Toddlers Refuse Food They Ate Fine Last Month
Many parents are facing challenges with their children's picky eating habits, ranging from refusal to eat certain foods to sensory sensitivities impacting mealtime. They seek advice and strategies for encouraging healthier eating and navigating these frustrating situations.
SOURCES (60)
“my one year old has always been a decent eater, as in, she would eat pretty much anything regardless of texture or taste. here recently, like in the past few weeks, she has absolutely refused to eat anything i make. all her usual favs: spaghetti,…”
“My 3 year old is in full picky eater mode. She'll eat chicken nuggets, pasta, and fruit all day but the second anything green shows up on the plate it's game over. We've tried hiding veggies in smoothies, making it fun shaped, letting her "help" cook, eating it in front of her so she sees us enjoying it. Nothing sticks. The frustrating part is she used to eat broccoli, corn and peas just fine as a baby. Feels like we went backwards. Any parents here cracked the code on this”
“My 3 year old is in full picky eater mode. She'll eat chicken nuggets, pasta, and fruit all day but the second anything green shows up on the plate it's game over. We've tried hiding veggies in smoothies, making it fun shaped, letting her "help" cook, eating it in front of her so she sees us enjoying it. Nothing sticks. The frustrating part is she used to eat broccoli, corn and peas just fine as a baby. Feels like we went backwards. Any dads here cracked the code on this? S”
“My LO just turned 12 months old last week. She’s not a picky eater, but she will randomly get fussy each meal; simply stop eating her food, freak out, and, after a while, calm down and start eating again. I forgot to mention it while we were at the pediatrician yesterday but is this something I need to be worried about? Is it a sensory issue? To preface - she’s been doing this for 4-5 months, even before we added snacks to her regimen. It comes in waves/ on and off behavior but for the most part”
“I have a 1 year old kid. During meals, she will touch her hair. Eating oatmeal and have messy hands? Touch hair! Curry? Perfect haircare product! Eggs? Awesome texture for hair! The first time was hilarious. Now, not so much. She needs a bath after most meals to get it out of her hair. I am considering getting a shower cap and using it during mealtime lol. How do I reason with a one year old to please leave her hair alone when her hands are messy? submitted by /u/GravityDefyingFloof”
“My 6yo is in a phase where dinner is apparently suspicious unless it's crackers, yogurt, pasta, or something shaped like a dinosaur. I am not expecting a vitamin to replace actual food, but i have been looking at best vitamins for picky eaters as a little nutritional backup while we keep offering real foods, and i am getting overwhelmed by gummies, powders, subscription, sugar content, fiber, etc. What are you all looking for ingredient wise, and is there anything your picky kid will actuall”
“My youngest is almost five and I'm trying to figure out how much of this is just a normal stage versus something we should be addressing more intentionally. Every article seems to say something different. For parents with older kids, what actually helped? submitted by /u/Forward_Series_7894 [link] [comments]”
“My 3 1/2 year-old is prone to constipation and lower water intake likely doesn’t help. I feel like I’ve tried and continued to try everything. New bottles, Mom’s forbidden bottle, different temperatures, drinking games, link, offering water to an activity like playing outside, watered down juice (it needs to be pretty juice forward to work), fruit infusions, water heavy foods. Meanwhile I’m pretty burnt out from the daily creative thinking and trying to hit just the right balance of encouraging”
“My daughter goes to daycare and they say she eats everything she’s given, but I have my doubts. She doesn’t eat well at home so the weight plateau makes sense. She absolutely loves to eat vegetables like cucumber and tomatoes but those have basically zero calories. We’re going to start adding a lot more butter and oil to her diet - previously if she didn’t eat dinner, I’d make a fruit smoothie with a high-cal meal replacement powder. They said I should put avocado and peanut butter into the smoo”
“So I know kids can be weird about food, my experience is a little bit jaded because my older one is great with food and has always been great with food. My younger one who is now five keeps getting more and more picky not less. I know five is still young, it is worries me that his food is becoming more and more restricted - and he’s added in certain behaviors like not being able to eat with utensils that I’ve touched other food - a.k.a. a new spoon and fork even when he switches from foods that”
“I have a 4yo and twin 1yo. Only one of the twins eats great. The other and my 4yo refuse basically everything but chicken nuggets. They eat snacks fine (trying to restrict them). I’m losing my mind. It’s all tantrums and meltdowns at dinner. I am just losing my mind. The common advice doesn’t work. submitted by /u/NarrowHuckleberry795 [link] [comments]”
“What the title says. How are you feeding your picky child? My son( a couple months shy of being 4) has been very picky lately, which is a relatively new thing. He’s never liked fish or any seafood ever since he started eating solids. I was mostly fine with it although I really wished he would at least try whatever seafood I made because we, as a family, really need to cut down on meat consumption. He still ate all the boring meat like beef, chicken, and pork. But now he’s decided to take his pic”
“I (27 f) have a one year old son. He’s 14 months but for this story that’s unnecessary information. So the past like week or so this kid has been shoving EVERY . SINGLE. piece of food mommy puts on his tray. First we thought it was the plates. Like maybe the food was sticking to the edges too much so we tried rawdogging the highchair tray it did not fix it. SO yesterday for lunch and dinner he just ate snacks; lunch was an applesauce packet thingy and some cheese crackers with bread and dinner w”
“My son is 12 months old and we have always had a hard time with solids. After seeing a specialist, we FINALLY have gotten him to start eating actual food safely. The new problem? He’s extremely picky. He will only reliably eat waffles, yogurt, cake (I know, I know) and those little fruit pouches. How can I sneak more nutrients into the foods he WILL eat and maybe start introducing some new foods? submitted by /u/OpheliaTheSaber [link] [comments]”
“She was running and fell on her face. The last two days she's barely eaten. She'll eat three or four bites at a meal. She's also sick so I'm extra worried. For some reason she won't drink water either. I think it's because we put Tylenol in her water. She's been basically living on orange juice and milk. We started putting protein powder in the milk. Any tips for this? submitted by /u/Diylion [link] [comments]”
“My 14mo is massively refusing food at the moment. Most of her safe food is out of the window and nothing new is getting tolerated or sometimes even tried. Shes had a tooth pop in the last few days and has a cold so I know all of this can be a factor but even before then her diet was very limited to her 5/6 safe foods. We’re going on holiday to Greece next week and I’m terrified she’s not going to eat anything. We’re self catering but there’s only a small local shop which really just sells tinned”
“I have a 14-month-old who, up until this point, has been a really good and adventurous eater. We've been serving her appropriately-modified versions of what we eat since she was 6 months old. All of the sudden, she has hit a picky phase where the only thing she wants to eat is fruit. Honestly I get it, because fruit is delicious. The kid is absolutely obsessed with bananas, all kinds of berries, dragon fruit, kiwi, peaches, and clementines. The problem is that I cannot serve her three meals”
“I have a 1.5 year old now, my first kid, and I honestly have no idea what to feed her. I’ve been giving her pretty much berries, apples, green beans, broccoli, grilled cheese, chicken, eggs, cheese, crackers, and Mac and cheese. I think I’m feeding her mostly good Whole Foods? And she isn’t a picky eater so she eats almost everything I give her. But also I feel like I don’t know what I should feed her besides fruits, veggies, and grilled cheese. I think she needs more variety I just don’t have a”
“My 16mo old just will not eat solids. He eats SOME things. He loves cheese sticks, watermelon, and yogurt, but he cannot live on that. Whatever I make him to try, he just smacks my hand away and has a meltdown because he's hungry and wants a bottle. My pediatrician said its ok to keep him on formula till 18mo, but we are running out of time and making very little progress. I am so embarrassed he is still on a bottle and dont know what to do! Ive even done whole milk and then tried food a lit”
“Mother to a picky eater here. He (5) mainly eats pasta, chips and sausages or toast (we're in the UK) but is good at eating banana carrots,apples and sometimes oranges. I've tried a few different ways of getting him to eat different things but come up against resistance and can't face starving him to make him eat? Was anyone else in a similar situation and did anything work or did they grow out of it ? I'm hoping he will grow out of it .... submitted by /u/flipflopsan”
“My 22-month-old has done a strange eating regression these past 2 months, where she won't eat food that needs to be chewed (this after we introduced solids at 6 months through BLW). She only wants soups and porridge. If you put solids in the soup that require chewing, she will gag and often vomit it all up. She will, however, eat SOME solid foods. Like pretzels, chicken legs, toast, and sometimes a few bites of cucumbers or fruit, but not much. We keep trying to get her to eat solid food, bu”
“Mine is a picky eater (19 months). Absolutely hates green beans and meaty food. Only likes fruity, sweet things on the table. Would protest daily and throw away things he doesn't like to eat. submitted by /u/Fleedom2025 [link] [comments]”
“Hello! I am tired of trying to feed my LO (13 m) who just doesn't really like food still. I really try - probably over do it with high expectations. I always prepare her meals separately as she mostly rejects the "adult food". She still tends to accept lumpy and saucy foods, fruit, and yoghurt. It would be so nice to know when your LO started just eating what you're eating every meal? (limiting salt and spice etc. ofc). I kind of expected it to be around now but feel it's s”
“Hey Daddit! I’m certain I’m not the only one, but I have a ~5yo who is an inconsistent picky eater. Lately he’s been requesting pancakes on weekend mornings, but then after taking a bite he doesn’t like them anymore. Food waste is a huge pet peeve of mine so this behavior was causing me quite a bit of frustration. Lately we’ve also been practicing reading (which he’s also resistant to), so I tried out an idea to make him more engaged. I put the pancake batter in a sauce squeeze bottle (see photo”
“My daughter will be 4 in October. Our biggest parenting struggle is the pace at which she eats dinner/ refusing to eat dinner. She’s always been a small slow eater. Shes healthy. However. Every night we struggle to get dinner into her. She takes usually over an hour. Yes she does better with foods she loves but our rule is that we provide her food that we both know she will consume but also that is healthy and is generally what we are eating too, with appropriate modifications. If we put it in f”
“I have such a hard time getting my toddler to eat but then her dad cooks and she has no problem. He actually uses more spices than me so it’s not that it’s too much for her. Anyone else have this issue? submitted by /u/Fair-Smile4839 [link] [comments]”
“My 13 month old has been refusing the eat anything that requires a spoon. She just screams her little head off when I even present the spoon. She won’t eat it if I put it on her table, either. She just gets frustrated and throws the spoon off the high chair. She is also allergic to eggs :( Does anybody have any finger food breakfast and lunch ideas? Dinner is always fine because nothing I give her ever requires a spoon submitted by /u/Passionatepassionfrt [link] [comments]”
“Our 5 year old is a picky and restrictive eater at home, and since daycare ended it has only gotten worse. At daycare he would eat their food (eggs, meatballs, different pastas, bagels etc), however at home he wouldn't. It was never an issue until he stopped daycare and now he is hangry more often (resulting in outbursts) and existing on very few "safe foods." I've tried new foods on his plate, but he throws them off. Tried bribing, but that doesn't. Looking for tips to slo”
“Normally I give my 2 years old and 5 years old sons some seaweed and rice but I am looking other alternatives. Thanks! P/s: They often go and cook with me so I know what they want but there are times when they don't feel like eating so I give them sth else, not all the times though submitted by /u/joe-harper123 [link] [comments]”
“Leave it on the edge of the table and let her think she is stealing it. Apparently it's disgusting, unless she steals it and thinks she is being slick. submitted by /u/DaveinOakland [link] [comments]”
“I know a lot of us have picky eater toddlers but y'all I am STRUGGLING. My sweet guy is almost 2.5 and is no joke eating almost entirely bread and dairy products, with a few exceptions. Things he used to love eating he refuses. Anything new he refuses. I do think it's largely where he's at developmentally and not totally a taste or texture thing, he just really wants to be in control. Which I get. I don't want to turn it into a power struggle or a big deal, but I'm worried he”
“Our four year old eats plenty of calories but has a very short list of foods he'll actually touch. We are waiting for our next pediatrician visit but I'm wondering what nutrition advice other families have been given before we go down a rabbit hole online. submitted by /u/Warm-Read8901 [link] [comments]”
“My kid was doing really well with solids until he came down with a cold and an ear infection the past 2 or so weeks. He’s currently on antibiotics for the ear infection. He also had his 12 month shots 2-3 weeks ago so he’s going through it now. He basically only wants bread, fruit, eggs, and dairy right now. He fusses and refuses to eat most meat (smoked salmon is fine for whatever reason), most veggies, rice- foods he enjoyed before. I’m worried he’s going to have nutritional deficiencies. He a”
“i wasn’t wanting to wean but it’s interfering with him eating real food. any tips or tricks would be appreciated submitted by /u/marissaaaababyy [link] [comments]”
“My 4 year old son is extremely picky. He only eats a handful of things. He loves snacks (pirate booty, cheez its, goldfish). And will drink milk and eat pasta with red sauce. He does like that’s it fruit bars. But outside of that not much else. He won’t even try items. We don’t know where to start to get him to start eating things. submitted by /u/PurpleHorse5545 [link] [comments]”
“I’m joking but I’m really so annoyed lol. My son barely eats anything I put on his plate but will happily eat THE SAME thing off the floor. Along with anything else that’s down there it’s driving me crazy to try to keep my floors completely clean because he eats everything off the floors. submitted by /u/nourielle [link] [comments]”
“My son is 21 months old and is picky as ever, I leave new foods in front of him for atleast 15 min or so max and if he doesn't touch it or try it then I just give him something he likes, is that good or bad? He currently lives off yogurt, oatmeal, pouches and snacks submitted by /u/moody_girly2024 [link] [comments]”
“My son is 8 and showing no signs of becoming a less picky eater. He’s always reluctant to try new things and has genuinely disliked the vast majority of the new things he tries. To be fair, I tend to let him have the things I know he’ll eat for dinner because I hate meal planning at the best of times and I can’t face planning a meal only to have it rejected. One of the things he does eat is corn but we are visiting family right now and he had a meltdown because the corn here isn’t the same as th”
“I’m really struggling with feeding my 8.5 month old and would love to hear from anyone who’s been through something similar. We’re currently on three meals a day. Over the last couple of weeks he’s started rejecting almost all savoury mashed or puréed foods. He’ll happily eat sweet fruity purées, and he’ll suck on or eat bits of strawberries and oranges, but anything savoury is a battle. I’ve tried offering finger foods too. He’ll take small bites, but then he either gets bored and throws the fo”
“Made a curry for dinner tonight. My 13mo ate all the potatoes, carrots, and chicken, but set all the broccoli to the side. He wouldn't eat it himself or if we offered it on a fork. If it was delivered in the form of a plane, though, it got devoured. We tested trains and busses, too, and they were effective but slightly less interesting. By my count, he consumed at least 14 fighter jets (plus 2 trains and 1 city bus). Is that too much? Should I be worried? submitted by /u/ad720p [”
“My 4 year old daughter is a wonderful little thing but she will absolutely not try new foods. When she was an infant she’d eat anything and then it seems like out of no where refused foods she use to like. In hindsight maybe I over fed certain foods / meals and that’s the problem. Right now, she will eat, gluten free applegate chicken nuggets (won’t eat the regular ones), cheese sticks, apple sauce pouches, freeze dried bananas or strawberries, Mac and cheese (but won’t eat it if it’s reheated),”
“Kiddo is 11. He has typical food aversion. He basically eats beige palatable foods. He generally will eat cooked chicken. Not neurodivergent. He's developed some serious power struggle behavior. Tonight we were at dinner with extended family. They served corn, rice, chicken and some more adult oriented foods. He ate corn and rice, and no chicken. We asked him to try the chicken. He refused. We denied him dessert, he made a bit of a stink and then left the table. Later as I was walking by he”
“My baby has always been a pretty good eater, with big portions and a lot of variety. His top two teeth have come in, so I was unsurprised when he refused solids for a few days, but we're now a week in and he will eat a bit of bread and cherry tomatoes and maybe a bit of yoghurt off my spoon. He was eating pasta and cheese but has even refused that today. He's having milk so I'm not worried about calories, but his daytime eating does affect the nights and im struggling, and im not sur”
“Does anyone just make whatever the family is eating for dinner and just not serve anything else? I’m afraid I’ve created a culture of accommodating picky eating and I’m done with it. I’m considering transitioning to “eat what we eat or go hungry”. submitted by /u/ProtonixPusher [link] [comments]”
“My 4yo isn’t super fussy and has always been a really good eater, but we’re going through a very tricky, distracted phase, particularly with dinner. Sometimes he’ll come to the table, have one bite, say he isn’t hungry or doesn’t like it, and then want to leave because he wants to return to his game/building/show/anything more fun than the meal. We always have the rule that you can just eat until you’re full but you have to wait at the table until everyone is done. I also don’t cook multiple mea”
“My daughter is 8 and possibly autistic so very picky with food. She can’t have gluten or dairy due to allergies. She has braces and they said no granola bars, pretzels, stuff like that. She barely eats breakfast and I’m having a hard time finding things she will eat. I don’t know what to do. I’d prefer her to eat mostly healthy but at this point I’m willing to incorporate a little sugar with the healthy stuff to get her to eat more. submitted by /u/duck7duck7goose [link] [comme”
“Tl;dr Working moms please give me your tips for getting everyone eating the same dinner. My older son (4) is pretty picky. He eats yoghurt, peanut butter, fruit, french fries, some types of bread, and oreos. That's it. Every time we offer meat and get him to try it, he gags and sometimes he even vomits up food he ate before the chicken. Other things like quesadillas or veggies are less likely to cause gagging, but it takes an insane amount of bribery to get him to try them and then it's”
“I understand kids dont like certain foods. I have a 14 and 12 year old. Both have always been picky in their own way. I also understood that usually picky eating is something that happens in younger ages, and they eventually grow out of it. But i am at this time where my kids are getting older and they are both still picky. The problem is... its almost impossible to cook for my family. I make things tha they dont like all the time... because i dont have a choice. My oldest tends to like all the”
“Every time my kid gagged, I'd panic and take the food away. I thought I was helping, but I think it was teaching them that every new food was something to be scared of. Now if it's just a small gag from trying something unfamiliar (not choking or anything serious), I stay calm, don't make a big deal out of it, and we move on. No "come on, try again." No "you have to eat it." Next meal, I'll put that same food back on the plate in a tiny amount next to somethin”
“Hey Dads! Feeding my kid healthy foods is difficult. He has a limited number of things he'll readily eat. I've recently had great success slicing things extremely thin. Suddenly, apples with the skin on are premier snacks. If you don't have a razor sharp knife look up Kiwi knives, they're like $7 at an Asian grocery/supply store. submitted by /u/Mundon [link] [comments]”
“My child is 4 and is an extremely picky eater, always has been since she started solids. She eats like 6 things in total. She finds reasons not to eat most things - just looks at them and says don’t want the leaves, don’t want brown part, that looks spicy, I don’t want that…blah blah. She eats some things if I feed her. Doesn’t want to eat herself. It has been one of biggest stress I have. We can’t plan going out for meals. I have to feed her before we go. When we travel, most of the day goes in”
“My 2-year-old is battling eczema, and I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to help. He’s a very picky eater, so it’s difficult to get him to eat vegetables, fish, or even chicken. To work around this, I juice grapes and strawberries, then blend the leftover pulp with broccoli using the extracted juice as the liquid. Since he won’t drink it with the pulp, I sieve it before giving it to him. I’m now considering adding a children’s multivitamin to the juice. I know there’s no strong evide”
“My 13y/o is incredibly fussy, refusing to try anything new and claiming she doesn't like most foods to avoid having to try them. However, if a food suddenly becomes "cool" she will immediately want to try it and generally like it, and even want to cook it from scratch (recent examples include Dubai chocolate, and sushi). Keep in mind she would never have tried them (she supposedly hates pistachios, fish etc), or simply taken a tiny bite and claimed she didn't like them, had she”
“My 18-month-old has suddenly stopped eating. He mostly just plays with his food instead of actually eating it. He has always been a good eater. Of course he has his favorite foods, but overall he’s always eaten well and usually enjoys whatever I cook. Lately, though, he doesn’t want to eat anything I make or even food we order from restaurants. He drinks 8 oz of milk before bed and another 8 oz before his nap. Has anyone else gone through this? Is this just a phase, or do you have any tips that”
“My husband has decided he's now on a mission to only feed our 15 month toddlers (twins) whole foods. He's upset that before this, I was feeding them things like waffles, goldfish, cereal, or crackers. Or too much cottage cheese (they love it). They don't really like most vegetables, despite having exposure to them. They are toddlers!! He wants to make a healthy meal (say chicken or steak and several types of vegetables), offer it to them, and if they don't eat it, keep offering i”
“Fellow dads, I am here to summon your collective knowledge and seek your wisdom and advice, as we're struggling with the right thing to do with our son and his eating habits. It's not a phase for him anymore and we're worried. Medically, short of a blood test though, the pediatrician isn't worried about this, and the kid is just above average when it comes to height and weight curves. He's healthy, energetic when he wants to be, but we're still concerned. His acceptable o”
“My toddler is 16 months old. One day he will eat so much it’s fantastic! The next.. barely anything. Today this kids had a piece of toast and a single blueberry. Does anyone else experience this?! submitted by /u/Powerpuff_Girly [link] [comments]”
“Hi all, I have a wonderful 14 month old. She's always been a picky eater. Formula fed baby. Upon waking up (6:30am) she'll have a 4 ounce bottle of formula. She'll sometimes have some eggs with me in the morning (a bite at most; she used to eat much more but has stopped), some of my avocado (also a bite or two though she likes it more than the eggs) and some berries. She used to love blueberries, but then hated them and only accepted raspberries and now she'll have some of each.”
“TL;DR - My daughter is almost 16 months old and we are having an extremely difficult time transitioning away from formula to a solid food diet. She chews and chews on every food under the sun, but won’t swallow. 99.9% of her diet is formula. How do we fix it?! A bit of background… when she was 6 months old, we started introducing purées throughout the day. She was picky about what she would put in her mouth, but we were reassured by everyone that ‘she still has time’ and that it wasn’t about the”