We're on day 5 of Toddler Food Camp. My Music Man is only being offered real food options (or things that are as close as I can get!). No teething biscuits, no fruit/veggie packets (we've been living on the Pur Oraganic pouches. I have no problems with them, but it's not helping him get over his texture problem), or other type of snacky food inside of the house. I'm still putting some of these things in his school lunch, because my first challenge is to teach him that in this house he sits at the table with no TV on and eats a real meal. If he doesn't like it, then that's his choice. I am trying to give him a ton of options, and hopefully I'll figure out some food he likes in the coming weeks so I can always put at least one thing on the plate that I know he can eat.
We're doing this because the food issue has just gotten out of control. I started giving my Music Man table food around 5 1/2 months. I made all of his purees and for the first 7-8 months of eating he gobbled pretty much anything I put on a spoon for him. Meat, fruit, veggies, whole grains...everything a whole foods mama would want their baby eating. I made kale purees, chicken and peas, lentils and tomatoes, pears and apples, anything and everything I could think of. And he inhaled it all!
Then it was time for him to feed himself. And to start offering table food he could pick up and eat (no more purees). And it's been down hill ever since...
I fought the good fight the first year. Did everything I could to sneak veggies into pancakes, paired foods and textures the best I could, cooked him about 20 different things a week at all his meals. Then I got pregnant, and he got more defiant (he was closing in on that magical second birthday when your angelic little baby turns into an independent toddler with some rage issues...at least mine did!) and I couldn't fight the fight as well. Then my Little Peanut arrived and forget it. I was just happy if he ate anything. Now I never truly caved and started giving him junk food or anything. But it was a lot more processed stuff and very carbohydrate-centered. And as this fall and winter have progressed we found ourselves with a boy who would basically eat oatmeal, PB and J, hot dogs, and rice. That was it. Oh, maybe an occasional apple slice and nut butter.
Meal time became such an ordeal and was causing me so much stress that I decided to pull the plug and play a little hard ball. I was also wracked with guilt because he got sick a LOT this fall and winter. I know, I know, he started preschool and it's normal for kids to get inundated with germs their first go around. But I also know he has no nutritional base to help his immune system work. I didn't breastfeed him for very long (he was on purely formula by 4 months and that still makes me sad) and although I give him raw milk, which I think is the best milk for nutritional value, I feel like I am failing him by not giving him the best foods available.
Now food camp is in full swing. It's actually going better than I expected, but it's taking a lot of time, planning and cooking. This is also why I had to wait this long, I knew I couldn't do this while still caring for a newborn waking up three times a night. But as of today he has eaten some chicken, sweet potato, mini-pizzas with sausage on homemade "dough", burrito type sandwich with rice, refried beans and cheese, some avocado and blueberries. He's also tried a strawberry smoothie with homemade almond milk and a quinoa/oatmeal porridge. It hasn't been all fun and games. He has full blown boycotted two dinners, a lunch and has had two pretty pathetic breakfasts. But it's more progress than I thought.
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