What is it with toddlers wanting to eat only white foods? White bread, white pasta, white cheese… I am beyond frustrated that my 3-year-old son who once ate myriad foods now refuses anything that isn't a white carbohydrate.

Well, that's not entirely true - he does eat yogurt, fruit and cereal. But a child can't possibly be as healthy as can be with a diet consisting of only five or six foods.

Green vegetables have always been an issue, but at least he used to eat things I could hide them in - mashed potatoes, rice, etc. Now he won't even eat those foods, so I'm just completely out of ideas.

I think it has something to do with the texture and look of something. My son eats pizza, which has sauce, but he won't eat pasta with the same sauce. And he loves pasta, but only bow-tie pasta. Give him spaghetti, and he has a meltdown. The exception is macaroni and cheese. He'll eat that no matter the shape of the pasta.

I recently tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but he didn't like the way it looked and wouldn't even touch it. I got him to eat some of it by tearing it up into pieces and hand-feeding him like I did when he was a baby. Every meal is like this. I have to chase him around with a bite of food because he refuses to eat it on his own. Sometimes he'll agree to take a bite of something but then chew it up and spit it out (usually with meat).

My pediatrician says to serve him his food and give no other options as to not create a monster. If he doesn't eat, then he goes to bed hungry. But it's hard for me to send him to bed hungry and say no to that sad little face when he asks for something else. I don't know if it's a control thing on his behalf or if he genuinely doesn't yet understand why he doesn't get the food he wants.

So what is a frustrated mother to do? Send him to bed hungry every night, send him to timeout, take away his favorite toy or give in and hope one day he outgrows his picky phase?