Advice on getting 2yr old to eat,dropped into 5th percentile on weight,very picky!?

he was sick i month ago and all he will eat now is pancakes,oatmeal,cookies,carnation instant bkfast very small in height%26amp;weight for his age. tried to force feed,doesnt work,pediatrician said he wont starve himself,just let it ride itself out.

Advice on getting 2yr old to eat,dropped into 5th percentile on weight,very picky!?
they are all like this, don't let them get away with it and they grown out of it. By that I mean don't give him what he wants. He won't go hungry. Offer him what you are having. If he doesn't eat it he's hungry, he'll scream, he'll cry, he'll give in or you will and you have to stick it out let him be the one to eat. Worries about nutrition and calories are covered with pediasure and vitamins plain and simple. Being in the 5th percentile doesn't mean much if he started in the fifth or even less than the 10th. He is still in about the right weight for his age. Do not allow snacks inbetween meals but you can add an extra meal to his diet witch doctors recommend for weight management anyway. I know it's hard but it will "ride itself out. Add pediasure and it will calm your nerves.



My kids eat at 7am, 10am 3pm, and 5pm.
Reply:I think that you need to take away all the things you listed and give him the other foods and when he doesn't want to eat them say okay. Then if he say that he is hungry offer those foods again. He is eating junk food right now and he likes it, like most kids do. The problem is when they just get junk food that is all they want to eat. It may sound mean but if he is truely hunger he will eat what you offer.
Reply:Trust him to know what he can eat without getting sick. Also, just offer him one new thing with one thing he likes. Like try adding canned peaches at one meal. Sometimes, he will eat something after the 4th or 5th or 20th time you offer it to him. Don't give up just because he won't eat it, and don't try to make him eat. Just let him know that he won't get anything else until the next meal.
Reply:Trust your doctor. It will work itself out and he will be fine. Let him eat when he is hungry. Offer several foods and keep offering then to him over and over he will try it at some point
Reply:My lord I feel sorry for some of your kids. The diets that some of you are describing are horrible, have you heard of the show, "Honey We're Killing the Kids!" These diets you are LETTING YOUR CHILD CHOOSE really are killing them. What, do you think cholesterol only beings collecting in your arteries after age 30?

The bad dietary habits your child is forming now will stick with them for the rest of their lives, do you really think that one day your child will get up and say, "No mom I don't want that junk food, please give me fruits and vegetables, give me grains and proteins that are good for me???" NO they will stick with the chicken nuggets and chips and all that other crap that is bad for them.

You can not force feed your child, on that I will agree. But letting your child decide the menu because he/she wont eat anything else? WRONG! You cook good wholesome meals, with some things that they like every so often and they will eat it. They will only turn up their noses at food for so long, then their body will tell them to eat, they wont care if it is broccoli and spinach when they get to that point, they will eat. And when they realize that you mean what you say, they will so being listening to you on this and as a bonus, they will listen better to you about other things not just food.
Reply:your child will not let himself go hungry he will eat when he is ready i spent 2 years fighting with my kids and in the end just gave in they basically live on beans chicken burgers and chips

but they are healthy and there are a lot of kids vitamins you can get nowadays my kids love them
Reply:Stop giving him that junk first of all. He will eat when he is hungry. If you give in, you're the problem here.
Reply:Butterfly - I can sympathise with you fully on this - my son's now nearly 5 and is STILL picky!!! The only way through it is sheer bloody mindedness and sticking to your guns - trust me he won't starve but it isn't easy !!! Things that we started doing to help - eat together as a family around a table, remove distractions (TV, toys, etc), put a decent sized plateful out and if he does kick off, negotiate an amount that YOU think he should eat and let him leave the rest, cut out in-between meals snacking, fizzy drinks, etc, make a reward chart - if he eats all his meals in 1 day he gets 2 choose one treat from a treat box (it doesn't necessarily have to be sweets - we've found little inexpensive toys work too!) Unfortunately, there isn't any quick fix to this - we're still having bad days 3 years down the line!! Whatever you do, under NO circumstances, force-feed him - he'll end up associating food with bad experiences which can lead to all sorts of bother later in life. Good luck to you and yours xxx
Reply:If you are really concerned hide all the food he does eat for sure tell him the only things you have in the house are these foods and that is all he can have they are smarter than you think they are My son was 2 at the time and after short vacation with gramma all he ate was pizza and corn dogs WELL that wasn't happening and i made him very aware that mommy doest order pizza every night nor do i stock the freezer with CORN DOGS !!! He went with out a lunch and had his treats taken away he soon figured out he wanted to eat. Also i wouldn't let him play and told him if he didn't eat i couldn't let him spend his energy playing just in case. If all else fails tell him the Dr is going to stick him needles and feed him through him tummy and he wont ever taste the food or get anything he likes.
Reply:I can relate ~ my oldest was extremely picky too. Try to prepare meals that are pretty well balanced ~ one protein, one fruit or veggie, and one starch ~ and include at least one thing you know he'll eat. Tell him he has to try ONE BITE of everything on the plate ~ not clean the plate, just TRY it. You'll find new things he likes and slowly increase choices. You might end up making the same thing every night with very little variation, but who cares? In my son's case, it was mac %26amp; cheese, chicken, and carrot sticks every night for a LOOOONG time. He's 10 now and he eats a lot better, but he's still pretty darn picky.
Reply:I too had a picky eater.I always gave her a choice.If we were having something that she didn't like,say peas for instance,I'd give her the choice of peas or a raw carrot. This works ,as long as it is understood that they will keep their word and eat what they choose.I had to stick to it to make it work.We had a lot less trouble after she was given a choice.She had a say,and I got her veggies in her.Win,Win situation. Good Luck