Help!

I need some help with feeding times!

To keep the twins occupied while I prepared meals for them, I use to give them gerber puffs (which they LOVE). It did the trick innitially, but for the past week they refused most of their meals. All they want is PUFFS! I dread the day I ever purchased these little things!
I'm getting worried about them not eating enough...

Do I go cold turkey today & not give them any puffs. Or do I try & try to feed them their meals & then if they eat it they can get puffs as a snack later on. Sounds easy to do, but my twins are quite STRONG WILLED! :blink: :blink:

Also, how do I get them to want to eat their food? I make my own, usually veggies & a protein. Or pasta & protein, fruits etc. They may have a couple of bites, but then don't want the rest.

HELP!!!

Thanks!

Denise

 

My daughter has been going through this same stage for a month now. Some days she will eat great, other days she may only eat one full meal and some kind of snack. What I have read is to not force them to eat, if they don't want to eat they are full and will eat when they are hungry. There were times when I would give her anything pasta, because that was all she would eat. LOL! I would try giving the twins their meal then their puffs. Make sure they can't see the puffs, though, until they are completely done. My daughter will throw a royal fit if she sees her dessert and will refuse to eat anything more...so I have learned to hold out on bringing out her dessert until she is completely done.

 

Yep, same thing happened here. I used to put them in their highcharirs and give them the puffs to keep them occupied when fixing their meal and then they wouldn't eat the food, they would just scream for the puffs. So now I don't put them in the highchairs until the food is ready to go. If they eat, they get some puffs after. And Carrie is right too about not getting the container out until you are ready to give them some!!!

 

Good to know about the dangers of puff addiction. My two are just learning the joys that are puffs.

 

Are they self-feeding during their meals or do you feed them the majority of it? Maybe they like the independence they have with the puffs? I think I remember my two becoming pretty picky around that time, and were also very addicted to those darn puffs!

 

Mine are addicted to those silly little Puffs, too! I have been trying to feed them first and then give them the Puffs, but they have been getting mad about that. Dang those Puff makers!

 

Hi, my name is Emily, and my twins were addicted to puffs, too. When mine got to that stage, I think they were bored and/or wanted more independence. There are other puff like foods out there that they liked, and we started adding different finger foods. But I used to think I should ask about a puffs case discount.

 

So tell me, how do you let them feed themselves without getting all the food on the floor?

As it is, my dd throws her fingerfoods on the floor! They literally fly through the air like little missiles!!
I can't even think about giving them a plate & food in it....I'll be wading in food debris!!

Joking aside, how do you do it? I've got those munchkin plates that stick to the highchair tray. But my twins figured out how to remove it with just a flip of their finger. How do you get them to eat by themselves? I'm talking about real food here not the fingerfood variety.

Thanks!

 

First advice I have is to ditch the plates - at least for a while. Mine thought they were toys, and everything ended up on the floor.

The best thing we ever did was to try and eat the same thing at the same time. It's easier said than done, though. If we had chicken for dinner, I would cut up some very small pieces and give them some to try. I would do that with what we were having, if it was something they had already had in baby food and wasn't a choking hazard. Right around a year, mine wanted to have whatever we were having, and they really started mimicking eating when we were. I took that as my cue to try more things.

We still end up with food on the floor - but when we first started, I cut up what I thought they would want, and put that in a bowl or plate by me, and only gave them a few pieces so that there wasn't as much to pick up. And I was armed with extras if that food went over big.

Good luck!

 

No plates and no silverware. I just give my daughter any thing that I'm eating in small pieces. She has been feeding herself for a couple months now.

 

Our kids went through that stage when they were little too, although I don't think they had 'puffs' at that time. Our first round was mac-n-cheese......& only kraft mac-n-cheese - the blue box was what they picked up on. I got sneaky & put cheaper brands in the empty box, & that worked for a while til they caught me putting it in. :mellow: There were several 'favorite' foods we went through, each time that was all they would eat {for a while}. When I became concerned that they would not eat anything else than the 'favorite-of-the-moment, I did what I always do.....I asked my husband - since he is a family physician, he would know what to do.
He said that they will not starve, they will eat when they are hungry.....to keep trying other things (before the favorite), but if they will NOT eat anything else, to give it to them. They will eventually change what is their 'favorite', and they will eventually add other foods.
Just make sure you don't make the mistake of not offering anything else....I've seen some who will NOT eat anything else (as teenagers) because they were not offered anything else other than their favorite.
We also employed the 5-bite rule when they were little. They could have their favorite (whatever) after they took 5 bites of each thing on their plate.....if they would not take 5 bites of the other stuff, they did not get the (favorite) item.
Since they are older now, we have a 1-bite rule on new things. They must try one bite of a new food item before they can say "I don't like it". There are things that I don't like, & my kids are no differrent. However, their tastes will change with age, so make sure to offer new things occasionally...who knows? They just might like it!

 

I've been doing what you have suggested for quite some time now. They eat what I eat in little bits. I always thought that to be 'finger food'. I thought you meant they should have a full meal in a bowl & feed that to themselves. I couldnt get my head around that one.

By the way, how much is enough? For them to get all their nutrients etc? If I just give them little bits, my brain tells me that's way to little. I've still been kind of mushing their food to make it easier for them to eat (the food that I feed them). Should I stop doing this & just cut up their foods rather?

Denise

 

My kids were puffaholics very early on. I decided quickly that puffs had to go! So I made the change to cheerios. They were not as enthusiastic, especially at first, but after a while of no puffs it worked itself out. Now in the mornings they get cheerios while I get their food ready.

In the afternoon and evening I give them different things.

One thing I do is boil some frozen veggies, enough to last 2-3 days. Peas and green beans are the favorites, but I also do some mixed veggies and such. I keep them in a tupperware container and when I am going to get their meals together, I give them some of the veggies to pick at while I get the rest of the food ready. This works well for either the afternoon or dinner time meal.

Another thing I do is cut up some fruit for 2-3 days and put that in tupperware containers. I use this as the pickable food while I get other food ready also. Watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, apricots, pears...those are some of the favorites.

I find that if I get things ready for meals with 2-3 days in mind, it really simplifies my life.

This morning for a change, they got to nibble on bites of a pancake while I got their breakfast ready. Some mornings I use cut up waffles. Puffs are indeed a thing of the past, and it is for their own good!

Oh yes, and as others have said, my kiddos do not get any plates/bowls/utensils. They get food on their trays. Most of it is food that we are eating for dinner, in small pieces. As for not getting food on the floor...that is a battle I don't fight. They are babies, and learning. Food is gonna end up on the floor. I do find that if I only give them little bits at a time, they do better, but it isn't perfect. That is the nice thing about having a family dog She handles the floor for me! Hee hee.