I've been wanting to share some toddler food successes i have had recently….i know any parent or carer of a toddler will fully understand my excitement…..and my frustration!
Tara has always been my twin that eats everything…she was the one who helped me keep trying new things when Ruby wouldn't touch anything…and that which she did touch usually came back up after a fit of gagging and vomiting! I could at least hold onto some shred of motherly pride knowing i could still cook food that little people would eat when Tara gobbled it all up…..unfortunately now she has reached the ‘fussy' stage and mealtimes have become even more frustrating!
Ruby is not really classed as a fussy eater (although many….and i do mean many other parents or experts tell me differently) She has issues with her sensory processing and this led to the gagging and only eating certain coloured or textured foods. It doesn't help to just ‘let her go hungry' or offer her foods time and time again….she isn't just fussy…sometimes she is actually scared of her food…how it looks, smells and tastes.
Working with an OT we have come along way…she now eats by her self using a spoon although it is very messy, she has picked up an apple and banana…her first tastes of fruit as a finger food, she has used a fork to pick up and taste things she doesn't physically like the touch of, she has eaten a sandwich made of soft bread and she has eaten some things that are soft and odd shaped rather than crispy, crunchy and round.
She still will not eat cheese as a finger food or any sort of meat as a finger food. She will now not let me feed her which is how i used to get some meat and vegies into her so the concern is iron intake at the moment. I have been experimenting with some different ways of getting meat into Ruby disguised as a finger food and also not looking or smelling like meat!
She likes little ball and finger type shapes and will happily eat homemade wedges and chips every night if i let her….which i became in the habit of doing just to see her eat something!I have made my own chicken nuggets and various other forms of nuggets but after a few chews she would spit them out…..chewing the meat is just too much still,the texture is too tough…..but as the OT reminded me…at least she tried them. 6 months ago she would not even touch new things let alone pick them up!
I was beginning to really despair that i was never going to get anywhere, often in tears at night because i wanted to provide lovely homecooked food for my girls but it just wasn't working,all that effort every night was being wasted…then i stumbled across Allie at One Handed Cooks and found some crunchy type finger foods that might just work!
With renewed enthusiasm i tried 3 of Allie's recipes:
I then decided to try….
I decided to try Allie's recipe for :
Warm Wishes…
We are having a few struggles with getting Kaizer to eat dinner at the moment, he seems to only want to eat finger food so I think your risotto balls will be a winner 🙂
x
Hi Jode,
Thanks so much for mentioning the One Handed Cooks blog.
I am so glad it has helped inspire you to try new things for the girls – and most importantly that they have enjoyed eating all the creations 🙂
Chat soon,
Allie
Oh, Jode, I’m so happy to hear this! May this be the beginning of a more varied diet for Ruby 🙂 Hurrah!!!!! Feeding our children is a primal instinct so when there are feeding problems, it can make a Mom pretty worried… Persistence really DOES pay off, doesn’t it? WELL DONE! Go Ruby! 🙂
I so hope so…at the moment we just take it step by step…am hopeful that persistance will win in the end of course!!Thanks for your encouragement!!
Thank you so much for this – came across it on pinterest! My little miss (aged 18 mths) sounds a lot like Ruby – we are seeing a speech therapist for our issues with eating and we are slowly making progress – she had her first taste of banana since she was 7 months old – today – she didn’t like it at all and shuddered at the taste but its the first time that she has ever shown any interest in one! looking forward to trying these recipes 🙂
Means so much when they even just show an interest doesn’t it? So sorry you are going through a similar thing with your little one…progress can be so slow!
Hang in there, i hope the recipes help…more to come soon!
Just what we needed. Our twins are very picky eaters and won’t eat rice (a staple in our house), meat , and vegetables. I am going to try these out to see if they like one of them.
Sounds like i am not alone Rebekah! Mine don’t usually eat rice either so hopefully these might work for you too!!
Here is a recipe that my kids LOVE!
http://fedup.com.au/recipes/lunches-and-snacks/nic-s-chicken-nuggets
The chicken nuggets are so smooth inside and you could “hide” other vegies in there if need be 🙂
Hope this works for you too.
Will be trying these yummy looking food for my munchkins!
Thanks
Kirsty
Thanks so much Kirsty…i actually made something very similar a few months ago and she wouldn’t touch them but you have reminded me to give them another try…thanks so much for stopping by!!
Wow, they look amazing. I come from a very different angle, i refused to hide vegetables from my children, i chopped everything up in front of them, fed them raw vegetables as snacks while i prepared dinner & never let them be fussy. I had the old “try everything 10 times before you say you really don’t like it” attitude & zero allergies to contend with. Yes, hard core but they eat everything & even though some children might not like all their greens, they eat them, suffering or not, they know they are good for them. My 3rd girl is very sensitive to tomatoes so she has to eat very cleanly, good for cutlery skills & drinks orange juice with a straw, but they are fine on the inside!! Love Posie
That is such wonderful news Jode you must be so happy to have discovered some new friendly foods for Ruby to eat. My youngest can be slightly fussy but she is very tactile and enjoys food that she can touch much more than food she can’t, she would love these.xx
That is so exciting! our little one went through a time of gagging at foods, but seemed to get past it – except for broccoli which our big girl loves. But this summer we had Okra in the garden and I just slice it and saute in butter with some “crazy mixed up salt” and she can’t get enough of it. I also made a zucchini egg bake that she fell in love with too and it’s very healthy with the eggs.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Zucchini-Egg-Bake
At least you have one that likes broccoli!!!Like the sound of your okra slices…haven’t tried that veg yet! Also thanks for the link Louanne…going to give that one a try!
My little girl is a picky eater and when we find something she will actually eat, I do a happy dance!
I can’t thank you enough for this post. My son also has sensory processing issues, and I can’t get him to eat meat. I’m going to try this. And I’m very very excited!!!
thanks for sharing..
My 6 year old has SPD and also gags or rejects everything. He did eat crackers and breads, so we slowly smeared a smidge of peanut butter on the bread and pressed it flat, and little by little he got used to it and we built it up to a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Also, he liked french fries. We found he could eat small bites of hamburger on a bun (his favorite bread) if the burger patty was thin and it had NO condiments, which is a huge problem for his SPD. Now he takes a bite of burger (cut up into half inch bite size pieces) before he gets a french fry or two. We have been able to add some melted cheese to the hamburger on occasion. Maybe these will help you? Good luck and thanks for the recipes. He used to eat chicken fingers with bread crubs, but like many SPD, he stopped eating them altogether after a few months. I am eager to get more veggies into his diet. SPD is NOT being a picky eater. Their senses STOP them from eating. I heard that letting them smell a food on several occasions and letting them get used to the scent may also help when they try their first bite of it. Worth a try. THANK YOU!!
Can’t thank you enough for the first time in 3 years my 5 year has eaten loved and asked for more. She had not eaten combined ingredients since 18 months old. Eager to try the other recipes. Much love sent your way
That is so wonderful to hear Kristy! Hope you have had some more success since then as well – it certainly can be a bit of a journey that’s for sure!