Feeding Suggestions at 22 months

My b/g twins are 22 months old. They are finicky eaters and will only eat certain things. I was always a picky eater, and still am, so I understand them I guess!

I am having a hard time getting them to eat a variety of different things. They do not want jarred food anymore. They are great with breakfast type foods and bread based things like toast, waffles, bagels, cereals, cookies, crackers, etc.

They love chicken nuggets and meatballs. They will only eat vegetables if I hide it in something else, usually a Gerber graduates mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. No fruits at all, so I still give them jarred Stage 3 fruit so they are at least getting that, and they like it. They hate yogurt.

I have tried rolling bits of fruit, like bananas in crushed cherrios thinking it will fool them, but it just gets spit out and tossed onto the floor.

I bought a jar of the Gerber meat sticks and almos tgagged myself when I opened it, and could never subject them to that, as I already know the outcome.

They are growing just fine, no complaints with that, but would like to get them to try new things. They just seem to hate mushy slimy stuff. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

 

I moved your post to 1-4, so that you may get better responses.

 

What about yogurt? Smoothies? Have you tried sauces for dipping? One of mine dips everything in yogurt. How about hummus or other spreads?

 

My three kids are all picky in their own way, but have their own likes and dislikes. My son is by far the worst though. My twins love humus and wheat pita chips.

I guess just try any new fruits or anything with something to dip. They really liked peeled apples at that age. Now they want the whole apple, but I peel it first. Bananas and grapes are good. We don't quarter the grapes, but it's recommended to prevent choking. We eat lots of popcorn here too. Gosh another choking hazard in general.

I am not help, sorry. Liana loves fruits, Serene loves carrots and Connor just eats cheese products, pizza, meat and mandarin oranges.

 

Remember it can take offering something over 10 ten times before they will eat it, toddlers love consistency so you have to be consistent with things you want them to eat.
I would try different fruits and offer them in different ways, before I learned how mine liked theirs I would cut up some and leave some whole (so give them 1/4 of a pear but cut up 1/4 into chunks) and let them choose. I know I offered rasberries for a while before they started gobbling them up.
For other foods I just offer them and sometimes they eat them sometimes they don't, it took a while for spagetti to be a hit but now they can't eat it fast enough. I have also found if I feed them what I am eating while I am eating it they atleast try it.

HTH

 

Jerry Seinfeld's wife put out a cookbook that has you puree vegetables and then hide them in recipes. We just visited my brother's house and he cooked from it for my twins and his 22 month boy. They all ate great! I wish I could remember the title but just google Seinfeld cookbook and it should come up. We even ate the recipes ourselves. Yummy!

 

I just posted this the other day about our 3 yr. visit, but I think it's applicable to almost 2 yr. olds too.

The thing to concentrate on is that the WHOLE day's food adds up to a decent meal. I read that for 2 yr. olds it's about the process more than the nutrition. So, I might talk to your pedi at their upcoming appt. If they aren't falling behind and they are growing and thriving, then they are doing JUST FINE!

 

Some things my super picky eaters will eat are:

Chicken, broccoli and cheddar whole grain hot pockets (You have to heat them way ahead of time to let them cool off). We cut them into 1" squares and they will usually eat the entire thing.

Spinach cheese raviolis (made by Monterey Pasta Company and sold in the fresh section of the grocery store)

Chicken & cheese taquitos cut into small pieces.

For breakfast, bacon egg and cheese lean pockets are usually a hit.