Is my child eating too much of one thing?

Question

my son is 17 months old and at daycare he eats a variety of foods (so I'm told). I try to give him a variety of foods to try for dinner, and although he would eat about 4 spoon-fulls of each, the only thing he's really interested in eating for dinner is cream of wheat. How do I get him to eat more of the other types of food? I'm starting to wonder if he's really eating as much as he should at daycare. He doesn't seem like he's starving though, but I'm still uncertain. What are your thoughts? He weighs 24lbs, his birth weight was 4lbs 3oz (he was premature)

By the way, he eats breakfast and lunch at daycare, and during the weekends he seems to be quite a picky eater (not that he won't eat anything, just not as much as I think he should...I mean 4 spoon-fulls per meal, come on)

Answer 1

He probably is picky at home because he knows he can get away with it, if he wants cream of wheat you give it to him. He's getting enough to eat I'm sure. If you offer other things but NOT cream of wheat for a few days he will get used to variety. Refuse to feed him cream of wheat. He wont starve, he'll just keep asking for food, and keep giving him other choices of food.

Answer 2

how about putting fresh fruit in the cereal. As long as you keep offering the foods theres not much you can do, my son who is 16 months only ate 3 bites of a banana and a bite of his mashed potatos yesterday, it happens as worrying as it is, they wont sleep or be happy if they are starving....

Answer 3

The whole "balanced diet" thing is way over-rated.  New parents already are anxious enough and nutrition experts heap this worry on top of it.

You son will eat what he wants to eat.  Do what you can to make other things tasty and attractive.  He'll go through a fish sticks phase, and a mac and cheese phase.  Maybe a fruit phase.  My nephew was into broccoli for about six months...  go figure...

Answer 4

I think it's the age, my nephew he is 2 1/2 and all he seems to want to eat is chicken nuggets my sister makes at the home.  He only eats few things, I think it's the age and also doctors always say when a child is hungry they will eat, just dont force it on him.