15 am (13 years ago)B attempted to be a picky eater but never succeeded. If he wouldn’t eat, I won’t let him. When he goes hungry, then he eats what is served.
Kind of a Tiger Mom. 
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Nenette
April 12, 2011 at 9:54 pm (13 years ago)Oh yes, I have a picky eater. He’ll be turning 9 in June, and it’s true, he’s still a picky eater. Vegetables are a very big issue.
I tried to do the “if you don’t eat what’s on the table, you don’t eat”, but he’s very stubborn. The last time I tried that, he went 24 hour without food! I decided not to do that anymore after that.
It has improved though. His food repertoire has grown since then. He is eating more veggies. He still complains, but he eats it.
Good luck, Toni.
xo
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sheng
April 13, 2011 at 5:41 am (13 years ago)Ask me, I had two! But yes, the son’s eating is already better now compared to what he’s been eating while he was younger.
Loraine
April 16, 2011 at 1:48 pm (13 years ago)I can fully understand. At least your baby eats spaghetti. My baby still eats “baby” food most of the time. His most recent development is eating bread and I celebrated. I try to give my baby the best possible food I could give. I make all his baby food. I mix vegetables and fruits so he could get his proper nutrients. I only use organic produce but if he wants to try our food I give it to him. I bought this cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld “Deceptively Delicious.” She advocates using pureed vegetable on foods that picky kids love so they don’t know that they are eating healthy food. I recommend it. I bet you can use some Filipino veggies equivalent such as kalabasa, kangkong, malunggay, etc.
In my art, i use blender or food processor a lot. I steam pears and apples. Then mix and match other vegetables. I saw a recipe from one of Dr Sear’s book of blending chopped mangoes, steamed spinach and pears. My baby loves this recipe. I just cover and boil 2 lbs of carrots that I peeled and cut into same size chunks and about an inch of ginger together. Once it is soft, I pour it in a blender with the water and all. I add chunks of pineapple, mangoes, blueberries or whatever you want in it and just blend it . I puut it in small container and freeze it. Then thaw as needed. It lasts 3 mos in the freezer. My baby loves this too.
Loraine
April 16, 2011 at 1:52 pm (13 years ago)Sorry for grammatical and typographical errors. I’ll be better next time.
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Anne
April 27, 2011 at 2:35 pm (13 years ago)Lucky for your kid because he loves to eat raisins. When I was really young, I really don’t like to eat raisins. When I was eating bread with raisins, I picked it myself and threw it away. My mom even scolded me. I also go for spaghetti and my godson is also into spaghetti. He is still 4 right now. early pregnancy symptoms
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