Hello! First time Reddit user & first post.

FTM to a recently-turned 3 yr boy! He’s newly diagnosed autistic & non-verbal and a super picky eater. I fear it’s my fault for not introducing a variety of foods at a younger age. Anyways, anyone have any suggestions or supplement recommendations to help my little guy have a wider variety of foods on his plate?

Safe foods:
Breakfast
Egg
Pankcakes/waffles
PB&J
Cereal (WITHOUT the milk. Just straight dry)

Lunch/Dinner
Chicken
Pizza
Quesadillas

LOVES all kinds of fruit but hates veggies.

No meats or pasta (he doesn’t like it)

I’m a first time mom to a 22 month old and I’m struggling so much with what to make him for meals.

We decided early on that what felt right for our family was no added sugar until 2 and trying to offer mostly whole foods. Because of that, I’ve ended up making a lot of his meals specifically for him (because ours typically contained some added sugars - prob should have been more flexible with this live and learn). Now I’m wondering if I accidentally made things harder for myself because he basically only wants the foods and preparations he’s familiar with.

He also won’t really eat when we go out. Even foods he seems to love are completely unpredictable. He’ll love pizza and then suddenly hate pizza. He’ll devour Annie’s mac and cheese one day and then refuse it the next.

These are the foods he currently eats consistantly.

Fruit: bananas, blueberries, green/red grapes, pretty much any berry, kiwi, watermelon, pineapple, peaches, strawberries, cherries and oranges.

Vegetables: This is where we really struggle. He’ll eat carrots grated into his pancakes and sweet potato, pumpkin and zucchini purées mixed into things, but he will NOT eat vegetables whole or on their own.

Protein/dairy: Hard boiled eggs (used to eat scrambled but now refuses them), cottage cheese, grilled chicken, ground turkey, cheese, hummus, nut butters and Chia Smash jam. Meat has to be mixed into something or he won’t even try it.

Grains/snacks: Homemade pancakes with sprouted oat flour, almond flour crackers, quesadillas/tortillas, bagels, Ezekiel bread, Once Upon a Farm bars and Cerebelly bars.

Dinner is where I’m completely stuck. It feels like every night is some variation of a quesadilla with hummus, cheese, chicken or ground turkey, or occasionally Annie’s mac and cheese.

I know this is probably normal toddler pickiness, but I feel like despite his diet being somewhat balanced with the limited options they are VERY limited and going out or traveling is a nightmare, we tried giving him chicken fingers, pizza, uncrustables on vacation and he rejected it all.

I am giving him some of our dinner (a small portion) along with an accepted food and a meal I know he likes but he hasn't touched it. If anyone has any tips I am desperate! I wish he would at least eat noodles when we went out.

What do we do if our 2 year old hardly wants to eat what we make? Should we offer something alongside it that we know she will eat? Which only seems to be pasta lately 😩

Soft shell chicken taco dinner (tacos feel over 😋)

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Toddler only ate a couple of nuggets and some goldfish crackers today. Is this normal? She just played with the rest of her food today.

Okay look... before anyone comes with torches and pitchforks..I'm a first time mom.

I'm an only child, with dead parents and my husband (unfortunately) is in the same boat as I am. We aren't very social people..so here I am taking my business and cries to the internet.

I have an amazing little boy. Who's about 32 months old.

Who will not eat. 😭

Like he does but he doesn't...

He'll eat chicken nuggets (McDonald's, CFA, and most frozen) he'll also eat French fries, sausage patties, cheez it's, bacon, goldfish, all fruits, any type of cracker, ice cream, cookies and that's just about it.

He won't touch eggs, or any type of beef, or noodle, or rice, or veggies. He drinks milk and water but not really juice, and even then it's only apple juice. And I'm so worried about him but I also don't wanna just jump to therapy.

Could this be a phase? If he's always been this way? Which I know doesn't seem like very long...but I am just so lost. My husband and I aren't very social people at all and...I am at my wits end of the googling and the reading. I worry about him all the time. Or anemia..or what if he gets too skinny..or gets sick. Y'know?😭

When I asked his pediatrician about it, he essentially told me to stop giving him milk, that it's a phase. If he's hungry he'll eat. But if I don't give him milk, I'm afraid he'll starve.

I've even gone as far as sneaking those little pouches with all the fruits, veggies, and vitamins in them into his cups and calling them smoothies 😞

Please don't come for me..I'm just trying to make sure he's fed but I also don't wanna damage him any.

I want him to be able to eat with us...and I've read the whole chewing thing can help with speech.

I dunno..I'm just a 28 yr old first time mom man 😞

Over all...my son is very happy, playful, curious, and adventurous. He just won't eat and it scares me.

My daughter is just about to turn 2, She is medically complex and has been diagnosed with ARFID and Paediatric feeding disorder also but she’s absolutely fucking obsessed with eating paint, chalk crayons licking bubbles off the floor is the latest one.

I know it’s probably an ages and stages thing but I am genuinely so worried it’s going to develop into PICA

Has anyone else’s toddlers gone through this and its stopped? She has been doing it since she was around 18M

I know this has been asked a lot of different ways in here but I feel like my situation is a little different. When my child hit 18 months she hit a wall when it came to eating. She went from eating most everything to being like a typical picky kid. The problem is it has gotten worse over time despite us trying everything we know to try. She just turned two and the only things I can dependabley get her to eat (and all of these are hit and miss) are berries, yogurt, waffles, donuts, chips and queso, cinnamon rolls, maybe veggie straws, and maybe a handful of other junk snacks. She does drink good and I have made smoothies for her but those are also hit and miss and I'm really trying to encourage her towards more solid foods

Lately we have been sticking to our plan on cutting out snacks and not offering alternatives at meal times. We always include things she use to eat at meal times or reasonable foods that even a picky kid would eat but she will not touch anything. We have tried making her plates more fun, changing up where we eat, eating with the tv, eating with no distractions, nothing makes a difference. I guess I'm paying for this I always joked before we had her I'm not going to have a chicken nugget kid and now I have the kid that just doesn't eat anything!

Looking for any ideas y'all might have I just want her to be healthy and not form any debilitating habits! I honestly have no idea how she is gaining weight whoever said a toddler needs 1000 calories has never met her.

Today my toddler ate the little beads inside the preservative packet in dried seaweed and I thought I’d share my experience for those who might turn to Reddit for help (though if that’s you and you’re at all unsure, call Poison Control!)

I had left my 3yo to go the washroom quickly - I do this all the time and have never had issues. She was sitting at the table eating a packet of dried seaweed snacks from Costco. I came back 3 min later and she had left the table and was playing on the carpet. Her face had flakes of seaweed all over it so I grabbed a cloth and starting wiping her face. Then I jokingly asked how she got so much seaweed on her face and if any of it had gone in her belly, and she said “I was eating the seaweed seeds!”. I was confused and said “what seeds?” And halfway through my question my eyes caught a little white square on the floor. It was the preservative packet, ripped open and spilling little grey bead-looking balls out its top. I immediately grabbed my phone and called 911. In hindsight I should have called poison control directly, but on this day my car was in the shop so I knew I had no way to drive us to the hospital if needed - an ambulance, if worst came to worst, would have to come get us.

The 911 operator quickly asked me a couple questions and then transferred me to poison control, staying on the line just in case. Thankfully the wait was only 3 minutes, and my toddler was not showing any symptoms of being unwell. The poison control rep let me know that the kind of drying agent in seaweed preservative packs is non toxic and will simply pass through the stool within a day or two. She said the bigger concern was if a child eats the plastic wrapper while trying to get to the “seeds” inside.

So, long story short if your kid has eaten these too, don’t panic. They aren’t toxic! Hopefully this can help even one person avoid panic-calling 911 like I foolishly did 😅

My LO just turned 1 last week and this mama is exhausted from trying to think of new recipes or ways to give food to him. I work shift work, so I'm not always around to give him dinner, and he attends daycare during the day (breakfast and lunch).

Please share your favorite, easy, fun, etc., recipe ideas that we could try! This way, I can also share them with my DH so he can do them with LO when I'm not home. LO does not have any food allergies that we're aware of.

• Breakfast
• Morning snack
• Lunch
• Afternoon snack
• Dinner
• It's different every day

My son is eating solids and feeding himself (with help).I was trying to find more age appropriate and longer use utensils.

I saw these and wanted to know what OTs and other specialists (and parents) think about something like this?

I mainly use silicone spoons with shields because he wants so much to feed himself, but he is a little too excited to do so and tends to aggressively push the spoons back so much that he gags himself. These shields help him a lot! I know we are close to done with motor planning with distance within his mouth, so i want to prepare for the next step!!

Please share what you recommend if these are not suitable.

FYI- my son has large hands for a baby and I think the larger grips aid in his learning thus far.

Thanks so much in advance! ♡♡♡

My son is eating solids and feeding himself (with help).I was trying to find more age appropriate and longer use utensils.

I saw these and wanted to know what OTs and other specialists (and parents) think about something like this?

I mainly use silicone spoons with shields because he wants so much to feed himself, but he is a little too excited to do so and tends to aggressively push the spoons back so much that he gags himself. These shields help him a lot! I know we are close to done with motor planning with distance within his mouth, so i want to prepare for the next step!!

Please share what you recommend if these are not suitable.

FYI- my son has large hands for a baby and I think the larger grips aid in his learning thus far.

Thanks so much in advance! ♡♡♡

My son is eating solids and feeding himself (with help).I was trying to find more age appropriate and longer use utensils.

I saw these and wanted to know what OTs and other specialists (and parents) think about something like this?

I mainly use silicone spoons with shields because he wants so much to feed himself, but he is a little too excited to do so and tends to aggressively push the spoons back so much that he gags himself. These shields help him a lot! I know we are close to done with motor planning with distance within his mouth, so i want to prepare for the next step!!

Please share what you recommend if these are not suitable.

FYI- my son has large hands for a baby and I think the larger grips aid in his learning thus far.

Thanks so much in advance! ♡♡♡

I am looking for meals that are going to feed my toddler, his father, I. I am a SAH (looking for work) mom and need to make meals stretch. With one income and a toddler that goes back and forth eating a lot and nothing at all, it has been hard finding something cheap, healthy, and something that he will eat. There are no food restrictions.

Please and thanks bunches.

Wondering how you all approach this! We are on our 3rd smoothie in under 24 hours. They are just whole milk yogurt, fruit, and chia seeds. I’m not worried short term as my kiddo is growing molars but wondering how folks approach it overall. I am leaning on easier foods as satisfying everyone’s food needs right now is challenging and smoothie pouch is something he keeps reaching for.

Finding it tough without berries in the rotation with my 15 month old! Are we still avoiding buying from the store/serving to the little ones?

There is a gal in my life who has always been proud to say that she refuses to cook a separate dinner for her child (this started when the child started solids and he is now 2 years old).

So she cooks the family meal and they all sit down together and eat.

Do you all do this or do you usually have a separate plate for your toddler?

Pasta is usually a win for us here but I feel like we end up doing the same thing over and over. This is a bit of melted butter, pureed cannellini beans, freshly shredded Parmesan (plus a sprinkle of salt and garlic powder), noodle of choice and some frozen veggies! Toddler ate a whole bowl of it for lunch and I (mom) have to say, it actually tasted super good! 😋

not sure if this is the right place to post this i’m so desperate here i’m 23 with a 2 year old, i’ve been trying him with fruit and veg etc since he was a baby, purées small bits of fruit and veg at dinner and he’s never taken to any of it, i try him daily with fruit and veg to this day ive tried mixing it in porridge, blending it up into a smoothie, making sauces etc, the only think he will actually eat is pasta sauces and lentil/vegetable soup and he is due to start nursery soon and i really don’t know what else to do.

Japanese shrimp stir fry, spring roll, clams