kittzy07Coping with a Picky-eater
I used to get depressed at times to the point of crying everytime I can't make my eldest daughter eat her meal. I have no problem with my youngest. I guess it has something to do with the fact that I breast-fed her while my eldest was formula-fed. She is used to different tastes while my eldest was not. That's why I feel guilty for not trying hard to breast-feed my eldest. Because of my frustration, I often resort to forcing her to eat her meal or just to even taste her food. I often end up feeling guilty afterwards making her feel upset. I don't know if I will be grateful everytime she eats the only solid food accepted to her taste buds and that is sweets and un-cooked noodles. Although, she can gulp down her milk in less than a minute or two, I still don't know if she is getting enough nutrition that she should be getting at her age.
Until I've found an article about dealing with your toddler who is a picky-eater. To quote the article, "The only real time that you should worry is if your child isn't gaining weight well or isn't very active. An overly restricted diet with too much milk and juice might also be a problem." You can check the article here. So as long as your child is active and drinks a lot of milk, you shouldn't worry about his nutrition. Even if he eats a small portion of a food as long as it's healthy and not only sweets, since toddler's stomach is still small, he can only take small amount of it. Just prepare a small portion of a variety of food and no need to prepare elaborate meals. Also avoid common mistakes such as: drinking more than 16-24 ounces of milk each day or 4-6 ounces of juice each day. I've also researched that 32 ounces a day is more than enough for a 1-year-old toddler while 16 ounces a day is just enough for a more than 1-year-old toddler. Another mistake is letting your child fill up on sweets and snacks. Last but not the least, forcing your child to eat when he isn't hungry or after he just consumed his daily dose of milk. Now, after reading this, I can say that I'm more relaxed on feeding my child. I don't feel guilty anymore if she doesn't eat much of her solid foods. I guess it also helps if you find a good vitamin for her appetite and also changing her milk to an appetite-booster one like Pediasure.
Until I've found an article about dealing with your toddler who is a picky-eater. To quote the article, "The only real time that you should worry is if your child isn't gaining weight well or isn't very active. An overly restricted diet with too much milk and juice might also be a problem." You can check the article here. So as long as your child is active and drinks a lot of milk, you shouldn't worry about his nutrition. Even if he eats a small portion of a food as long as it's healthy and not only sweets, since toddler's stomach is still small, he can only take small amount of it. Just prepare a small portion of a variety of food and no need to prepare elaborate meals. Also avoid common mistakes such as: drinking more than 16-24 ounces of milk each day or 4-6 ounces of juice each day. I've also researched that 32 ounces a day is more than enough for a 1-year-old toddler while 16 ounces a day is just enough for a more than 1-year-old toddler. Another mistake is letting your child fill up on sweets and snacks. Last but not the least, forcing your child to eat when he isn't hungry or after he just consumed his daily dose of milk. Now, after reading this, I can say that I'm more relaxed on feeding my child. I don't feel guilty anymore if she doesn't eat much of her solid foods. I guess it also helps if you find a good vitamin for her appetite and also changing her milk to an appetite-booster one like Pediasure.
