Should I feed DD?!

gers1976

Hi your post caught my eye as I too have a fussy eater. I have 3 boys 2 who will eat anything and everything except chips and the other who eats very little.

My ds who is 14 and the fussy eater was my best eater until the age of 2, he then took a really bad sickness bug and has never eaten the same again.

He lives of totally rubbish food imo but it`s all he will eat his list of eat items are:

chips
pizza
lorne sausage
frozen chicken burgers or fingers
he...z tomato soup
he...z spaghetti bologneise

thats it and the 1st 4 on the list are all smothered in ketchup

he has been to see doctors and specialists but they say nothing is wrong with him and just to feed him what he will eat.

We have tried all different things to try get him to eat other food he just won`t do it if you put something on a plate for him to try he will smell it like your trying to poison him :eek: . We have done the don`t give him anything he likes till he tries something new but he never ate for 11 days , then i decided i would just give him what i know he will eat.

I now just make home cooked meals for me hubby and other 2 and ds2 will have 1 of the above, my younger sister was exactly the same and then she hit 17 and started trying more food and now eats everything except mushrooms. Hopefully ds2 will try more foods as he gets older but until then he lives on rubbish .

Hopefully you can get your bambino to eat op but i know how difficult it is.

Fang_3

I'm surprised that children didn't die of malnutrition in the days when children got what they were given.

CRANKY40

Fang wrote: »

I'm surprised that children didn't die of malnutrition in the days when children got what they were given.

The days when as my sister reminds me we sat for a very long time looking at a plate of curried mince on a regular basis :rotfl:

Definitely not one of dad's successes!

mikey72

gers1976 wrote: »

Hi your post caught my eye as I too have a fussy eater. I have 3 boys 2 who will eat anything and everything except chips and the other who eats very little.

My ds who is 14 and the fussy eater was my best eater until the age of 2, he then took a really bad sickness bug and has never eaten the same again.

He lives of totally rubbish food imo but it`s all he will eat his list of eat items are:

chips
pizza
lorne sausage
frozen chicken burgers or fingers
he...z tomato soup
he...z spaghetti bologneise

thats it and the 1st 4 on the list are all smothered in ketchup

he has been to see doctors and specialists but they say nothing is wrong with him and just to feed him what he will eat.

We have tried all different things to try get him to eat other food he just won`t do it if you put something on a plate for him to try he will smell it like your trying to poison him :eek: . We have done the don`t give him anything he likes till he tries something new but he never ate for 11 days , then i decided i would just give him what i know he will eat.

I now just make home cooked meals for me hubby and other 2 and ds2 will have 1 of the above, my younger sister was exactly the same and then she hit 17 and started trying more food and now eats everything except mushrooms. Hopefully ds2 will try more foods as he gets older but until then he lives on rubbish .

Hopefully you can get your bambino to eat op but i know how difficult it is.

11 days is a long time. Must have been even longer for you though.
It's not all rubbish food.
I've got one that would have lived on ketchup with a straw probably if we had let her as well.

Have you tried homemade battered chicken fillet, at least you know the meat in it, rather than burgers, and again homemade lorne sausage, eventually adding a bit of blended veg to it.
Same with the pizza, homemde base with pureed veg in the tomato sauce? Homemade bases with a bit of wholegrain flour?

raggydoll_2

I haven't read this whole thread so apologies if i'm repeating anything but thought i'd add my thoughts.

I was one of the fussy child eaters. I lived on jam sandwiches and chicken nuggets for quite a substantial part of my childhood. My parents were very worried and frustrated. Repeated trips to the Dr's got the same response as others have said here "Let her eat what she wants". I now have a terrible relationship with food. Hate having to eat new things or things i think i don't like. I am suspicious of meals prepared by other people incase things i don't like are hidden in them. I eat far to much sweet and sugary things.

I am now weaning my daughter who is 6 1/2 months old and have given a lot of thought to how i do this to avoid her going the same way as me. Time will tell if my methods work but here's what i'm planning incase any of it can help.

1. We are using the baby led weaning route. This means that while i choose the selection of foods avaliable my daughter can choose what she eats, how much and when. If she decided to eat lots of only one thing for a meal, a day, or a week, thats fine. I will trust her to get what she needs from her food. She feeds herself, she is in control of what goes in her mouth.

2. She receives no praise for eating her food and likewise no critisism for not doing. She isn't 'good' if she eats it or 'bad' if she doesn't.

3. Food is NEVER used as a reward. So no "you can have your pudding if you eat your dinner" If she wants to leave a bit of dinner to save room for pudding thats fine. If she wants to eat pudding with main thats fine. If she wants to eat pudding and come back to main thats fine. Pudding if its there is just part of the meal. Its up to me not to offer chocolate cake every day. No "if your a good girl you can have sweets" and no sweets to 'cheer her up'.

4. Meals are a social occasion. We sit down as a family, talk about our day etc. The focus is not on what we are eating but about the occasion.

5. She eats in her own time. If she wants to take 2 mins or 2 hours thats fine. She's not encouraged to have "one more mouthful" and likewise we dont start clearing up around her.

6. Playing with your food and making a mess is not a bad thing it is exploring learning and having fun with food.

7. She is involved with the buying and preparing of the food too.

8. Treats are not off limits. She can have biscuits and chocolate etc if its there and she wants it.

The important thing about all of this is that it is up to us to give her the opportunity to eat a wide range of healthy and nutritious food and for us to lead by example.

In you situation i would be inclined to reduce the pressure on her and reduce the focus on food. I wold only ever try new foods when i decided i was ready which was usually very randomly. I would keep offering her a wide range of healthy foods at each meal. No pressure to eat them but there if she wants them. If she only wants familiar foods provided they are healthy give them to her but make sure there are other things avaliable and that you are eating them with her. If she only wants unhealthy foods make them less avaliable and try to find healthier alternatives (but remember i high fat diet is normal at the age its sugar and salt that is the problem. If she's hungry later offer her a choice of healthy snacks. Most important of all make meal times relaxed and fun so that she wants to share them with you.

Re the icecream, in your situation i would have offered her some alternatives to choose from as well and given her whatever she chose with no fuss, no comment, no biggie.

Just my thoughts and opinions on what i would do...good luck with what i appreciate is a very frustrating situation for any parent.

hngrymummy

We were always encouraged to try new things and to finish what was on our plate, especially it we'd added ketchup or vinegar etc. When we got to about 5 were were allowed a list of 5 things that we didn't like (I guess the theory being that by 5 we would know that we didn't like something rather than just being afraid to try it). If it was on our list and on our plate we didn't have to eat it.

I was made to clear my plate, and I have a perfectly healthy relationship with food. It also means that I am able go to other people's houses and eat what is put in front of me, even if I don't like it. A good skill to have to avoid upsetting people who have worked hard to make you lentil and butterbean bake (yuk).

Keep persevereing OP, you'll have ups and downs, but you will get there in the end (then they'll go to uni and live off supernoodles for 3 years!).

Indie_Kid

hngrymummy wrote: »

(then they'll go to uni and live off supernoodles for 3 years!).

I lived with someone at uni who actually did this!:rotfl:

angelicmary85

Fang wrote: »

I'm surprised that children didn't die of malnutrition in the days when children got what they were given.

The nutritional values of the food isn't that huge a concern for me as she's on vitamins but I'm frustrated that she won't eat what she's given, regardless of the nutritional content.

angelicmary85

raggydoll wrote: »

I 3. Food is NEVER used as a reward. So no "you can have your pudding if you eat your dinner" If she wants to leave a bit of dinner to save room for pudding thats fine. If she wants to eat pudding with main thats fine. If she wants to eat pudding and come back to main thats fine. Pudding if its there is just part of the meal. Its up to me not to offer chocolate cake every day. No "if your a good girl you can have sweets" and no sweets to 'cheer her up'.

Have you got older children?

I'm just asking because it's quite difficult to say to a a few buttons here and there to reward children for good behaviour.

Although you're post was gratefully received, I think you are either going to be seen as being very 'harsh' parent or you won't be as strict as you think!

EmmaKay_2

Hi, I can totally understand your situation. I have 3 kids under 7:eek:.
The oldest has severe food allergies and the youngsest has mild food allergies so we have to watch what we buy.
My youngest is 3 next month and went through a stage of being very fussy. From the age of 2 she would only eat tomatoes or dry cereal (shes allergic to milk). I had the screaming matches on the floor, avoided going out to eat etc. Then about christmas time I was making scones and decided to ask her to help. She happily mixed the things in and tried to count spoonfuls and when I turned round she had a raisin in her mouth. I didnt say anything (think I was in shock) anyway she wouldnt try the scones, but the next day I got her to make sandwiches for lunch and caught her licking the butter off her fingers. Gradually over the next few weeks I realised that if she got to touch the stuff and make thing, giving her a job then she tried things without being asked. If I made a fuss she wouldnt touch it. She now has a much more varied diet and already puts in requests for dinner. She chooses 1 nights dinner as long as she eats the dinners on other nights. We have a box with supermarket recipe cards and things cut out of magazines that she chooses from.

I was so proud last week when we took her strawberry picking for the first time and she came back dripping in strawberry juice.

I know it is hard but this wont last forever.
((HUGS))
Emma