Meal Times give me nightmares

Smita, think about it.. why does mealtime need to mean khichdi or daal roti? It is about food groups, right. Your daughter should be getting her carbs, protein, etc. in a meal so a daliya or upma is an excellent option. If she enjoys eating these things, why stress yourself and her out with daal-roti/khichdi. Let her eat what she enjoys and gradually, introduce her, for eg: once a week, to khichdi etc. If she will look forward to her meals, chances are she will accept other foods too. And if you must, give her khichdi etc. , pair it with a favourite food.. foreg: poha with roti, or fruit with khicdhi. Make it a play--one bite this, and one bite that. Children learn to eat a meal like adults only around 3 years of age... so dont worry at all and enjoy rather than getting stressed.

Thanks Ankita, I believe you are right. Mixing and matching might actually work. Let me try your approach!

Smith, pls do not show her rhymes at all during meal times. I did it for my son and he is really really a picky eater now at 2 years, and doesn't want to eat anything without rhymes. It's a hard process to wean now. Your daughter is too young and I am sure she still gets most of the nutrients from milk. So the best way is to let her eat whatever she likes. More variety the better, because later you will struggle to give them variety when they become picky for just one or two things. I feel it's always good to introduce a lot of food items to the child at this early age.

Smith, pls do not show her rhymes at all during meal times. I did it for my son and he is really really a picky eater now at 2 years, and doesn't want to eat anything without rhymes. It's a hard process to wean now. Your daughter is too young and I am sure she still gets most of the nutrients from milk. So the best way is to let her eat whatever she likes. More variety the better, because later you will struggle to give them variety when they become picky for just one or two things. I feel it's always good to introduce a lot of food items to the child at this early age.

Also it's better if you can read about feeding a baby or ask your pediatrician, but there are a few essentials: 1) never force a baby to finish food, even if you think he had only a few bites, because they will otherwise make negative association with the food. They really have the capacity to decide on the amount. If they are more hungry, they will eat more during their next feeding cycle. 2) never be angry around their feeding time. 3) babies at this age have peak periods and lean periods of growth, so some days they start eating unexpectedly more, and then suddenly they may eat really little or even nothing at all. This is also ok. Let them decide what and how much they wanna eat.

Also it's better if you can read about feeding a baby or ask your pediatrician, but there are a few essentials: 1) never force a baby to finish food, even if you think he had only a few bites, because they will otherwise make negative association with the food. They really have the capacity to decide on the amount. If they are more hungry, they will eat more during their next feeding cycle. 2) never be angry around their feeding time. 3) babies at this age have peak periods and lean periods of growth, so some days they start eating unexpectedly more, and then suddenly they may eat really little or even nothing at all. This is also ok. Let them decide what and how much they wanna eat.

Dear all, pls help me with my picky eater as well. He is 2 years 2 months old, and is only eating plain roti /paratha, or some fruits. There are two problems that I am facing with this pattern: 1) He is not trying anything new for at least 6 months now and is not eating things which he as enjoying in the past like upma, dosa, dal, khichdi, at least few veggies like Loki, turning, or any muffin pancakes etc. am really worried if he will remain a picky eater in future and will not try new things at all, or is this just a phase?

And 2) he remains hungry at night, and keep waking up several times at no