When Oakland was a baby he ate everything! I pumped and gave him breast milk until he was 10 months old. He had rice cereal at 6 months but wasn’t too fond of it. I decided to make my own baby food while also buying some store bought food.
Fast forward a few years ( around 3 years old ).. I start to give him what he wants. He is now in control of meal times. If he didn’t like it I wouldn’t make him eat it. I would just give in.
Now 2 years later at the age of 5 I can say he eats a little better but still won’t eat pasta sauce on his spaghetti, he won’t eat mayonnaise on his sandwiches, he doesn’t really like any sauce for that matter. He won’t eat grilled cheeses or quesadillas .
BUT I have learned to not force food on him. I make him try at least one bite or something new. If he doesn’t like it then I try another alternative. I offer something just as healthy in it’s place. I don’t want him going hungry but I also don’t want to give in and give him control over what he eats.
I would say meal times were the one time I would really lose it and begin to get really frustrated and yell. I hated doing those things. So it’s slowly beginning to stop.
Now on the other hand, Ainsley is the best eater, with the exception of blueberries, PB, and sometimes strawberries! She will eat anything you give her and I really think it was because I chose to do BLW { Baby led weaning } with her. She had pumped breast milk until 11 months and she didn’t want to eat solid baby food mush. I decided to read up on BLW and let her eat what we ate! This concept was totally new to me and the thought of her having grilled chicken with us at 9 months freaked me out. I cut up the pieces really, really small and she ate it! She ate everything piece of big people food I put on her plate!!!!!
It was amazing! I give lots of credit to the BLW method. 🙂
I LOVE buying eating utensils, plates, and cups!!!!!! It’s fun for me. My children have sooooo many sippy cups and plates it has taken over 2 cabinets! I love the Nuk products I received this summer to review for you!
The Hello Kitty cup is so adorable! Ainsley loves carrying that one around
They're so messy aren't they? It's disastrous!
I let my toddler dictate when he wanted to start solids and he's a champ of an eater! Not pushing foods is to critical. However, I don't give him an alternative if he doesn't like what I've made. He get's no alternative options or "children's food" like unhealthy chicken nuggets, etc. When he's a bit older (perhaps the age of your son!) I'll give him the option to make himself a peanut butter sandwich. No jelly – just PB. And he will need to make it and clean up after himself if he decides not to eat what's for supper. My mom did this with us and both my sister and I eat everything and always have! If they know there's another option, they'll take it. If they know what the option always is (PB sandwich) and that they have to do the work, they'll only take it if they truly don't like what you've made.
These are great tips! When I was younger I was the PICKIEST eater of all time! I'm still pretty picky, but have gotten lots better. I have some borderline traumatizing memories of my parents forcing me to eat things I genuinely hated and would make me feel sick. I just couldn't get them to understand that I didn't choose not to like it, I didn't get to pick my taste buds! There's gotta be abetter way to get your kids to eat! So I like what you said about not forcing Oakland. I also really like the suggestion of the commenter above me, if they don't like what you make, they can make themselves something else, but they also have to clean it up. Great idea!
So cool! I have some friends who have done the baby-led weaning, but I didn't realize it had a name. Their kids are such great eaters!