We have a 2 year old and an 8 month old. The 2 year old has always been a picky eater, but I’m at my wits end trying to get him to eat something. Our 8 month old eats literally everything and anything we give her, and I’m not even talking purées, I mean I’m feeding her chicken fettuccine alfredo as I type this.
Our 2 year old on the other hand will only consistently eat sweet fruits, dairy, or bread (not counting things like desserts.) Even basic kid foods like chicken nuggets are hit or miss the only way he ever eats them is with ranch, but even then he mostly uses them as a vessel to bring ranch to his face. We cannot get him to eat a vegetable. I’ve tried about every seasoning, every cooking style, every type of dish I think of and he won’t eat it.
Our pediatrician told us after we had broken down and resigned ourselves to yogurt and berries for most meals so that he was eating something that we needed to be more firm about him eating what we eat, even if that means he goes to bed without eating, eventually hunger will win.
Hunger never wins. He just gets up in the morning and eats something bland for breakfast like bread (won’t eat bacon, eggs, oatmeal, etc.) For lunch he will pick around everything so that he basically ends up eating just bread or fruit, and then come dinner he will just slap whatever I make onto the floor if it isn’t fruit or bread. He won’t even taste it usually, and when he does it hits his tongue and he immediately spits it out. It doesn’t even matter if I blend the vegetables into a fruit puree or something like that, it’s like he can taste it (even if I cannot) and won’t eat it.
I’m just at my wits end - what’s the right move here? Give him bread yogurt and fruit after he rejects dinner so that he has something? Keep playing hardball? Will he outgrow it?
For context as to why I’m frantic about him eating - he’s always been 1st percentile for weight. He was about a month early, and weight gain has always been the goal. Our 8 month old on the other hand is almost the same weight as him and is absolutely insatiable most of the time. I just don’t want him set up poorly and I don’t know what else I can be doing to support him.