Parents of Preschoolers  Discussion Forum

hi there,
urgent help required.
my child is 19 months old and still eats only khicdi(rice and pulses) in a pureed form 3 times a day. plz suggest some other pureed foods to change taste and nutritious too. he sems to be bored of khichdi but not ready to take anything else also. now days only coconut water thrice and some milk only while sleeping.
PLZ HELP
Vasudha replied. Dear sucheta
Does your child suck his thumb..that could fill his hungert. Are u giving him lot of milk..milk is awhole food for kids and could also stop eating. Are u giving stuff like cheese and fat items..these also dont make children hungry.
Try giving him 2 pieces of garlic..garlic is an apetiser. And gie him food only when he cries...
try to distract him by allowing him to sit and do what he wants. when they are distracted, it is easier to feed them.

Most of all, keep him on your lap or beside you when u east. In that way, they will develop interest to eat. I hope these things will help you.

Good luck gayathri replied. My DD who is 19 month old now, i used to offer macroni indian style ie i add tomato , carrot and peas with slight chilli and salt .. another day i used to add with spinach or brocolli which will give some other taste .. i also used to give smashed sweet potato with cheese or normal white potato with either fruits or veggies ..why dont you give some coen flakes dipped in milk for morning breakfast ...


hope this has helped you to some extent ...i also live in NEWJERSEY USA

gaytahri mom to mom replied. FYI:
1. my typing is pathettic.
2. my name is not micole. its just for use on the the internet. its cute. i like it. micole replied. I understand how you must feel. sending you lots of hugs, patience and strength to live thru this.

are you vegetarian ?

This is what has worked with my daughter:
1. Add some texture to the food. make semi solid khichdi instead of pureed one. get the child used to diff. textures.
2. change some spices - like only haldi and namak on one day, haldi, black pepper, salt on another and garam masaala on another day.
3. give steamed vegetables with tomato ketchup.
4. when all else fails i have to distract my daughter with TV and feed her.
5. my daughter is also scared of the vacuum cleaner. so I tell her that I will turn on the vaccum cleaner if she doesn't eat.
not my favorite methods to get her to eat, but I can't live with her not eatign anything.

its very important to remmeber not to make it into a power struggle (I have to keep reminding myself whenever I loose my cool). kids want to see how far you will go to feed them. so they will tset you. so remain calm as if it is no big deal.
offer diff things. keep offering. one day they will eat it.
offer fruits. frujits had good nutrition. they have fiber. and kids love to eat them.
liek others said, give pediasure/complan/Boost. whateer u can find. we mix it with milk for our daughter. Simi replied. Hi Sucheta,
Cheerios is a whole grain oat cereal.
Normally they put it in milk & eat it like regular cereal.It looks very interesting (a circle with hole in the center, like an 'O')So kids like to atleast pick it up & play.
You check at the cheerios website.
That is supposed to be really nutritious & good in vitamins & fiber also.Like crackers you can give it the entire day like a snack.
Pediasure is like any health drink (like horlicks or complan).We can give from 1 year of age.
I live in US(East coast).Pediasure is available here in diffrent flavours like orange-cream,strawberry etc.,
After I started giving it to my boy ( he is little bit on the thinner side!!) I thought he has put on some weight!.Also I dont give it everyday, on those days when he is cranky or extremely playfull & did not eat anything properly the entire day, then I give him 8 oz of Pediasure in the evening.
Usually Pediatricians do not recommend Pediasure to babies who are already heavy or even normal,since it make the kids to put on lot of weight.
When I was talking to my friend at Chennai she said they do get it there also in powder form.So may be you find out if it is available somewhere in Bangalore too.
I am sure they must have it there.
Goodluck Sucheta Simi replied. Hi Sucheta,
Rice & kichdi for 3 times a day is good diet.Since he eats it, may be you should add some stuff to it,like a vegetable(carrot for example) nicely pureed & see what he does.
& they say Pediasure is really good.I have a 15 month old(boy) I give him Pediasure occasionaly. He loves it.
& where do you live.If you can get him to eat cheerios cereal,(since it looks interesting with a hole in the center etc., my son likes to play with it.so when i imitate as if Iam eating it, he repeats me & puts it in his mouth!)
It is said that all that he needs in his diet is in cheerios.
If he does not take milk try to give him cheese and yogurt(you would have tried all this!!)
Goodluck simi replied. Hi Sucheta,
May be you should try giving him Ragi 'kanji'(like soup).Find out whether he likes it with salt or with sugar.It is supposed to be very healthy, nutritious & tasty too.Good luck!
Simi