Help! My son is a picky eater
Originally posted on
For a recorded 1 hour webinar where I discussed picky eating with moms, you can click on this link.
Ok seriously, my son, all of a sudden has become a super picky eater. He’s not eating any of the food he used to eat before, and on top of it he’s not breastfeeding either. Just in time for Mother’s Day to make me realize that I’m simply doing things wrong.
I’ve tried providing colorful appetizing finger foods. No luck
Please help, what should I do?
I’ve even tried providing a different variety of food for him. No luck again
Wait, don’t tell me. I know exactly what to do. I know what to do ofcourse because I have googled the hell out of picky eaters and read a whole book cover to cover on how to best tackle this crisis
Now I have a few options. Minimize distractions as per Mayoclinic recommendation and stick to a very particular schedule as per Baby Center recommendation. I even have a schedule on how to introduce the same food 10 or 15 times over and over again for him to accept it. And on top of it I have 5 reasons why he’s become a picky eater, thanks to Webmd. I think he might be having an emotional reaction! I’ve got it all down.
I’ll tell you my plan. Are you ready?
I feel like that’s how toddlers are. Cute and adorable and laughing at your face “Not gonna eat, not gonna eat”
Nothing. My plan is to do nothing.
I have 4 real life reasons to why I’m not going to do a single thing. Sorry Google
1) First time mommy worry should be coined TWSD “Time Wasting Stress Disorder”.
Yes, that’s me.
I have stressed in vain. As a new mom, I have stressed over everything. And nothing. Is he cold? Is he hot? Is he breathing right? When will the umbilical cord heal? Omg I touched it with water, it’s never gonna heal. For God’s sake, for 3 weeks I was playing peekaboo with the umbilical cord every few hours.
Guess what? 30 google images of “normal umbilical cord” and 10 days later, the umbilical cord turned out just fine.
Do you remember that? It was black. Then it was green. Then it was black again! Then it turned red!! It just scared me so much!
That’s not to mention. Is the colostrum enough? Is he latching right? Is he gaining enough? Is 60 ml of pumped milk enough for the 7th days of breastfeeding? Guess what. All the readings, all the stress, it didn’t matter. I cried my eyes out thinking my baby is not getting enough and when I went to the doctor at 10 days, my son had gained 400 grams above his birthweight! The doctor high fived me, and off we went. Well needed sleep time wasted on pointless stress and research.
2) I’m never gonna be satisfied whatever choice I make on this baby dilemma.
Previous Scenario
8 months and 3 days postpartum: He’s always hungry. I should make the solid portion bigger.
8 months and 5 days postpartum: He’s decreased his breastfeeding frequency, I should decrease his solid intake.
And, it’s a rat race.
Or how about, trying to get a baby who doesn’t like to sleep to sleep. And double guessing your sleep routine 3 times a minute!
I should move that last nap backward so he can be down by 7.
Nap moved ill 4:30 instead of 5.
Come 6:30 my son has been up for a longer interval than he’s used to, he gets overstimulated and NOTHING can get him to sleep.
Mhm, the baby whisperer? The contended baby? The baby sleep site? Yes, I’ve tried them all. I also tried to trouble shoot each and analyze why none of them have worked and why my baby is still not sleeping like the rest of the kids. Once I convinced myself that I have done it all wrong, and shoulda tried cry it out, the boy decided to sleep through the night. I don’t know what worked.
Even when your baby is finally asleep. You go like: Oh Oh maybe she should’ve slept earlier! Or maybe postponed the nap until later!
3) The internet is a maze!
No offense to any particular website. Let’s do an exercise Google “Green baby poop”. Go ahead. Do it. Can’t be bothered? Fine, you will get a few of the following.
Baby Center: “If your baby is exclusively breastfed, her poop will be yellow or slightly green and have a mushy or creamy consistency.”
Another Baby Center link: “Green poos are usually a sign that your baby isn’t feeding well, regardless of whether or not he’s gaining weight”
WebMD: “ It’s rare that color changes signal a digestive problem. Usually, color changes just mean that there is more or less of the yellow/green/brown/orange pigments that are picked up along the way.”
Incredible infant: “Lime green poo is a sign that your baby is snacking too much on the sweet foremilk. Try keeping her on one breast longer, so she pulls out the thicker, richer hindmilk”.
In the same post, there is some other shade of green (I know your mind went there)“An evergreen baby poop color is the result of extra iron floating through your baby’s system. It’s usually also accompanied by thick constipated stools.”
How I always feel with my son.
Well, thank you Internet. After months of going back and forth between thinking my baby poop is normal, and experimenting with hindmilk foremilk imbalance, turns out my boy has cow’s milk allergy. However, the reroute was fun.
It’s not that the websites are wrong, it’s just that no resource can give you a correct answer given such little information.
4) The final reason I’m not gonna lift a finger is, It’s a phase.
In the words of Tracy Hogg in Baby Whisperer ”Once you think you’ve got it… everything changes”. So, this is a phase, and it will change very very soon. Just like all the other phases, just like the endless growth spurts, the lovely nursing strikes, the distracted feedings, the sleeping nights, and the non-sleeping nights.
So for now, I’m gonna put my feet up and go on with my life normally because by the time you’re reading this post my son will probably be eating just fine back again. He’s probably just teething, or tired, continuing playing mind games with mom or just exercising toddler rebellion.
For all the moms going through similiar scenarios, be it colic, a strike, or a recurring cold. Hang on tight, It will all pass. It’s not your fault. This is just our baby’s way of keeping some spiciness in our lives. Let’s just enjoy them as they are
Happy Mother’s Day beautiful mommies all over the world 
We’re in it together – Confessions of a recovering TWSD patient
Did I say put my feet up? Yeah right!