Fussy Eaters (merged)

jackie_w

Hello Clare,

Ive not read all the responces so sorry if this has already been said.

They will definetly eat when they are hungry.

My oldest boy was a terrible eater when he was younger really bad, and the advice I was given by my doctor and health visitor was, leave him be, he will eat when he is hungry, and eventually he did.

I would put out his meals for him, if he didnt eat them they would be taken away after about half an hour. if he said he was hungry I would tell him he could have toast, or fruit or a yogurt (but only one thing), if he asked for anything else after this, he was told no. he was told he would get something else to eat after his next meal (hope im explaining this right), eventually he started eating all his meals, and then I had to increase them.

Hes now 12, a big lanky so and so and im happily to say he eats like a horse. My youngest boy who is 4 is being a bit fussy with his food, and I just do the exact same thing as I did with my oldest.

I know you will be worried about it, theres no point in me saying dont worry cos its what you do, your a mum, , but it will get better. If they are hungry and a meal is put down to them then they will eat it.

Whatever you do dont give them a treat as in sweets or anything until they have eaten a full meal. Oh and also, dont give them milk between meals incase this is filling them up, only give them fruit/diluting juice or water. dont given them large plates, give them small quantities of food to start with.


Jackie xx

clare1076

Little bit of a break through with ds this morning he had a boiled egg with soldiers for breakfast and then asked if he could have some chocolate i said he couldn't have chocolate at breakfast time and he could have some toast and he asked for 2 pancakes which he ate woohoo, i think this maybe down to the fact he never ate last nights meal but he actually ate a proper breakfast this morning. My ds on the other hand was sick this morning and only had a yoghurt but again a big improvement for her. So my next challenge is tea time tonight wish me luck, lol.

Ink_Queen

My DD went through a really fussy stage for a few months. We found that getting her involved with cooking really helped as she felt that she was part of the decision process. However, the big breakthrough for us was when we started putting meals out in serving dishes and allowing her to help herself to what she wanted - but she did have to taste a little amount of everything. Within a couple of days she was having 2 or 3 helpings and eating much more that before.

chester19760

wow loads of advice here thanks, my DS is 6 and eats sparrow portions he refuses fruit/veg but winds his mam up something cronic as he'll not eat his dinner but in the next breath ask for sweets. She is about ready to give in and give him sweets but reading this Im going to tell her to persevere. He does have bundles of energy yes he looks like a sparrow but his uncle and grandad were both the same and they are fine now.
Will do the small portions and I think he is what you call a grazer will happily eat cheese strings etc all day but his main meals are breakfast 3 bowls of cereal and supper so at least I know he's going off to school with a full stomach.
Thanks for all the advice

Shandella

Hi all, this topic was covered in Jo Frost's new programme last week. The little girl would only eat sweets, already had 9 fillings at the age of 6 and had ended up in hospital due to lack of food and water.

The mum in the end was literally forcing food into her daughter's mouth and forcing her to eat it, it was a nightmare.

Jo comes along, and say's absolutely no ssweets and no snacking in between meals. Her dinner is put in front of her and she has half an hour to eat it, the mum was told not to fuss over her or encourage her to eat, basically ignore her. After half an hour she could leave the table, if her plate wasn't empty or she had only taken a couple of mouthfuls it was left on the side for another half an hour for her to come back and finish it if she liked, after that it was put in the bin and she went to bed hungry. It worked, as soon as the mum backed off and stopped fussing she began to eat - it was almost like attention seeking.

My first son was a terrible eater as well and the more i fussed the less he would eat, of course i fussed even more cos i thought he would starve or not grow properly. It became a vicious circle with him and me nearly in tears at the end of each meal. In the end I backed off as it clearly wasn't doing us any favours. He is much better with meals now, but i just have to accept that sometimes he will eat like a horse and another day eat like a sparrow!!

I think Jo is marvellous - I have a couple of her books and she just talks so much sense.

at_my_wits_end

Hi,

I am after some advice about my 2.5 year old Daughter, basically she is an extremely fussy eater and I am fed up with it, and want to try and change it.

I have 2 other Children (Boys) who have big appetites and will eat most things (especially traditional dinners - Cottage Pie, Meat & Potato Pie, Stew, Roast Dinners etc) In fact those 2 eat me out of house and home

I can't even think of 1 meal that she 'likes'. She will eat most Cereals for Breakfast, Lunch is a Sandwich (meat, cheese or cheese spread) which she will usually eat, it's the evening meals that she doesn't like. If I give her the same as everyone else she will keep saying she doesn't like it and make silly noises to show her disgust, she will then remove most things off her plate and put them on the table. The only thing she will eat in the evening is plain meat (if there is any kind of sauce or gravy on it she won't eat it), she likes chips too, but obviously we don't have those everyday, the only other thing she will sometimes eat is a cheese Omlette.

I will admit that I have probably been to soft on her (by giving her snacks such as Babybel Cheeses, Yoghurts etc in the day) and I will hold my hands up to letting her have a pudding too when she hasn't eaten her dinner.

I can't think of any vegetables she likes, she did go through a very short phase of liking raw carrot sticks, but doesn't like them now. She does like grapes and apples, but that is about her limit fruit wise.

Should I try a get tough approach and not give her any snacks in the daytime, plus no pudding if she leaves her dinner. It sounds easy in theory........she will eat when she is hungry right?

Help pleaseeeeee!

dizzybuff

Theres no easy way in sayi g this , I too had a fussy eater , but I was tough , he started not eating stuff and went to bed hungry . Veg is a no no with him but there is a rule he must try one. Hes getting better it takes time. If she doesnt try it , dont substitute. I know its hard , but she will get the point .

tanith

My own son and one of my grandsons lived on cereal for years when they were younger so if thats the only thing she'll eat happily just give it to her.... I agree you should try the tough love if she doesn't eat her meal then she gets no pud . My gp told me not to worry about it and that my son wouldn't starve so I just let him eat cereal, now he's a big grown man he eats anything and everything and is a fit and very healthy 31yr old... The more attention she gets by refusing things the more she is going to do it..

kafkathecat

It probably doesn't help but I know many children fussier than that. At 2.5 I was cooking separate evening meals for my ds who was very fussy and leaving it on the table if it wasn't eaten, now at 12 he eats almost anything, so much that it is often commented on by friends. But I had/ have very few treats in the house and rarely have dessert so if he was hungry it had to be healthy food and food always tastes better if you are hungry. The only other thing I did was give him a salad if he was hungry before tea was ready.

newcook

I have no kids of my own so I cant comment personally but my friends all have kids.

The usual gist is that if they don’t eat the majority of their dinner they don’t get pudding (if they have room for pudding, they have room for their dinner)
They also eat at the table together – and sit and wait for everyone else to finish. If they don’t want their dinner they still have to sit there – however, naughty behaviour such as putting dinner on the table gets them moved to the naughty step so everyone elses dinner isn’t interrupted.

My mom tells me I went through a stage of only eating jam sandwiches (I was about 3 ½ and this went on for about 2 months!) however, I eat pretty much anything these days.
If DD will only eat cereal then give her cereal. If she changes her mind after she has been given it then tough!!