Kiwis, Kiwis, Kiwis !!!

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This little girl has eaten enough Kiwis to feed a starving country! Laughing

She has reached the phase that Dr Sears refers to as " Grazing".. and now see why.
She refuses almost 80% of the time to be fed her meals. The amounts she eats in one setting has shrunk! And to top it all off, she doesnt eat very often.
Talk about nutrition anxiety... I have spent the last week fretting over this semi-new behavior.
Dr Sears book has given some great grazing ideas to keep her snacking through out the day. So far, everything the book + website has said to do, I do and has proven to be very effective! AND gotten rid of the anxiety I was having.
My other idea.. was vitamin drops? Possibly?
Maybe in her juices? To ensure that she is getting all she can out of what she eats, I have purchased a bottle of powder formula Rolling Eyes

( I thought those days were over .. hehe) and i add a scoop here and there to her milk, orange juice, and sometimes her water. Sounds like overkill I know.. but Im fretfull.
She has lost 1 lb. And no where do I see that small amounts of weight LOSS is to be expected??
I called her clinic and spoke to a nurse, of course, she wasnt concerned, but I am. Bean is a very skinny child.. and a pound or two here and there makes me concerned.
Vitamin drops are what I was thinking about adding to her liquids to help ensure she gets what she needs during this grazing period. Has anyone else used them?
I have also started giving her slices of avacado to help give her small smounts of good fats as well...
??

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Kiwi's rule.

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I wouldn't do the vitamin drops. Make sure her choices are well rounded and she'll get what she needs.

I'm glad you have stopped worrying. Totally normal behavior and, in my opinion, too much anxiety about food at this age DOES affect their attitudes about eating for years to come.

How many American children this age have you heard of being malnurished or hungry due to this grazing phase? I think this is a great opportunity for you to watch what she eats, what she asks for and what she ignores. It's not just about taste, it's also her listening to herself. A great thing to teach / allow to happen naturally so she knows to trust her food / nutrition instincts.

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Shewolf -I'm no expert, but I do know a child will not starve herself. Think of how tiny her stomach is. She will probably eat a little more during growth spurts, but weight flucuation is normal in all of us. I think your little snack approach is a a good one, since it is what we eat during the course a day that really counts. I would ask her doctor about the vitamins. I think if she eats a variety of good food, even in very small portions, she will be fine.

What about adding a special food event during the day. A mommy and daughter "tea", you can serve juice in pretty cups and make little "tea cakes" out of whole grain muffins with a smear of cream cheese and jelly.

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That is a good point squinney.. about starving children during the ' grazing' phase... you dont see 'em! ;-)
Mr wolf pointed that out to me a few seconds ago as well.
On top of that.. Beans diet is mostly vegetables, fruits and rice. Her protien sources are tuna, tofu, black & grabanzo beans. Most children ( according to statistics) are eating McDonalds foods for meals at this age, and other fast foods. So she is getting an above average diet according to some stats.
Bean preferrs Kiwis, broccoli ( wich i tell her are the trees faries hide under and if she wants to see them, she has to -mow- them .. eat'em basically. ;-) )
Her favorite grazing snack is pretty much what you describe GW..
She has rice waffles, either peanut butter and milled strawberries, or cream cheese and some other sweet fruit for a topping.
I also have a generic version of cheerios that has added calcium for her finger snacks.
The loss of that 'pound' has made me fret though. As I said, she is a skinny baby. But I guess that is to be expected a little since babies at this age are not eating to pack away the nutrients for a growth spurt, they are just eating because they have to.

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Yep. Now that you have the Sears book I have no advice to give. :-D (Glad it's working for you!) One thing I don't think I saw you mention is that it all averages out over like a week -- you have to think big picture. I'd get panicked about sozlet having nothing but bananas one day, and nothing but peas the next day, and... but if I thought back to the whole week, it was usually a pretty balanced meal.

I totally agree with squinney about your attitude now being important. This was one of the single trickiest parenting periods, because my hubby was raised very differently and thought she should EAT what was SERVED and that's that. I convinced him to let her follow her hunger (with a lot of backup from Sears), and she is one of the only kids I know now who will eat basically anything. She eats when she's hungry (healthy stuff!) and stops when she's not. I think that's a really important nutritional base.

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You're getting excellent advice here. I'll just repeat, "Don't worry."

Remember millions of babies are being raised without scales.

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.... hmm.. yes, get rid of the scale.
I wont put her on it anymore.
Behavior IS a huge lesson here and I didnt think about that.
I know from my mothers behaviors that , that is where I learned the " dont waste food ...eat everything on your plate" .. eat when it is served, what is served no matter if you are full or not.
( sounds similar to Mr soz...)
and yes.. dr sears book is awesome. But I didnt notice the balanced week, part of the book.
( that is why it took me a minute to respond.. I had to check my baby bible.. Laughing

)
And yes, if I look at her entire week of grazing it is = Fruits one day, veggies another, protien sources, juices+milk, breads/grains/...
Hmm.. now I REALLY dont have anything to fret about. ;-)
One thing i am doing for Bean... I found some nutritional yeast and I mixed that into her peanut butter, or sprinkle it on her strawberries before I mill them up to put on top of her toast.. or what ever it is she is eating. That has added a few vitamins to her diet as well.
I dont think I will consider vitamin drops now..
When I look at the big picture..things are fine.
Whta else did sozlet snack on during her grazing period? Aside from mangos ? hehe

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You remember mangos! :-D (Mango baby loves her mangos -- mangos mangos!)

I don't remember where I got the averaged-over-a-week factoid, may have been elsewhere -- doc maybe?

Ummm, trying to remember. Cheerios I think. Hard-boiled eggs/ deviled eggs. BLUEBERRIES. She adored blueberries almost as much as mangos. (This stuff fades so fast I tell you... sometimes I think I'm only useful as an advice-giver for parents with kids within 6 months of sozlet's current age...)

I'll keep thinking.

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Ditto what everyone else said. Today is kiwi day. Maybe tomorrow will be yogurt day, and the day after that bread day.

My son went through days where ate nothing but 2 grapes and a serving of yogurt. I was worried too (maybe less so because he had been a very fat baby) but over time his appetite picked up. Oddly enough, my daughter was not as extreme as he was (never ate that little), but she is very petite. Different as night and day, they are.

If you do want to add vitamins, and if she likes chocolate milk, you could try ovaltine. It's not as concentrated as drops, and there is sugar in it, but if she's not eating much sugar elsewhere (and it sounds like she's not) then it should be fine.

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The week thing is Sears after all (prolly my doc too tho):

Quote:

Toddlers like to binge on one food at a time. They may eat only fruits one day, and vegetables the next. Since erratic eating habits are as normal as toddler mood swings, expect your child to eat well one day and eat practically nothing the next. Toddlers from one to three years need between 1,000 and 1,300 calories a day, yet they may not eat this amount every day. Aim for a nutritionally-balanced week, not a balanced day.

Lots more good stuff here:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t030800.asp

We did the ice cube tray, she loved it.

AVOCADOES. Another favorite.

Oh, it all comes back as I read. Dipping was huge. She liked hummus. And cheese, lots of cheese.

PASTA!!! Even just plain. Cook it, serve it. Like little ones, not spaghetti -- rotini and such.

One more quote:

Quote:

16. Count on inconsistency. For young children, what and how much they are willing to eat may vary daily. This capriciousness is due in large part to their ambivalence about independence, and eating is an area where they can act out this confusion. So don't be surprised if your child eats a heaping plateful of food one day and practically nothing the next, adores broccoli on Tuesday and refuses it on Thursday, wants to feed herself at one meal and be totally catered to at another. As a parent in our practice said, "The only thing consistent about toddler feeding is inconsistency." Try to simply roll with these mood swings, and don't take them personally.

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good grief. 1-1,300 calories?
I cant see her eating that..
counting juices, breads, fruits.. wow!
Of course, that sounds like a lot, but I guess it isnt?

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I LOVE the "Tea Party" idea.

(Really missing this age. I may need to borrow someones child.)

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This is perfectly normal, shewolf.

I freaked out when my 16-mo-old son started refusing to eat anything except fish sticks, chicken nuggets and a baby yogurt/juice blend. He kept that up for over a year, despite all our wheedling, begging, tempting and bribing. Eventually he got tired of it and moved on, thank heavens. The doctor said that actually, it wasn't a bad combination for a toddler. He was getting protein, bread, fat, fruit and dairy. Just not the way I wanted him to. He survived quite nicely, believe it or not. And so will Jillybean. Hang in there!

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The Balanced Diet over the long run was a scientific study done back in the '50's. Babies/toddlers were allowed to choose their own diets--and did an excellent job.

Of course, this was before the days of vividly advertised junk food.

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squinney,
I dont think bean will mind if you want to borrow her for a couple of hours. :-)

I remember those studies Noddy. That was something I remember my mom talking about with me that her mother had done with her. Funny.. when I rethink that conversation, my grandmother was doing exactly what I AM doing now.. Hmm...

FISH STICKS!
Oh my god, that is a WONDERFUL idea!!!
I can bread her tuna steaks, bake them, then give her some milk and juice... and keep cubed pieces of fruit . There is her 1,000 calories.

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Kiwis, Kiwis, Kiwis !!!

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