Efficiency Kitchen
We rearranged the kitchen this weekend. Gracie helped.
It was actually a very sporadic decision. Bean was once again not eating his dinner on Saturday night. This time I was getting really frustrated because it was all his favorite things, and he wouldn’t touch any of them even though he’d been saying he was hungry for 20 minutes while I made it. I thought about it and I just knew that if I put that plate on the living room table and let him stand up to eat (like he sometimes does with snacks), he would eat it in no time. Maybe, I thought, it’s the location that bothers hims.
Everyday at school Bean eats all his food. His teachers say he’s an excellent eater, in fact. And yet when he’s at our table, he will barely touch anything. I know he’s a toddler and that toddlers don’t necessarily eat much at dinner time, but Bean eats nothing all afternoon or evening. And he’s a tiny guy who is starting to actually lose weight. So I have been really concerned about his lack of interest in mealtimes (or food in general). Desperate to try something to get him interested in his meals, I wondered if maybe he would eat better at a table more similar to what he has at school. So, Chris went up to Bean’s room and brought down a little table and chairs set my Grandma gave him for his first birthday. It’s been in his room for him to color at and play on, but we thought maybe he’d actually enjoy a little table that’s just his size.
We ended up having to move our entire kitchen around to fit this tiny table. We moved the kitchen table back against the far wall, which is fine since we aren’t seating four at dinner yet. We moved the high chair out of the kitchen and promoted Gracie to Bean’s booster seat. She’s been in heaven this weekend in her new chair. She just squeals as she eats now. We moved the bookshelf out from the corner and under the window, and made a little place for Bean’s table that’s close to where we are eating, but out of the way.
So far, it’s been a big hit for Bean. He is so excited to sit at his own table now. The rule is that if he’s eating (even just a little bit), then he can stay at his table. But if he’s not eating, then he has to come sit at the table with me, Chris, and Gracie. He cleaned his plate the first night, which made me really happy. And on the plates since then, he has made a good effort, which is more than he has been doing.
I think the name of the toddler meal game must be to keep things interesting. Bean ate really good for a while when I started playing with the presentation of the food he ate, and then he got bored with that and stopped eating. And he did really good for a while when I rolled all his fruits and veggies up into wheat tortillas with toothpicks in them and called them “toothpick sandwiches,” but then he got bored with that and stopped eating again. He did pretty good when we played, “The Game” together at meals, but he got bored with and stopped eating that time, too. The last successful bout of eating we had was when I mixed everything into bowls of all-natural, unsweetened applesauce, but he eventually got bored with that and stopped eating again.
I think the trick is to keep things fun and new at mealtimes. I’d much rather just put a plate of food in front of him and stand over him until he eats it all, but I don’t have that amount of time in my day and I don’t think he’d eat anything anyway. So, I’m okay with having to tap dance a little bit to get him to eat something. I’d rather jump through hoops and have him eat something than stand there frustrated while he eats nothing.
Anybody else out there have some tricks up their sleeve to encourage eating in their toddlers?
16 Comments
april in tx
We always gave them a dip to go with their foods (yogurt, ketchup, bbq sauce, applesauce, etc). That seemed to get them more interested in eating.
Rachel (Lines Across)
Gracie is so cute! We have started doing the same thing where my kids eat at the little table. Another thing that seems to work (although it’s not the best meal time habit) is we let them have special picnics outside or around the house. Once I let them eat lunch on the kitchen counter while standing on their stools. Again, not the best for every meal, but nutrition is important. I totally agree about keeping it interesting.
HTerry
We, too, have a tiny table in our kitchen, have tried toothpick wraps, dips, etc. Lately I’ve been cutting bananas and strawberries into big pieces and throwing them in a gallon freezer bag with grapes, blueberries and whatever other fruit I have on hand. I put it in the freezer and use it to make smoothies. I blend it with V8 V-Fusion juice and yogurt. You can add in avacado without it adjusting the taste….even fooled my husband who hates avacadoes! You can also add in containers of baby food or other pureed veggies and they are none the wiser! My boys (ages 6 and 3) drink them up and beg for more! It’s a great, fun way to sneak in some fruits and veggies!
Sara
Try filling up a muffin tin with a variety of finger foods. Each food gets its own cup in the tin. It’s fun and colorful, so it might keep his attention for a while.
Melissa
I started following the Raise Healthy Eaters blog, which is written by a nutritionist. From her I’ve learned two super helpful pieces of advice. 1) Understand that most toddlers eat the bulk of their calories earlier in the day, and that it is completely normal for it to taper off at dinner time, with the kiddo eating only a few bites. 2) We try to get our children to eat until they’re not hungry rather than finish any preset amount. In answer to the inevitable, “I’m done.” we say, “Are you full?” usually the answer is yes, so we let it go. He still has to sit at the table and participate in family dinner time, but doesn’t have to feel pressured to clean his plate. That blog has done a lot for changing the way I THOUGHT I should be feeding my children.
Julie
My daughter is a year and a half and a peanut in size just like Bean. I agree with April about the dips. Madison had never liked meat but for some reason my husband tried ketchup when our son was born a few weeks ago. She loves it on everything. She now insists on dipping fruit in yogurt and crackers in applesauce. It is worth a try.
Also, my cousin uses the muffin tin idea and it works really well with her 3 and 1 year old.
Meghan
I agree with Melissa above (#5), and would also add that I remember being told that there are two things that toddlers can control in their lives—eating and pooping/peeing. Much of the problems with those issues are about power struggles. Being 3 is ALL about power struggles and trying to see what you can get away with, when Mom and Dad change the rules, what it takes to get them to change the rules, etc. So when my kids refused to eat, I gave them that power……and reminded them that breakfast was a long time away. We never changed meal options or gave into any demands. Eventually, they’d eat when they were hungry (or not), and we all went on with our evening.
Nate's Mom @ Nate is Great
We’ve figured out Nate’s “best meal,” which is lunch, so we pack in the good food then. (That’s the meal when he consistently eats the most.) He’s also a humdinger at the morning/afternoon snack but breakfast/dinner might not be his peak eating interest times. So we make the snacks super nutritious and try to enliven dinner with his favorite foods (hummus, mustard pretzels, peanut butter & jelly “sushi,” etc.). We abide by the “eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full” rule here – he eventually comes around to eat something, it just might not be at the moment that I made the meal. 🙂
HeatherM
Remember toddlers are naturally grazers. It is not yet within their natural abilities to comfortably sit down and eat a meal all at once. So why not give Bean part of his dinner as a snack while you drive home from daycare (as long as he can’t choke on it), then another part of the dinner as a snack while you are preparing dinner, and then have the last part be what you have prepared? Also, whenever Bean is playing, there should always be a small plate of snacks there- say pieces of string cheese and fruit, etc.
Lat but not least, Gracie is getting SO big! Have you thought about weaning her off the paci, at least during the day? She needs to be babbling away to work on her speech development, and that is very tricky to do with a pacifier in the mouth. The better she can communicate, then hopefully the easier it will be to get through those 18-month-old tantrums, where they pitch a fit because they can’t yet tell you what they want.
The Life and Times of Me
I completely understand you worrying over Bean not eating. My son is really small too, and I’m always paranoid about him losing weight. For him, he will usually eat some, but not enough. I add butter to his food, and bribe him with ice cream. A nutritionist’s nightmare I’m sure, but for he can certainly stand the extra fat in his diet. Andrew also prefers foods that don’t seem to put meat on his bones apples, bananas, carrots, triscuits so the added fat is necessary. Hoping Bean gets in his eating groove soon.
Andrea B.
Thanks for this post! I’m sorry that you’re having food trouble, but it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with a little guy who doesn’t eat much. He is 21 months and sounds very similar to #10’s son. He goes through phases, but always loves fruit, corn, and mac & cheese. We will try the little table idea!
Kat
Peanut is entering the “I don’t want to eat anything” stage, which is super scary for me right now since she dropped on her weight scale and we’re officially on pediasure (which she also sometimes doesn’t have, giving me more anxiety). I’m blaming the fact that she is cutting her first two teeth.
momiss
I used to use cookie cutters to cut out sandwiches into different shapes. The kids loved it, and they could pick out say, a baloney star sandwich, or a peanut butter jelly Christmas tree sandwich…..
Jenna@CallHerHappy
I agree. Sometimes when your child’s health is becoming an issue, you just have to do whatever you can. I didn’t want to give Ellen a bottle; I would have rather just had her drink from a big girl cup. But, she was so constipated and prune juice was the only answer. The only way she would drink it was from a bottle. So, bottle it is!
Angela
I’m glad my son is not the only one (not that I wish it on anyone). But I was really beginning to worry about him. He looks healthy, but I don’t know how he grows because he is King of Picky!
Michelle
Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of advice. Ava just turned two and also just turned into a picky eater. Our once recently great eater is now telling us “don’t like it” for almost absolutely everything, even her favorite foods. So we are just jumping into your boat of trying to figure this out. Sorry. 🙁 Thank you for the ideas, though. And Gracie looks absolutely adorable in these pictures!