Fussy Eaters (merged)

Pinklepurr

I can sympathise with the OP. My daughter was BF, weaned on a wide range of home-made baby food and initially had a varied diet (just in the same was as her older brother). Around the age of about 2 she gradually started to refuse foods she had previously liked and her diet has become much less varied. We've tried everything - from sitting for hours at the dinner table encouraging her to eat some of her dinner, to ignoring her fussiness with food, sticker charts, getting her in the kitchen to help prepare meals etc etc. None of these with any success.

I took her to the GP and HV and both said that as long as she is eating something then not to worry if she's fussy.

She's 9 now and it is still a struggle. We've stopped battling and gently encourage her to try new things. Recently she has discovered peaches and pears and that's a big achievement in our household! Until recently she only liked apples and strawberries! So, it is very very small steps. Hopefully, over the coming years, with physical and emotional maturity, along with lots of encouragement from me as well, she will be able to enjoy a wide and varied diet again.

I wish you lots of luck with your daughter too.

skipsmum

DS is an extremely fussy eater, and several times he has starved himself into hospital. Its really stressful having a child that doesnt eat.
Eventually DS was diagnosed with crohns disease and mild cerebral palsy. He cant move food around his mouth properly because his tongue can't push across his palate. This means he can't eat anything soft. Apparently lots of smaller children can't do this but they usually grow out of it.
Acid foods give him horrible reflux and sickness, and fibre blocks his bowels.
The only things he can eat comfortably are foods that have been processed already...white bread, mince, dry crackers, ham. These are all easier for his body to break down. He is small for his age and very skinny.

We have tried everything to improve DSs eating, we have had dieticians, psychologist, flaming rows, stickers, presents, everything. We are resigned now to cooking one meal for the rest of us and giving DS a plate of chopped toast and ham and an ensure milkshake. The stress and feeling of failure when your child won't eat is horrible, and it stops us eating out or going away if we don't know exactly what is there.

GobbledyGook

I know I'm coming to this late and I hope all is going well, but thought I'd add in a tip given to me by my HV that proved invaluable.

My eldest was a mega fussy eater, but if I put the bowls on the table and we all served ourselves (especially if we made a biggish deal about "Ooh look I'm going to have a bigger spoonful of "something she likes" than the minces/casserole") then she felt much more in control and eat loads more.

It was a bit of a pain at first as we used small spoons (the spooning to the plate was a big deal to her - made her feel like a big girl) so she got to see us having 'extra' of some things.

We still eat the majority of our meals like that and the ones we don't I allow my girls to see being dished up. It has helped me work out what things they are just saying they don't like and the things that they genuinely don't.

Benson

I know this has probably been done so many times before but i really could do with a bit of advice.

Ive mentioned previously that my little boy doesn't eat well, he will eat any fruit, fish fingers, chicken fingers sausages and chips (as well as all the junk food lists you could name if he had the option!)

At first everyone said well he eats a lot of fruit so thats good and he will start to eat over time but he hasn't, i anything its getting worse and I just haven't got a clue what to do.

He is at preschool during the mornings and then my mum has him from 11.30 till I finish work so gives him dinner and tea but my parents feel that they can't do right from wrong at the moment.

I ask them to give him a wide variety of food but he refuses it and won't eat anything so they end up giving him the same food daily which obviously doesn't help but as they point out he has to eat.

I know they are really doing wonders with my son, he is very bright as they teach him lots of things, take him out all over the place etc

But he has started to look quite overweight and it worries me a) for his health that he won't eat a balanced diet and b) that he will get bullied when he starts school and c) he won't be able to take part in physical activities. His cousins can already run circles round him and it upsets me so much! (Another problem is that my H doesn't see the problem and thinks im just being an overprotective and nagging mother!). He is also getting quite ratty/stroppy and im wondering if this is also to do with his diet - he used to be such a laughing sweet little child.

Ive said that Im going to start planning a weeks meals for my parents and my H parents for when they have him as they just give him chips!
But how do you work out what kind of food he will at least try? Last night night I put a plate in front of him and he point blank refused got so worked up and after 3 hours he went hungry.

Does anyone have a list of easy lunch time food that their children happily eat that I can try to make and put in front of him?

Ive tried sandwiches, ham, cheese, jam
Cheese on toast
Omlette/scramble egg
baked potato
shepherds pie
spaghetti
Beans on toast
pasta
veg sticks
malt loaf

Any other suggestions i can try?????

Indie_Kid

Are you giving him the choice of what he wants to eat? So, instead of just giving him cheese on toast, are you giving him the option of cheese on toast or a jam sandwich?

gonzo127

you havent said how old he is however at preschool so guessing between 3-5 if this is the case have you tried a taste test game

pick out some foods you would like him to try and some of the foods he likes or you think he would like (probably more junky food) then spend the afternoon cooking them with him
then make a game where he is blind folded and you feed him some of the foods and he has to guess which one it is - with a prize of a bar of chocolate or packet of sweeties if he gets 50-70% correct

sleepystar1975

Have you tried getting him involved in meal preparation? I'm not talking of letting him loose with carving knives and gas hobs, but things like stirring the pots, podding peas, buttering bread, chopping softer foods with a dinner knife?
Even things like letting them make a sugar-free angel delight all by themselves (ok, so this is a "treat", but once every now and then isn't going over the top!)
Also, I had my little girl make pizzas with me, allowing her to spread the tomato paste, chose toppings from a bowl, sprinkling the cheese.

My little girl (now 5) went through a horribly fussy stage, and this is how we got through it. She now has her own patch in the garden, where she grows her own veggies too. So it's her "job" to choose the veg for our dinners, and off she trots with her bowl, to pick out what she fancies, and she helps to prepare it.

She feels very "important" being allowed to make these choices, and n letting her help, you can see her twitching with anticipation of everyones reactions to "her" cooking (I tell folk she did it all, with only a little help from me)

choccybuttons

Hi

I also have a chip lover who eats a very narrow diet. I now make home made chips aka slimming world style which are much healthier and I dont mind him having as uses very little fat.

http://www.slimmingworld.com/healthy_eating/recipe_chips.asp

My OH looks after our wee one so I tend to batch make premade meals which I freeze so he can defrost for lunch which I make lower fat versions with extra hidden veggies.

lasagne
various home made soups
risotto
spag bol
chicken curry
casserole

Pasta is great, esp whomeal as you can make different sauces. I make a tom sauce with loads of veggies in it (blended) and freeze the sauce. Pesto is good too.

I also sometimes make h/m chicken nuggets with wholemeal flour to sneak some good stuff in

If he doesnt eat his lunch I give him a peice of fruit but he gets nothing else. In the evening if he doesnt eat he gets a yogurt and a bit of fruit as I dont want him to starve but I wont make another meal.

pinkshoes

Benson wrote: »

I ask them to give him a wide variety of food but he refuses it and won't eat anything so they end up giving him the same food daily which obviously doesn't help but as they point out he has to eat.

Actually, I disagree with the above.

He has to eat, but I think giving him the same foods every day is just rewarding him with what he wants when he's refused the alternative.

A hungry child will eat what they are given.

One of my twin cousins was a fussy eater, and it was "cured" by just feeding her a meal every day, and putting it down in front of her. No fuss, no comments if she didn't eat it etc... If she was difficult, she was just ignored, and her sister was praised lots for eating hers. It didn't take long before she started trying everything on her plate, with the exception of cucumber which she genuinely found icky!

He won't starve! If my cousin decided she was hungry later, her food would get re-heated!

Gefjun

I always had the same option as a child - one meal, only choice I had was eat it or leave it. Never caused me any harm.

I've seen something on Supernanny where the child barely ate anything; Jo Frost told them to eat together and if the child didn't eat, it was made clear to her that the food would be on the table for 30 minutes afterwards, and then there was nothing else. No bribery with pudding or sweets, child started eating a range of foods once she realised that mum meant business and she wasn't going to get the normal ice cream 'as a way of getting something inside her'. That's just a reward for not eating dinner IMHO.

Good luck!