Happy Friday! I know, this post is SO late. I had internet issues, then I had toddler issues. I need some help from my momma/parent/childcare expert readers out there. My son is a couple months past 2, and is experiencing his “teenage phase of toddlerdom.” Some call it the terrible twos, and although I’ve been avoiding that phrase I’m starting to see how it came to exist. My son is a super picky eater. I’ve tried everything to get him to eat a healthy variety of foods. He mostly just wants yogurt and fruit. I will cook him something (even something he once liked) and he refuses to eat it (he won’t even take one bite) and sometimes throws it in the floor, and usually says “just the fruit” or “just the yogurt.” I have a problem with this on two levels: the inability to teach him healthy eating habits and the behavior of throwing it on the floor (or throwing a fit). I want to teach him that I’m not a short order cook and that he eats what I make for him (I’m not making him liver and onions for goodness sake!) So my question for you is: 1) how do you teach your kid healthy eating habits and how do you deal with their refusal to eat what you make them? And, 2) how do you discipline your children and teach them not to hit, throw food, have a screaming fit, etc? What are your favorite (or just working) strategies? Any books you recommend on either topic? PLEASE share in the comments – I’m at the end of my rope over here.
Now that I got that out of the way, here’s your weekly wrap-up. We had some super pretty posts this week, so be sure to check them out if you missed any!
{monday} how to brand your wedding to make it personal and unique
{tuesday} black + gold glam wedding inspiration board
{wednesday} a classic Southern chapel wedding in Tennessee
{thursday} inspired by this luxe spanish-detailed wedding shoot
We had quite a busy week around here! I gave a peek of Oh Lovely Day’s new look over on our twitter page. Go check it out, follow along on instagram for more sneak peeks, and put our official launch in your calendar – 2/11! Got some fun packages in the mail reminding me that big things are in store for 2013. Did some Valentine’s Day card shopping. Dusted off my briefcase to be a lawyer this week, and still had time for some quality fun time with my boys.
Since today’s post was late, I’m skipping this week’s pins of the week. Just head over to join the other 10,000+ people following along with our pins for lots of addicting inspiration.
Have a great weekend. And don’t forget – leave your parenting tips below for me 🙂
xx
My kiddo went through this phase and it also included biting others. We tried a lot of things but what seemed to help most, was spending daily time talking about how to handle difficult feelings (sad, cranky, hurt, tired) and gave him a transitional stuffed bunny that we encourage him to hug when struggling. Also these books were great and we continue to read them at least once or twice a day…my now kiddo is reciting his favorite parts and we’ve seemed to move past the attention seeking behavior….for the time being.
1) Teeth are Not for Biting by Elizabeth Verdick and Marieka Heinlen
2) Hands Are Not for Hitting(Best Behavior Series) by Martine Agassi Ph.D. and Marieka Heinlen
3) No Biting! by Karen Katz
4) Feet Are Not for Kicking by Verdick and Heinlen
5) “Calm-Down Time” by Verdick and Heinlen
Joanna, that list is awesome! Thank you 🙂 wish me luck!
Sounds like we have similar problems 🙂 You are not alone.
Anthony loves, loves, loves, fruits, yogurt and even most veggies. But mostly fruit!
Meat on the other hand – is a different story. We’re definitely lacking on the protein choices – in terms of what he deems acceptable!
On most days – he eats yogurt for one meal (we do the greek yogurt so that he’s getting his protein). And then he’ll also eat diced up ham (you can buy it prepackaged) and I just put a little smart one in a frying pan and fry it up. He loves that.
Chicken nuggets and pizza are hit or miss. Some days he loves it – some days he’ll give it back to me and say “this sucks” or “ewwwww, stinky” – not sure where he’s getting these phrases??
So frustrating. I too feel like a short order cook some days.
For chicken nuggets – he loves fast food nuggets, but he hates the kind that you get frozen and bake. But I’ve found that if you buy the breaded chicken nuggets that are fresh – not frozen – he loves those. But not every day. ha ha.
Sometimes he thinks they are the frozen kind and rejects them so I have to stick a piece in his mouth (as he fights me) – or sometimes Ill dip it in polynesian sauce (sweet sauce) and then he’s all over it.
Peanut butter and jelly seem to be a hit for most kids – but not Anthony. He’s not a fan.
Anthony loves to dip stuff – so I’ll give him some fat free italian dressing or greek dressing and he’ll dip broccoli.
He loves anything with a snap to it – basically he’d be a raw eater if I let him.
His favorites – raw carrots, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, yogurt, broccoli, cereal, diced ham, apple sauce.
He also really loves rice.
And he loves tacos! (just meat and tomatoes).
He used to love the frozen mini waffles/pancakes but now he’s over them.
Luckily he’s never been one to throw the food on the ground or throw his plate. He’ll just hand it back and start crying 🙂 ugh, lovely.
Anyways, I don’t have any great tips – except sometimes I just put stuff on his plate, turn a movie on and walk away. I find he’ll often start eating if he’s watching a movie and he doesn’t feel like I’m forcing him. (i know, such a bad habit but some days I’m desperate).
And on really picky days i don’t put him in the high chair – I just create small bowls of food and let him graze 🙂 that’s worked on many occasion.
Good luck – being a momma aint easy!
Thanks for sharing Chrissy! The foods Anthony will eat is way bigger than Charlie’s list 🙂 The dipping thing is starting to work, but only for nuggets, fishsticks, etc., not veggies 🙁
Hi Chandra. Finally getting around to reading this, per your Instagram prompt last week. I’ll offer a little advice, if I can.
1. I hate to say it, but part of this is just being in that 2-3 age range. So much is going on in their little heads and kids express that in a variety of ways. So the throwing of the food, for example, is him stating some independence and more importantly, waiting for your reaction. It sounds crazy, but the next time he does that, if you can, don’t immediately respond, coach, and clean it up. In fact, you might simply say, “That’s your mess, not Mommy’s, and it looks like you’re going to clean it up.” Now, that might mean the mess will stay there awhile (i.e., until naptime, bedtime, or some other time you can take care of it). But a lot of what kids are looking for is your reaction to what they are doing….so if it doesn’t become a big deal on your end, he might stop doing it.
2. Picky eating. Kids’ palettes are very sensitive and forming like crazy at this age. So, it is SO important to reduce sugar and increase fruits and veggies as much as possible. If you have to sneak them into foods for awhile, that is ok, since ultimately you are keeping their palette from craving sweets. Which leads me to the fruits and yogurt. Do you give him yogurt that is high in sugar? And a lot of fruit? That could be causing him to crave sugar and that might be why he is refusing the other foods. It’s crazy how sugar hides in so many of our foods and we sometimes don’t realize it. So, if you couple that with other sugar habits, it can become addictive. When I serve yogurt to my kids (which is daily), I do half plain yogurt and half flavored to cut down on the sugar. Try to do more smoothies with the fruit, so you can add swiss chard, spinach, or kale to it. If he likes dried fruit like blueberries or raisins, make a fun trail mix with nuts, pumpkin seeds, the dried fruit, a few chocolate chips. I think I mentioned the enchiladas that I sneak things into last week. I’ve also been known to sneak lots of things into muffins, pancakes, and even pasta.
3. Changing the behavior. I would stay away from punishing him for bad behavior and switch to rewarding good behavior. We have used prize bowls for lots of things (potty training, for example) and it has worked well. So, say he finishes all his dinner for 3 nights in a row, he gets to pick a small prize. Maybe he ventured out and tried something new that you fixed. You don’t want to get too crazy with the prize bowl, so use it wisely. 😉
OK, hope that wasn’t too long and that might help in some way.
Meg, Wedding Belle Favors
p.s. I’ve been doing a kids blog now for about 6 months and it’s fun! Healthy recipes, humor for Moms, etc. You should check it out. https://www.happykidsinc.blogspot.com
Good luck!
thanks so much Meg!
Sorry, forgot to ask. How do you prepare/format your weekly Instagram wrap-up? I love it!
Meg, Wedding Belle Favors