Moms: Dealing with Picky Eaters

As a new mom I freaked out thinking I was the worse mom in the world. Why can't I get my baby to eat? What did I do wrong?. Now with my second child I realize I didn't do anything wrong, kids go through different stages, being picky is one of them, it is just part of growing up.

With my oldest son dinner time was crazy. My husband and I would find ourselves clapping and jumping after our son took one bite of something, even if it was just a tinny tomato. It was so crazy that when we discover he liked "Happy Meals" from McDonald's we taught it was the greatest thing in the world. At least he was eating something.

We took him to the pediatrician and of course he told us to just feed him and maybe have a lot of options for him to choose from. No kidding, I paid a pediatrician to tell me the obvious. I knew I had to feed him but my question was, how do I get him to actually eat?. We would go to the pediatrician often with the hope of hearing of a new pill or shot or something that we could use that had all the nutrients he needed.

After asking the pediatrician the same question a bunch of times we took our baby to a nutritionist that told us to relax. She said that the worse we could do as parents is to freak out. She told us to keep offering different foods and keep trying, if he didn't want carrots one day maybe he would wanted them the next one. She also recommended PediaSure, a dietary supplement that became a big blessing for us.

We kept trying and every time our son would show signs of liking something we would go for it. Sometimes all he would eat was Mac and Cheese, so we had the same dinner for three or four days, at least for him. I would add hot dogs one day, tomatoes the next one and chicken. If he liked oranges one week he would hate them next week so we would just go with the flow.

The picky eater problem lasted a couple of months and all of a sudden it all changed as soon as he turned three. He can speak a lot clearer and now he ask for what he wants. We have offered him every fruit, vegetable or meat possible so far that nothing looks new for him anymore and even if we make something different he is accustomed to trying new food and goes for it. I have to admit though that he wont eat peas for anything, even if I hide them in soup, but I am happy for the other things he eat. I can't expect him to like everything.

Now we have our second baby going through the same picky stage but we know now that freaking out doesn't take us anywhere and that some day just like our son did, she is going to start eating and even demanding for dinner if we take too long to make it.