All our offspring around the age of 18 months go from eating almost anything they are offered at table, to picking at their meal, and turning up their cute little noses at most foods they previously loved. It is a time of frustration for us as parents, as we fret that they are not eating in any sort of balanced fashion, and frankly, as the wee ones try their mommy’s and daddy’s patience time and time again till we are rather worn out.
Josiah, for instance, pretty much survives on wheat toast and goat’s milk. In his case, this disgust for all foods other than bread or milk quite obviously coincides with his “little” temper finally bursting forth and really showing itself in most every other situation he is put into ALL DAY LONG. From the battle at the breakfast table (in fact he is sitting right next to me yelling this very moment!), to the anger at my needing to change his diaper, to the crying himself to sleep…. every. single. nap time. and nighttime too.
All our kids, while not wonderful eaters, have responded well to our efforts to encourage them to form better eating habits, so I do not despair over Josiah’s finicky nature at all, at least at this stage. But I certainly look forward to helping him make progress in this area in the future. And let me encourage you that it would make my day, if when you are invited to my house to eat a meal, that you ooh and aah over whatever I feed you, and even perhaps beg for more! And I can promise you with certainty that I will not serve you wheat toast or goat’s milk.
I like how you put quotation marks around the word “little” to describe his temper. I think we might be paddling in similar boats, friend! 🙂
My “little” tempered child is nigh on 3 years old and still finding it much more endearing to argue than just Eat. The. Stinking. Food. Already.
So precious!
He is the baby, you know. Isn’t that what baby’s do? Josiah must be “channeling” his big cousin Charis, who is still quite good at fussing over any little thing that just doesn’t go her way.
My eldest child (8 yo) has aversions to foods that at age 2 he ate until I thought he was going to explode. There was no rhyme or reason. Even when not allowed to eat anything else other than the foods served to him at home on his plate, he took the starvation approach. He is just this year really coming around to the idea of not dying a horrible death if made to try one bite of something he dislikes to looks of. I feel like we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep up the encouragement. Try renaming foods and see if that helps. (eyeball soup, dinosaur trees, cowboy food, schloop, moop, etc. get creative) Try some foods hot, cold, room temp, lightly frozen. Try some foods raw, some cooked, some steamed, some fried. There is a large variety in life, so just keep offering. And it helps to let them in on choices, food prep, serving, especially serving themselves. : )