Feeding Your Toddler (1 of 2)

April 5, 2008

When it comes to feeding my son I have faced many struggles in the past 16 months of his life. He has a regular meal schedule, breakfast at 8 AM, snack at 10-10:30 AM, lunch at 12:30-1:00 PM, snack at 3:00 PM, and dinner at 5:30-6:00 PM. Now mind you, this schedule was set by my mother who takes care of him while my husband and I are at work. Since it is the schedule that formed I try to stick with it on the weekends. Only it seems I am being challenged more often than I would like when it comes to mealtime.

First off, he sometimes resists the high chair. My attempts to get him in only result in kicking and screaming. So I wonder if he is even hungry. I am thinking he must be hungry because of the number of hours since the last time he ate and besides, the schedule says its time to eat. I finally get him strapped in and put the tray on. By this time he is a little calmer.

The second thing that causes my patience to wear thin is the throwing of food. When I allow him to self-feed he constantly throws food off his high chair tray. I put bits of food onto his tray and allow him to explore and try them out. That is, if he will even try them. The funny part is he is completely nonchalant about throwing it over. He simply picks up the food and lets it roll out of his hand onto the floor. Then he looks after it and awaits my response. I continue to offer more food to him and he continues to throw it overboard.

The real tantrum starts when I am feeding him. I bring the spoon of food towards his mouth and the kicking and screaming commences. He tosses and turns his head as if he is under attack. Is he even hungry? I wish I knew. He is still unable to express himself with words so screaming and kicking is his way out. Once I put the spoon down he settles. On occasion I can get past this by being persistent. Eventually he does taste the food and realizes he likes it. Then he eats it all up. Again, was he hungry?

To tell you the truth I think I have a harder time with this than my son does. It’s hard on me because I worry a lot about his eating habits. According to his pediatrician and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),

Your toddler needs about 1,000 calories a day to meet his needs for growth, energy, and good nutrition. (Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Fourth Edition, AAP)

That seems like a lot to me because I feel like he comes nowhere near that. In the this book it gives you a sample menu and when I tried to go with it my son ate half the recommended amount for breakfast and wouldn’t eat what I offered for lunch and dinner.

My husband tries to reassure me but it is hard for me to accept that he will eat when he is hungry and not to worry. I am so particular about what I eat and how I like to eat it. So I am going on a mission to learn about various feeding methods for toddlers. I will keep you posted.

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