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Oooh, my formerly voracious eater turned very picky right after her 18mo bday, so I know how you feel.
I have to wholeheartedly agree to the "dipping" hint - it has worked well when DD just won't eat anything I put in front of her. A little dab of ketchup or dressing can make all the difference! Another hint - I managed to get her to eat things by using baby food (had some jars left over from my nephew's visit here 2 weeks ago) as a dipping sauce. I used a jar of pureed carrots and another jar of pureed green beans and she wolfed her dinner down using the carrots and beans as dipping sauce. Mwah-ha-ha, she didn't even realize she was eating veggies that way either! (Yeah, it was kinda gross to contemplate green beans slathered on chicken and carrots on a bagel, but she ate it and that's all that counts!) I thought I was done making baby food for her, but I am thinking of mixing up some fresh batches of pureed veggies just for dipping purposes...
Another thing she will eat are sweet potato french fries, which when homemade aren't nearly as bad as McDonald's fries or the like. She will inhale her body weight in sweet potato fries!
Also, when DD suddenly began refusing almost all food (of course by chucking it on the floor to make as big a mess as possible), I panicked and called the pediatrician's office. The NP told me not to worry, that kids won't let themselves starve or dehydrate, and that once their growth starts slowing, they don't need to eat nearly as much as they did earlier. Whew.
I'm going to try that chicken strips in potato flakes idea - I bet Em would love that!
Good luck with your finicky eater!
Heather
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