Ok, so I admit this is a bit of an exaggeration, but Aidan has officially entered the picky toddler stage with food. Nothing special, right? Every parent goes through this. Well…not exactly. See there are lots of questions in my mind and an imaginary tightrope to walk with Aidan and this food thing.
Being born at 28 weeks and 1.5 lbs with a ventilator shoved down your throat doesn’t do much for feeling good about what gets put in your mouth. This being said, Aidan was having a hard time when we first started solids well over a year ago. We noticed it right away and got him into feeding therapy. I was shocked at how much progress he made so quickly, and in the end he only spent 3 months in feeding therapy once a week.
We had him eating some new things such as chicken nuggets, pizza, grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, lots of crunchy snacks….even eggs.
He is starting to get fairly proficient at spoon feeding and has been good at finger feeding for a long time. He drinks enough milk (about 20-24 oz a day).
So why the post? It seems like his food likes are narrowing. He would probably eat macaroni and cheese for every meal if I let him. I tried eggs today (which he has been refusing for a while) and no luck. In fact, even a gag. Ugh. He will eat some of the most unexpected things at times though, such as salsa and cheese/sausage stuffed pasta shells with marinara. I add a lot of spices to this dish and it has sausage in it, which is usually a no go. Not sure why this is a hit, but I’ll take it.
I worry where the right side is on this as a parent. You see, I’m having a hard time deciding if this is a lingering feeding issue that needs to be dealt with or we are seeing a picky toddler. I have had lots of people tell me to give him some of whatever we are eating and if he doesn’t want it, he goes hungry. This seems harsh to me, especially when you are talking about a child that had feeding issues for a while. Or do I continue to try, but fall back on what I know he will eat so that he gets his nutrition? The questioning of whether or not you are doing the right thing never seems to end as a parent.
Here is Aidan chowing down on his fave…mac and cheese.
Advice, fellow parents? 
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