My 1-year-old has suddenly become a picky eater: Advice?

When my son turned one about two weeks ago, he stopped eating everything he was eating before except mashed potatoes and his stars. I need advice on how to get him to start eating everything again.

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Don’t give him the mashed potatoes and stars.

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My son is exactly the same way! I used to call him a hoover because he would put anything and everything in his mouth… but once he turned one a month ago, he’ll only eat FRUIT and cut up hot dogs. He likes cheese too, so I started making queasdillas and sneaking in some veggies. I’ve found also that when he’s hungry and i offer him a variety of foods, he WILL try things if I let him sit there long enough.

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Its a phase he will get over it. Offer him a variety and make it look fun he will eat

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Following cause mine will only eat cookies and some baby food still. No real food :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: I offer him just about everything we eat and he just throws it or spits it out!!

Continue to offer the regular foods. And new foods. It’s just a phase.

Kids do this because it’s the only thing they can control. My son is going to be 3 in August and is still being picky. I let him pick out things in the store that he will eat. Seems to be working, for the most part anyway

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Mine is a year & 17 days, he is also picky but I always try to giv him lots of veges esp when he is hungry because I noticed when he is very hungry he eats anything I prepare.

Use reverse psychology on him.tell him he better not eat it as a joke. :smiley::slightly_smiling_face:

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Mine turned a year recently and she has done the same. I was worried until doing some research and talking w the pediatrician that this is completely normal and should improve around the eighteen month mark so we will see how it goes

My daughter tried this i just kept trying her on the foods she said she didnt like she now eats practically everything. Shes now 4 but i remember she didnt like rice, pasta, veg, mash she now does shes not keen on salad stuff still but she gives it a good go thats all that matters :wink: then again she eats things i wouldnt like blackpudding thanks to others that try her on foods i may not like

Mix his veg in his mash

Very normal my daughter did that when she was about 2 and still is and she is almost 3. I’ve been told she will grow out of it

Just a phase. Continue to offer variety.

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It’s normal, just please please don’t force your kid to eat, that’s damaging and will only make things worse. My daughter is 5 & has gone through these phases before. If she wants to eat good, if not that’s fine. I ask her what she wants to eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks and just go by that.

Its normal. Just keep offering new foods.

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Just keep offering him different foods

Like most have said keep offering him other healthy food. Dont cave I know kids throw tantrums like no other stay strong. Eventually if he’s hungry enough he will eat hey he might find a new favorite meal. Make sure he has water,juice if you guys do that. But good luck

Sometimes it’s not that they’re picky it’s that they’re going through a growth spurt. Always offer food and gently guide them to make nibbles. Don’t force them to eat. Sometimes I eat a bite and say how good it is and offer it to them. I learned letting them be done when they want to be done helps as well. Less pressure less overall stress. Your child will eat when they’re hungry. We don’t make alternative meals here if my son picks at his food and decides he isn’t hungry it’ll stay on the table for 30-1h and if he doesn’t eat again it’s gone. It’s all temporary he’s still a good water it’s just a phase. Also my son had a moment during utensil use learning where eating things like rice was incredibly frustrating for him and helping him did get him to eat more

Just tell him it’s time to est

This may not work with a baby that young but I’ve learned that my 2 year old is much less picky if I exercise him before meals - 30 minutes before meal time I take him outside and have him chase a ball around, chase after me, climb everything, etc. and then he’s hungry enough to take just about anything I offer him. I don’t know if it will work as well with a crawler but it’s worth a shot!

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I have a 3yr old that ate most foods as a baby but now will only eat cereal, chicken ball, macaroni and cheese, ramen or french toast bites. Everything else he’d rather not eat and I consider myself a great from scratch cook who loves meats and veggies. :woman_shrugging: I just pray he grows out of the phase once he heads to preschool and sees the other kids eating different things.

Good luck! I’m just now at 3yo getting my youngest to try different foods again. Be patient. With my oldest I eventually convinced him meat was t-Rex food and veggies were brachiosaurus food and we started eating them. My 3yo just started eating (some) veggies again. Bribery worked for us. Some people are anti bribery but we eventually wean off the bribes when they started eating real food regularly.

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When I had a sleepover with my granddaughter and some of her cousins, I was warned that one of then would only eat certain foods (she was 6) I just served everybody the same foods and she ate enough to be satisfied. Never cook special food for a picky kid. They won’t starve.

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my kid too. he’s turning 2. and 18months onwards he became picky and he’s very selective with food textures. so what i did was make his fruits and veggies into a smoothie or i try to incorporate healthy options in to his food. like berries in pancakes or blended spinach and broccoli in his spag sauce… but still there are time where he eats this food and the next day, he wont eat the same food. :woman_facepalming::woman_facepalming::woman_facepalming:

I bought mini cookie cutters, did cute shaped fruit, cheese, and sandwiches, and put it on “my plate” for him to eat off of.
Plus I got ideas off Pinterest to make the food “look cute”. It helped.

Taste buds change and my daughter wasn’t ok with textures. Don’t sweat it. They won’t starve , just like us they will eat when hungry.

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Keep an eye out for other signs that could point to sensory issues. If it continues without change you may want to have an evaluation. Best thing you can do is offer a lot of choices and never force or make it an emotional ordeal.

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Children are not going to starve. As adults we eat when we are hungry. They do the same thing.

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I use to babysit my friends daughter who was very very picky, I mean extremely picky.My friend and her mom literally would make a buffet for her at home, she was also anemic.When I started to babysit her I would make eggs for her with a little bit of garlic and salt she loved them.I would also make ABC soup with “Knorr” seasoning and chicken she would have 2 plates.I would make lentils and peruvian beans and she would eat everything and add some meat,fish,vegetables,etc.This is the same way I feed my kids since they were small till now they eat everything.In our Hispanic family we make tons of food with different seasonings our favorite is “Birria” she loved it as well. I use to pack some for her to take home so she can have dinner.My friend was very happy, because she gained weight and her anemia was getting better.I am not a professional at cooking,but is always good to try different seasonings.:relaxed::relaxed:

My son did this too! I swapped out all my meals… I’d give him what he requested but I would eat a salad or something super healthy just to make him curious. Now he picks the organic lettuce out of my garden and eats it just like that :joy::sob: he is 2.5. So what worked for me was setting a clear example. Like most kids, he likes to copy and if I say it’s good, he usually believes me long enough to try and about 90% of the time he agrees. Can’t sell him on asparagus yet though :woman_shrugging:t2::joy:

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My son started becoming picky @ age 1. He’s turning 3 next month and just now started eating good again. Most days he would barely eat or not act hungry, then eat a lot for a few days, or like something one day and not the next. This past year he decided he liked peanut butter sandwiches and that’s all he wanted to eat. The nutritionist said that it was all normal behavior and he’s never had issues with gaining too little or anything like that

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When my daughter started being picky at that age I would choose two dinner things, (one was the dinner I made that day and the other a healthy option or the previous days leftovers), and I’d let her choose which one she wanted for dinner. It always worked to get her to eat because she was at the stage where she was gaining an opinion and her tastes were changing. She liked that she could pick, made her feel independent I think. LOL I never gave more than two options though. It’s either this or that. Otherwise with too many choices their little brain gets overwhelmed and they won’t be able to pick. And at that age they like a little more taste to their foods. My kid doesn’t like bland food. Also, I learned not to put too much on the plate. I only put a couple tablespoons of each item because if I put too much on the plate she would get overwhelmed with the amount and then not want to eat it. Now she’s 5 and not really picky anymore. She will at least try a bite or two of a new food before she decides whether she likes it or not. She will even eat sushi with me now, not the raw stuff cause I don’t eat that, she wanted to try it because I like it. The first time she tried it she hated it and spit it out, second time she swallowed the bite instead of spitting it out, and third time she ate a whole slice. Now she likes it. Sometimes you just have to keep offering a food and have them at least taste it. It’s ok if they don’t like it and spit it out. Not everyone likes the same flavors. I always tell my daughter that I am happy if she at least tries a bite and I won’t be upset if she spits it out. Knowing I won’t get upset with her gives her the confidence to try a new food even if she might not like it. She never lets herself starve.

keep offering only what you want him to eat. Its up to him to eat it or not. Healthy choices only. Kids go through phases he will come around.

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Mines 3 and same thing happened at 2. Hardly eats anything. It’s a struggle.

when my little guy wont eat offer lots of fruit and let them eat when they are hungry,also cut down on their milk intake he may be filling himself up with milk

my son has learned i don’t play that game of I suddenly don’t like things… u eat what ur given or I guess u aint that hungry n when he is hungry he’ll eat what he was given even doc said to do that bc if u start catering to him they will walk all over u lol

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It maybe the heat could be growth spurt if worried talk to his doctor

Just keep offering other stuff. Eventually he should eat it again

Try to make things fun. Use colors and shapes.

Kids tastes buds change so much just gotta
Keep trying

That’s how kids are. I have 4. They will eat when they’re hungry.

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Totally normal developmental phase, just keep offering

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When they get hungry enough they will eat.

Kids suck they’re picky little tyrants haha

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HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Amazing food guru!

Keep putting it on his plate! Give him a small amount of what hes eating now, and put the rest of plate with other foods. He will not go hungry. He will eat and learn to love all flavors. Dont give him “only food he will eat”.

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My daughter has been like that for about 3 years now she will be 5 in a couple weeks and she refuses to eat most meat or anything she doesnt like the smell of. At this point you just let them pick what they want to eat out of whatever you made. They will not starve themselves. Yes it can get stressful because they are not eating exactly what you make. But everyone’s taste buds change. Especially childrens. Theirs are constantly changing.

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I struggled with this…
1yr smoothies,vitamins,pediasure

2yr finger foods,fun stuff

3yr she wanted to pick out her food mainly pizza chicken and cannolis which was great because she has a super fast metabolism

4yr started trying new things but certain texture on her tongue bug her just like her dad

5yr eats almost everything
Likes to try new things
Still certain textures bug her

All natural gummy vitamins 3and up

Her pediatricians always said as long as she was getting vitamins…not losing weight…and drink milk
And some fruit and meat she was fine

Check out Feeding Littles Group! We’ve had great success with them.

Learn to cook better!!:rofl::rofl::rofl:

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My 16 month old goes through spurts, I feel like every day is different. One day she could eat everything she’s given then the next eat hardly anything. And I wish I could get that girl to eat some vegetables!

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My advice? Welcome to parenthood!! Where the meals don’t matter cause your kid’s not gonna eat it anyway!!! lol. seriously…don’t start worrying about what they are/aren’t eating at this age. He is just discovering foods and the various tastes in the world. Heck…my kid found his father’s jalapenos delish at a year old. He also loved mashed potatoes. By the time he turned 2…he hated them both.

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Get used to it - my kids are teenagers now and they still like one food for months and the next thing you know they have decided they dont like it anymore. They have been that way since they were little.

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My son went about a year where he would only eat meat…then it was EVERYTHING… I just started giving him children’s multivitamins…don’t worry… it’s normal…

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Doctors will even tell you it’s normal for kids to go through phases. I’d only be concerned if signs of other changes. This is what happened to my daughter when she became autistic…yes in mid became. She was a typical happy toddler til almost 2 years old

I know he young but asked him what he want and give to him my kids could eat chickenn forever but they would eat good luck

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It hits in stages…two things I did was Instant Carnation Breakfast milkshakes found in the cereal isle and started puree veggies and adding it to the foods they would eat!!

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Alway keep offering what ever you are serving and if they don’t eat about an hour give them a snack
This came from professionals when my child was younger

Yep my son only eats bananas… yogurt …chips and drinks chocolate milk he will occasionally eat mushroom sou! as long as hes hydrated

Is he picky or are his gums hurting due to teething? My son done this but it was mainly because his gums were hurting or sometimes cause he wants to feed himself

make smoothies with different veggies and fruits. my daughter ate everything except mash potatoes that was the only thing she did not like.

Will he only eat a certain color? Been through this with both my kids.

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My 14 month old has just started doing this about a week ago, as well. He’s been recently diagnosed with Fifth Disease/Slapped Cheek Syndrome. Which causes poor appetite, but I’m still worried that may not be the actual problem. All doctors have said is as long as they are well hydrated, they wouldn’t worry about it too much. Just keep offering him whatever you want him to have and eventually he’ll start to eat again.

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It is actually very normal

Our Dr told me our 3rd child needed 2 oz. protein, 4 oz. Vitamin C fortified juice & 2 cups milk a day, for a bare minimum. I fed her an egg every morning just to get the 1st oz. of protein down. My other 2 were never like this. She gradually got over it. :blush:

“My 1-year-old has suddenly become a picky eater: Advice?” You may wanna try to become a better cook!