So parenting has gone pretty smoothly for us, we have loved every minute however, there is one part that I think is the toughest, FEEDING THEM! Honestly, it was great when I was breastfeeding because they were getting all the needed but now, well that is a whole different story! I made all Kenzie’s food when she first started solids and I tried with Hutt but the reality is it is really hard. I try to make healthy meals and give them a good variety but to be honest they are both little pains and so incredibly picky! They pretty much only want Grilled Cheese, Mac and Cheese, Cheese Pizza, Quesadillas, pretty much anything with Cheese!
Hutt is crazy about his milk! I finally had to stop breastfeeding since I couldn’t keep up with his 9 ounces of Goat’s Milk that he hammers down, and that was rough! My little man is a milk drinking machine! Now if only I could get him to like veggies as much as he likes his milk and cheese! I haven’t given up but man is it frustrating. Why is feeding these little monkeys so hard? What are your tricks? What are your favorite healthy recipes that your littles actually eat?
My Shirt by Loved by Hannah and Eli and Hutt’s Shirt by Mama Said Tees
The mostly Actresses are angry about her first Role as mum. 🙂 You looks great in that Family Movie. It let you shine i think. 🙂
what veggies have u tried .. mine love kale
My 20 month old babygirl is also obsessed with cheese! So we had to start sneaking in the veggies. Kale goes into her cheesy eggs, kale and cilantro in her quesadillas, luckily we can put basically whatever into spaghetti and she will eat it. We also do homemade smoothies to her all her fruits and veggies in! Of course she has to see mama drinking it first or else she won’t even bother!
Good luck!
I have a question for you, how did you get your babes to drink goats milk?! Mine is still on the kabrita toddler formula and she refuses to drink goats milk or any milk for that matter! Any tips
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1 thing for veggies you could do is, 1 bite per age. 1 still do it with my 14 year old who is my pickiest of all 3 of my kids. What you eat, they eat. Keep putting a vegetable on each plate and let them see you eat it too. Your reaction also. Good luck. Keep up the great work that you are doing. Being mom and wife is not an easy job. Stay strong.
Hi Bev,
just a thought about your “problem”: maybe you could talk about it with Nicole Tubiola, she maybe has some tips for you to get your children into other food than cheese 🙂 or you could get in touch with Sarah Michelle Gellar whose kids are also no picky eaters and get some advice from her and her husband ???
Like I said, just a thought 🙂
Wish you all the best
hugs
Sindy
I consider myself blessed because my two daughters not only love most foods, but trying new foods is just about their favorite thing to do! Although they’re “big girls” now (13 and 11), they’ve always been this way. What’s really funny is…I’M the finicky one! A lot of times I’ll make dinner for the family, and I’ll skip the part (yes, usually veggies) that I don’t like.
One suggestion: DO NOT try the trick of “hiding” veggies in other foods, like cauliflower “mashed potatoes” and such. Teaching your kids good eating habits is teaching them to eat what is in front of them…not tricking them.
I’ll end with a funny food story. When my older daughter was about 4, she decided that she didn’t like pork, although we didn’t have it all that often. One evening I made riblets, but didn’t tell her what it was or let her see the package (yes, she could read that well at that age). She took a few bites and loved it, asking, “What IS this?” When I showed her the package that clearly said “pork”…well, let’s just say that it was the last time she ever said that she didn’t like something without at least trying it first!
My kids are both picky eaters. My daughter (6) does not like to eat a lot of fruits. She won’t eat any type of berry, she doesn’t eat oranges either. She loves veggies though. My son (4) is the opposite, he loves all fruit, but is picky about his veggies. One rule we have is that you can’t say you don’t like it, if you haven’t tried it. They have to take one bite of everything on their plate and sometimes they are surprised to like it. Another thing we do is put out fruit and veggies and let them pick a snack. And I try to have healthy foods visable so they see them. My son asks for fruit more than any other snack and the apples, oranges, and bananas are on the table so he can get them himself. He is a very independent little guy, likes to do things himself. Also try yogurt. Pick a plain vanilla yogurt and let them add fruits to mix in. My kids like to make their own choices, so I control the environment (their add in options) but let them decide from their options what they want to eat. They like to be included, so we also let them help with good prep, like washing the fruit. Last, we talk to our kids about how important it is to eat healthy foods. My son wants to be a fireman when he grows up, so we talk to him about how his body needs the right foods to give him strength and energy so he can be a great fireman.
We do plant-based foods, but a great resource is Plant-Powered Families (recipe book and Facebook group) and the author, Dreena Burton’s, website Plant-Powered Kitchen. she has a “Mac n cheese” that uses vegetables for the sauce, and numerous other child-friendly meals. We use a ton of her recipes !
Good Morning! I know I am not an expert and I will honestly tell you that every child is different. We now have a 5 year old. It has been extremely hard but a blessing. We have gone from a premie to an over excited child who loves the outdoors. Knowing this, feeding him was a main concern for us in all stages. So we talk with our doctors and they all said the same thing, consistently put the same meal that you are eating in front of your children. They do not know any better to starve themselves so they will eventually eat what you are putting in front of them if they are hungry. We started with just dinner doing that. So our son Noah would have what we are having. We would have his plate already made up when he came to the table. For example, last night it was baked pork chops, a broccoli cheese noddle, peas, and applesauce. Of course, he loves his noodles and applesauce but he was not allowed to get more of those until he ate the other items. We bond with him. Usually he starts eating by himself and then I help him and we play games like go around the world with the plate being his world. He now eats an entire salad plate of food for dinner and sometimes goes back for more. Just start one meal at a time. And it will eventually get there. Good Luck.
Hi there Beverly!
Okay so I have two kiddos, a four and five year old and they eat really healthy for kids. I breastfed both kids, my son up to a year but I started making his baby food from scratch and addin my milk to it so he’s want it, no problems there with food, my daughter I nursed up until seven months and realized I had basically no milk or it wasn’t nourishing her. So I made her formula from scratch using the Weston A. Price recipe! She fattened right up and I also made her baby food from scratch. Then as they got older I would juice often and they LOVED JUICE! Like fresh green juice! They loved helping me juice also. And make smoothies ect. I think juicing is really where they got the taste for greens because we’d go to the store and my two year old ( he was two at the time, now he’s six) would ask for dandelion greens! Say what??? Haha people would look around and look so shocked when they saw this little toddler asking for greens. His favorite was and still is kale. Haha their father and I split last year, long story, really good that it happened though, and he feeds them junk :/ but they eat so well rounded now.
One of our FAVORITE things to make is “🌮fruit tacos” haha it’s a tortilla of your choice that you put your choice of nut butter on and then put chopped fruit like bananas and strawberries and blueberries🍓🍌 and then you bake at 350 for 10 mins it or cook in oil until it’s browned. We like to dip it in yogurt once it’s cooked! Now I’m hungry. I have so many recipes! Please message me if you would like any more 🙂
Hey Bev!! I have the same problem with my kids my daughter is into hot wings, my little boy is into hot dogs. I do not like the kitchen. They r always hungry.
Just got to have patience they will come around I hope. Have a good day.
I started doing something that I’ve heard not to do- hiding food in food.
Recently it’s been Lentils (the orange’ish ones) inside mac’n cheese to get the fiber my little man needs.
And also calling broccoli trees, carrots bunny food- anything to get him excited about eating something silly.
Im a picky eater but I don’t want my son to be. I’m not that lucky. He’s five now but for the last few years I make dinner and have the rule he has to try at least a bite of everything on his plate. If he really doesn’t like it then he doesn’t have to eat it. I’ll also make him something he likes to go along with dinner but he only gets that after he’s tried whatever we’re having for dinner. He’s picked up some new favorites. I don’t hide his veggies but I don’t force him to eat them if he doesn’t like them after licking them. I will however make spaghetti using spaghetti squash and pizza using cauliflower crust. Sometimes we do have cauliflower faux tatoes which he enjoys.
My almost 10 month old refuses to eat table food, so we’re still doing purees. I usually make my own, but I also like Ella’s Kitchen brand — they’re organic and the ingredients are clean. Of course, when she does start eating table food, it’ll be a different situation!
Ice cube trays full of a varity. Blueberries, goldfish, corn, Turkey:) thanks for being REAL.
Seriously, I hide veggies in food any chance I get. Smoothie pops are amazing! I use a ton a spinach, berries, bananas, yogurt, anything really. I drink it as a smoothie, and then I freeze the rest in popsicle molds. Both of my kids (and any that come visit) love them.
Hang on mommy those tough meals do get better! Have you ever heard of blending a bunch of greens with fruit to sweeten, even some yogurt and freeze them like Popsicles. They may have fun with them and you get to rest knowing they get good nutrition. I have raised two pickier eater so I loved my vitamix blended. We started every morning with a smoothie and usually had the leftovers in the afternoon and I have two healthy, strong and fit kids. Now the have healthy eating habits cuz I was secretly giving them tastebuds for greens;) good luck! Your a great mom so you will figure out the best way to feed your little cuties..
My grandson is the same way. He’s 2 . Loves cheese, pasta, and his milk. He does eat veggies but no meat.. 🐣🌞
At 42 [yes, I am older than you!] I still don’t like some veggies [I basically like mushrooms and nothing else!] I trick myself by chopping up the veggies I don’t like as much and mix them into other food I like [my specialty is veggie omelette & fried rice]. Tried to “hide” the veggies into their favourire foods. Start with a little and increase as time goes along. They won’t notice the difference and then you’re sure they are getting the veggies they need.
Milk has always been my favorite drink. Growing up at dinner my parents would literally take it away from me because I would sit there and guzzle down an entire glass and then be too full to consume my dinner.