{food struggles}
About three months ago, my wonderful, adventurous eater turned into a stereotypical picky toddler at mealtimes. Feeding him has turned into a riddle to see what he will actually eat that day.
Lunchtime, for example, usually goes something like this:
Drew: hungy bites, mama. hungy bites.
Me: OK, let's go get some lunch. Would you like cheese and crackers?
Drew: No
Me: How about green beans? Ham?
Drew: No. No.
Me: Yogurt? Banana slices? A PBJ? Oatmeal? Pasta?
Drew: No. (after each of the above suggestions)
Me: (scrambling to name more of his favorites) Scrambled eggs? Grilled cheese? Apple slices?
Drew: No. No. No.
Me: Cheerios?
Drew: Um...yes!
Victory! I usually have to resist the urge to do a celebratory dance at this point. :)
Unfortunately, about half the time the chosen food is placed on the table in front of him, he takes about three or four bites and declares himself all done. Or worse, loudly states, "Drew no yike it!" and refuses to take a single bite. And then an hour or two later, the cycle repeats as he comes to me with, "Drew hungy bites. Peese hungy bites, mama!"
Dinner time is both easier and harder. I refuse to cook separately for the kids, so they are required to eat at least half of whatever is placed on their plates. I don't go through a list of choices for Drew, so the process is quicker, but he usually just flat out refuses to eat his food. Which is a really big deal at 3:00 AM when he calls out from his crib, "Drew reedy reedy hungy bites! Reedy reedy hungy, mama!" For this reason, I have to get him to eat something at dinner time.
I know that you are probably thinking that I am enabling the problem by allowing him to be so picky. That I should just put food in front of him and if and when he is hungry enough, he will eat it. In theory, I completely agree with these thoughts. I remember thinking them myself as other mothers would describe their food battles with picky eaters.
But when it is your own little guy and you know that it has been hours and hours (and sometimes hours and hours and hours...) since he had something to eat........ and you have serious concerns about the crazy lack of calories he has consumed over the past week or so........ well, you just find yourself a little more tolerant.
The problem just got worse this past week as his cold turned his appetite from low to practically nonexistent. It is safe to say that he ate no more than three hundred calories or so each day.
So, on Wednesday, when Drew happily and willingly ate every single thing I placed in front of him and then requested more, I was one happy mama. It was facebook status update worthy! :) It was just so nice to see him putting so many healthy foods into that little body.
But, sadly, yesterday the honeymoon was over and we returned to pickiness.
My sister called me yesterday and our main topic of conversation was baby Emmy's appetite and progress with breast feeding. Erin is, understandably, worried that Emmy is not getting enough calories for her little body to grow. After we hung up, it was time for me to try to find something Drew would eat for lunch. I realized that while Emmy's need for calories is far more urgent and concerning than Drew's, the struggle Erin and I were having was kind of similar.
Motherhood is really the same for every mother, isn't it? No matter the age or stage of the child, the job of the mother is to help the child be healthy, safe, happy, and loved.
Through the struggles, it really is a pretty cool job.
Lunchtime, for example, usually goes something like this:
Drew: hungy bites, mama. hungy bites.
Me: OK, let's go get some lunch. Would you like cheese and crackers?
Drew: No
Me: How about green beans? Ham?
Drew: No. No.
Me: Yogurt? Banana slices? A PBJ? Oatmeal? Pasta?
Drew: No. (after each of the above suggestions)
Me: (scrambling to name more of his favorites) Scrambled eggs? Grilled cheese? Apple slices?
Drew: No. No. No.
Me: Cheerios?
Drew: Um...yes!
Victory! I usually have to resist the urge to do a celebratory dance at this point. :)
Unfortunately, about half the time the chosen food is placed on the table in front of him, he takes about three or four bites and declares himself all done. Or worse, loudly states, "Drew no yike it!" and refuses to take a single bite. And then an hour or two later, the cycle repeats as he comes to me with, "Drew hungy bites. Peese hungy bites, mama!"
Dinner time is both easier and harder. I refuse to cook separately for the kids, so they are required to eat at least half of whatever is placed on their plates. I don't go through a list of choices for Drew, so the process is quicker, but he usually just flat out refuses to eat his food. Which is a really big deal at 3:00 AM when he calls out from his crib, "Drew reedy reedy hungy bites! Reedy reedy hungy, mama!" For this reason, I have to get him to eat something at dinner time.
I know that you are probably thinking that I am enabling the problem by allowing him to be so picky. That I should just put food in front of him and if and when he is hungry enough, he will eat it. In theory, I completely agree with these thoughts. I remember thinking them myself as other mothers would describe their food battles with picky eaters.
But when it is your own little guy and you know that it has been hours and hours (and sometimes hours and hours and hours...) since he had something to eat........ and you have serious concerns about the crazy lack of calories he has consumed over the past week or so........ well, you just find yourself a little more tolerant.
The problem just got worse this past week as his cold turned his appetite from low to practically nonexistent. It is safe to say that he ate no more than three hundred calories or so each day.
So, on Wednesday, when Drew happily and willingly ate every single thing I placed in front of him and then requested more, I was one happy mama. It was facebook status update worthy! :) It was just so nice to see him putting so many healthy foods into that little body.
But, sadly, yesterday the honeymoon was over and we returned to pickiness.
My sister called me yesterday and our main topic of conversation was baby Emmy's appetite and progress with breast feeding. Erin is, understandably, worried that Emmy is not getting enough calories for her little body to grow. After we hung up, it was time for me to try to find something Drew would eat for lunch. I realized that while Emmy's need for calories is far more urgent and concerning than Drew's, the struggle Erin and I were having was kind of similar.
Motherhood is really the same for every mother, isn't it? No matter the age or stage of the child, the job of the mother is to help the child be healthy, safe, happy, and loved.
Through the struggles, it really is a pretty cool job.
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