You can do whatever baby led weaning, all homemade food, complex flavors approach you want. It’s your baby.

What you can’t do is determine how adventurous of an eater your child becomes. I ate all sorts of foods while pregnant and breastfeeding. I made my firstborn homemade snacks and baby food from scratch. I made both simple and more complex flavors. I varied textures. I read Kids Eat in Color. I am a good cook and make a variety of meals at home. We eat as a family most nights. Kid is still a super picky eater!

Good luck! But also know if your kid only wants chicken nuggets you are not a failure.

Anonymous wrote:We do very little processed/packaged food and my 4 year old is still picky. Don’t beat yourself up if you get a picky eater. Sometimes they’re just picky.

+1.

It's great that you're thinking about nutrition, and of course you can just not offer that stuff.

But I'd also suggest that you be flexible and not get too wrapped up in plans, or subscribing to theories. Baby-led weaning is fine, Ellyn Satter is fine, not following any of it strictly is also fine.

Kids go through phases, some are pickier than others. Just keep offering the good stuff over and over, and get kids involved with cooking.

All I will say is that whatever choices you make, don't get to smug.

I did baby led weaning, whole foods, no processed snacks except the occasional bowl of cheerios to occupy kids on an airplane. I even made my own purees and put them in reusable pouches. I thought I was some kind of genius.

I now have a 7 year old with ARFID and food texture sensitivities. I still work very hard to feed her whole foods, but it's really hard with the texture issues -- there are many foods she won't eat unless processed (whether I do it at home or we buy something packaged). Like she won't eat beans but she will eat a paste made of beans. And when I say "won't eat," I mean she will sometimes cry at the sight of foods that seem overwhelming to her, which might just mean "are green" or "are cooked."

Anyway, I now have a bin in the pantry that is literally just these kinds of packaged snacks. Fruit pouches (I do not have time to make our own at this point), granola bars, goldfish. We did dried fruit until the dentist told us to stop. I hate how much processed, pre-packaged food my kid eats. But I hate watching her not eat at all more, so oh well.

Just a bit of perspective.

I always wondered why in the world any kid was given chocolate milk to a child aside from a special treat. My #1 was a great eater happy to eat anything we ate. Sliced apples were his favorite snacks....you get the idea.

My #2 hated everything we offered. Her height and weight were low. Our ped suggested adding some chocolate to her milk her the protein, calcium, calories etc. It worked like a charm. I was humbled as a parent who thought I was really good at creating a good eater based on #1.

So, OP, sure do not offer food you do not want your kid to eat, but be flexible and realize you lose control very quickly as there are so many food influences from outside your home.

None of my kids really ate the packaged foods marketed for toddlers but it was mostly just because they didn’t like them. We always had to carry a little lunch box because everything they liked required refrigeration. They did like the pouches but I used to steam veggies and fruits and make my own with reusable pouches but this was more to cut costs and packaging waste than thinking they were better than the store bought ones.

Anonymous wrote:Just want to chime in: I was so careful about what my kids ate when they were little, to the point of making my own baby food. I was fairly over the top. They STILL went through a picky eating phase. People like what they like and don't like what they don't like. Happily as teens and young adults, they make their own food and have a well rounded diet.

All kids go through a phase around 3-4 when they re much less willing to try new foods. But, this is why it’s good to just avoid lots of crap before that age and focus on getting them a solid base of preferred foods. My 3 and 5 yo kids are now in the picky” stage and the same salmon dish they ate a year ago, they now tell me is DISGUSTING. But they eat plenty of good foods so I can always include enough other things on the plate that they’re getting a good meal. Eg last night I knew we were having salmon so I let the kids snack on cashews and apple slices while I cooked. They then ate white rice, green beans, and a minute quantity of salmon dipped in barbecue sauce. Between the pre-dinner and the actual dinner they ate fine.

The other thing I’ve noticed is they don’t have a consistent protein intake - some nights they will eat more chicken/beef than me and other nights they don’t touch it, and I don’t let it drive me crazy.

Anyway, it helps in these moments that they aren’t just asking me for crackers and whatnot.

Yes, I did the whole "puree whatever I'm eating" thing, and (probably coincidentally) my DC is a non-picky eater.

I probably would not have done that if I had been working but I was a SAHM with nothing to do (COVID). Middle ground of some homemade stuff, some pouches is probably fine

OP, of course you can offer non packaged foods like sliced apples, banana, cheese, whatever. I have a kid who was young enough for pouches and puffs but those weren't around for my olders. Dry cheerios were a favorite snack for them on the go, but also fruit.

I typically offered my dc whatever we were having and served a variety of foods , with no pressure-they are all well rounded eaters. Little ones can be picky and that's ok-seems like around age 8 or so, they expand their palates.

Just want to chime in: I was so careful about what my kids ate when they were little, to the point of making my own baby food. I was fairly over the top. They STILL went through a picky eating phase. People like what they like and don't like what they don't like. Happily as teens and young adults, they make their own food and have a well rounded diet.

Yes. My kids never ate the pouches even when I offered them.

As a mom of 3 teens, I’d love to say you’re being sanctimonious, but honestly it’s no secret now that processed foods are bad for kids (and everyone). We didn’t know better when my kids were little, but the data now is overwhelming. Keep them away from that crap. And ignore people who try to make you feel bad because of their own insecurities. I’m fighting the battle now with my older kids re: fast food and crap they buy themselves. My inability to control it doesn’t make it good for them. Stand your ground

Yes you can skip them. Crackers and cereals in particular are of no value and we never did them. Most bars have crap ingredients. But I have no problem with fruit pouches. Particularly applesauce pouches - they are just puréed fruit and are super easy on the go. We also did cut up larabars once they are a little older and can chew them properly. It’s easy to eat well at home but it good to have a few non-crap options for day trips, etc.

My kids are 10, 7, and 5, and I didn't really start any pre-packaged snacks until this past summer when we were doing a kitchen renovation and ate a lot of granola bars and cereal bars. Once I started, it was hard to give them up even once we had our kitchen back. (There's a reason they call them convenience foods!) I still refuse to do string cheese and squeezy yogurts--I just can't stand the packaging.

We have always done a **lot** of fruit for snacks--bananas, apples, and oranges are all very portable. But we also just don't snack all that much. I never know whether to feel smug or inadequate when we are at the playground or a soccer game and all the other moms pull one snack after another out of their bags, and I just shrug at my kids. My oldest and youngest are fine not snacking. My middle kid would be happier in a snack family, so I've tried to adjust a bit for him.

I find puffs, pouches and bars gross and never bought them. Ever. For some reason my brain is fine with graham crackers, gold fish and animal crackers, but I didn’t think about those until age 3 or 4. So I’m not health food snob but some of the processed stuff is just so gross