On Monday, my little princess was scheduled for her 3 year checkup. After weighing and measuring, the nurse told me she is in the 50% percentile for weight and the 80% percentile for height. She is such a picky eater after moving from baby food to solid foods but I just chalked it up to her being a typical toddler. During this transition, her pediatrician told me it was not uncommon for toddlers to have smaller appetites or be very selective on food choices.
During our visit, I wanted her pediatrician to offer some suggestions on providing a more balanced and nutritional diet. One thing I discovered is the amount of juice I allowed her to drink on a daily basis. I believed as long as the juice was organic, 100% juice, 25% less sugar or diluted with water it was acceptable. Her pediatrician instructed me to only allow 4-6 oz of juice per day. She said the juice consumption was more than likely filling her tummy and causing her to refuse solid foods. I know that in addition to juice the rest of her liquids should be milk or water. One thing I did resolve to do with my kids this year is to encourage more water consumption.
If my little princess had her way she would eat cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, chicken nuggets and drink milk. Her pediatrician suggested giving her a fruit/vegetable juice blend, veggies with a dip, hummus or guacamole. I also wanted to confirm whether a multi-vitamin is necessary and of course her pediatrician said absolutely. My fingers are crossed as I attempt to get creative with her meals.
This is going to be an interesting journey and I welcome any and all suggestions from other mommies who may have meal planning ideas that work for their picky eaters.
4 comments:
Sometimes Dr's get on my nerves.....but that's another topic for another day.
My girls are also pretty selective about what they will and won't eat. I often wonder why it's ok for adults to choose what we want to eat, but not kids?
I see nothing wrong with what your daughter is eating. She's healthy, and as she grows her appetite will change. They go through spurts.
Maybe try a Monkey Platter with her. Those work wonders here in our house.
http://sandradodd.com/eating/monkeyplatter
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my little girl is hitting two and she is another picky eater. she does not like meat so when I make a meat for dinner she will only eat the sides. she will not eat any fish or seafood products at all. since I took her off the bottle she will NOT drink milk unless it is in her cereal and then she will take a few sips from the spoon but not many so I give her yogurt and yogurt drinks and cheese to make up for the lack of milk. she likes fruit so I fill her up on that also and I only give her juice (4 oz) 2 - 3 times a week. I think juice has too much sugar for her.
watch your daughter signs because she is still changing and trying to decide what she likes so give her everything and let her decide what she wants more of.
I also think what your daughter is eating is healthy - my kids do not eat a lot of meat and when I talked to our pediatrician about it, we found that they are actually getting a lot of protein in other ways (they LOVE peanut butter and soy butter, eggs, yogurt, etc.). I also only allow my kids to have 1 small cup of juice w/ breakfast and then they are only allowed milk and water the rest of the day. Some snacks we do at our house: cut up carrots and green/red peppers dipped in hummus, cheese & crackers, sliced apples dipped in peanut butter, and I make smoothies (yogurt, frozen fruits, milk, with some flaxseed). I also bought a few cookbooks for kids (organic/healthy meals geared towards kids w/ LOTS of picture - one is actually a Sesame Street one) and I let my 4 year old and 2 1/2 year old go through and pick something new they want me to make. So far it has worked - every meal I've made they've eaten - probably b/c they were able to choose and then I let them help me cook it a little bit. Good luck!!!
I like the juice idea that your doctor gave you. I may try it too. My son is a big juice drinker also. He also loves to eat all types of fruits, greens, home grown cherry tomatoes, some beans, and a select bit of meats. Having said all of this, I am still a short order cook during family meals and sometimes (okay most of the times) I make these special plates for him and he doesn't eat anything. I don't know what he lives off of sometimes, but he's in the 50 percentile for weight and 75 percentile for height.
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