Becoming a picky eater
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- July
- 1
I’ve said many times that I’d be hard-pressed to describe Markus as a picky eater.
Pun intended, it looks as if I’m going to have to eat my words.
Markus, I regret to say, is rushing pell-mell into the (dun-dun-dunnnn!!!) Terrible Twos. This little guy, who was always so easy to feed that he barely even needed a bib when he first went to solids (he made dang sure that every drop of whatever he was getting got in his mouth), is asserting his independence whenever and however he can.
Oatmeal? He’s eaten it for breakfast more mornings than not for the past year, year and a half. The last couple of times we’ve made it for him (including this morning)? Fugheddaboutit.
He absolutely, positively refused to eat so much as one flake of oatmeal. He wouldn’t eat any of mommy’s, which is mixed with Polaner all-fruit spread. He used to eat all of his, finish what his big brother left over and then have some of mine.
He used to not think twice about eating chicken. Now he looks at it suspiciously, ponders it and shakes his little curly mop of a head.
Like his brother before him, he’s learning to love the word “no” and his eating habits are the biggest casualty.
We used to brag that Rafael wasn’t very picky, that he ate pretty much whatever we ate. Then the twos AND threes hit and he became incorrigible about everything, not least of all his eating habits.
Days would go by where we weren’t sure if he’d eaten anything that wasn’t a carbohydrate — bread, crackers and Cheerios. We secretly cheered when he ate yogurt or cheese. At least he still drank his milk and would down some apple juice, too.
We began to think he was never going to eat anything else again.
Then, he accepted red cabbage, and steak. The other day he ate chicken (and used a grown-up fork and knife, though it was one of those knives that’s barely a step up from a butter knife). He even ate eggplant recently, so long as I cut the skin off it.
He still gets weird if there are herbs on something, he wants all the “green things” or “black things” taken off, and I tell him to do it himself or cope with it. (I freely admit, I did more than once just pick off as much as I could just so he’d freakin’ eat already. I don’t have resolve of steel, by a longshot.)
But Markus’ move toward pickyness has helped me to remember that Rafael, once upon a time, wasn’t very picky. So maybe one day soon Rafael will surprise us and eat something that has specks of color on it and is even on the same plate as something else (that’s another story for another day).
And, maybe, in a couple years, Markus once again will eat anything and everything put in front of his little face.
Meanwhile, I have to get used to hearing the word “Noooooooo!”
A lot.
Photo courtesy of the Stock Exchange.Â
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 2:40 pm by Amy Vernon.
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You are probably a much calmer parent than I was but there were days I thought my older son would starve. That was before I had two more sons and realized they all hit that picky eater (or mine did). During that time, as a freelancer, I had to attend a conference for parents who wanted to know about children’s nutrition. The crowd was standing room only! Everyone worried about their child’s eating habits. Then we were told how little a 2 year old really needs and to “trust” our child’s appetite. Easier said than done but it became easier over time
sorry, typing too quickly. Make that “they all hit that picky eater STAGE” The other sentence makes it sound like my other kids hit the picky eater. Occasionally they did but not because of his eating habits.
Ha, I just remembered how I didnt want to eat watermelon because I thought pits were flies
My brother was a really picky eater, I was embarrassed to go to the beach with him because he was so skinny
And I now I see it with my friend’s baby, only bread and pasta at the moment, she manages to slip him chicken from time to time… veggies forget it
Then on the other hand, my neighbor’s boy is on gluten free diet because of his health condition and she had no problem with switching all of her kids to eat gluten free.
There comes a point when the child says n o, and well there’s nothing else to eat. Eat what is in front of you. EveryOne’s taste can change. But home isnt a diner.
My kids were both picky eaters. One still is. I have to admit-
it’s pretty frustrating. Have you seen Veggie Mom’s blog? She is promoting this new seasoning called Pop’rs. It works on veggies, for sure. My kids like the taco flavor, especially on broccoli, of all things! Anywho, when you get tired of trying to serve what’s best for them, take a lighter look at summer-Please tune in to my blog Sunday for another edition of the Silly Sweepstakes!They do go through phases but they won’t starve themselves. I just tried to not make food a battle ground. If they didn’t want to eat it fine but no treats later. Usually the battle isn’t about food it is about the ability to say no. I also found if they were involved in making the food they were more likely to try it.
terrible two love em anyways. He’ll come around.
OMG. . . he is so cute. And I remember that expression so well. I’d like to tell you that it ends soon, but it doesn’t. I’ve got a 21 year old and 16 year old & they are both still picky (sigh).