Toddler fussy eating phase - what to do?

osian

My daughter is 2 years and 3 months and I think she is going through a fussy eating phase/ challenging boundaries phase.

Up until recently she was fairly ok with her eating and would try anything that you made for her and at least eat a few mouthfuls.

Nowadays she may eat an ok amount for breakfast and then come lunchtime will not even try any food (not even her favourites). I am getting frustrated and I don't know what to do next. Everything I make she says 'yuk' to and refuses to try. I'm sick of throwing food untouched in the bin and I'm worrying about how much she eats.

Has anyone else been through this with their toddler? What worked for you, or is it just a waiting game til they get over it.

pinkshoes

I'd say it's probably an attention thing rather than a food thing.

Don't get frustrated, don't make a fuss, and if she doesn't eat it, say nothing and tell her you'll leave it on the side in case she gets hungry later. I remember one of my cousins going through this, and she soon got bored of it!

somethingsgottogive

Unless somethings happened to put her off eating (such as a bug that's made her physically sick after food or painful to eat) it's probably just a new game to play! Has she recently started nursery/been around other children with fussy habits? I know my LO liked to copy her school friends at first!

Make a portion of something and serve her just 1/4 of it at first, then if she refuses you can put the rest in the fridge and try again later instead of having to throw it away.

Have you tried making food into faces/pictures etc Big Cook Little Cook style, or getting her to make (mix up ) her own food?

I'm sure that she'll eat when she's hungry, and as long as she's still drinking fluids and eating some food she'll be ok

Good luck not going crackers with frustration!

osian

Thanks both, she has got a cold at present, but this has been going on for at least a couple of weeks. She will snack on things like yogurt, raisins, grapes etc when she feels like it, but nothing substantial. She also has about 580ml of milk and drinks fluids.

It's hard not to hide my frustration. I think it is possibly a 'game' as today I gave her some food and tomato sauce as she loves to dip food into it, she doesn't touch the food, but licks tomato sauce off her fingers.

I'll have to try doing some 'entertaining' things with foods. Today I cut up some red pepper and cucumber and told her they were like red and green jewels, but that didn't work. I may try and cut her sandwiches up with a cookie cutter for fun.

osian

Oh and I've done the same speech as my mother on 'the starving children of africa'. I never thought I would do that one, especially at age two!

pinkshoes

Try not to mention eating to her either. Chat to her about something else when she's eating, and at the end, just ask if she's finished. Still give her pudding if she doesn't eat her main course, as otherwise it's seen as a reward and implying the main course is the yucky food!!

barbiedoll

When kids get a cold, it can be brewing in their system for a couple of weeks before it finally comes out. Her sense of taste may be affected if she has a stuffy/runny nose.

Don't bother making a big fuss with pretty food and cookie cutters and the like, you will end up trying to make beans on toast look like something out of Heston's kitchen and she still won't eat it.

As others have said, try smaller portions, if she doesn't eat it, take it away and don't give her any sweets or treats until the next mealtime. Tell her, no treats until AFTER lunch/dinner/tea. Don't make a big deal of it, just say something like, "Oh, aren't you hungry? Never mind, I'm sure you will be by teatime" and leave it at that. And don't speak about it in front of her, if she knows it is an issue for you, she will use it as an attention seeking weapon!
Don't panic, a lot of kids lose their appetite for a while, it's extremely rare for kids to starve themselves!

wannabeasupersaver

My LO is just a couple of months older than your daughter and I think its definately a phase they go through. I know how it is to be frustated by it all especially when they dont eat something youve slaved over and the waste of money and food. He is starting to eat more a bit some days now but its swings and roundabouts. Ive become mean mummy now. If its something I KNOW he likes he gets what is offered and if he doesn't eat it- then tough! He gets nothing more until the next planned meal or snack. When I fussed over his food and exchanged it, gave in to him at his request it got worse and worse. He's not going to starve himself if he chooses to not eat a few meals (obviously keep an eye on this but health visitors will tell you the same that majority of children will eat when hungry) I only give him a small portion on his plate now so if it turns into a meal where he doesn't want to eat Im not throwing much away and if he is hungry he can always ask for some more which he does. Also Ive found I have to monitor how much he's drinking as I think that sometimes he's using liquid in place of food and has become too full from that. Just keep at it. I think at this age they have learned the power of the word NO and they're not afraid to use it.;)

freda

My theory is:

- always have a plan as to how much food is on offer. For example, we have sandwiches & veg, yoghurt then jaffa cake for lunch.

- don't worry how much she eats of each course, just take it away when she's finished and give her the next bit.

- don't do the 'eat up all your food or no pudding' as, to me, that has negative connotations. Firstly, it encourages over eating even if you don't feel hungry. Second, it uses food as a reward which I don't think is a good habit to have.

- Regarding the 'yuck' thing, I just tell my two (2 and 3) that we don't say 'yuck' about food. They get one chance to say yuck, when I say 'well, if you say yuck about it then you can't like it? If you say it again, I'll think you don't like it and it will have to go in the bin' You DO have to follow through with this though - but just once will teach them the lesson in my experience.

- Personally, I don't do the thing of leaving the leftovers for later. We have set meal and snack times, and don't eat outwith those times. To me, this encourages a good pattern of building up an appetite and eating a decent amount as a result.

- Do do fun things like give the food a voice. Our broccolli says 'eat me, eat me!', our carrots are counted like soldiers on parade, our cucumber circles are moons that turn into half moons with a bite. We sing songs like 'DD's eating her carrots, her carrots, her carrots' to the tune of the muffin man, or 'chick chick chick chick chicken, lay a little egg for me, chick chick chick chick chicken, I'm going to eat you with gravy'...!

- Don't over do the snacks - sounds like maybe she has free access to snacks? She'll not build up an appetite like this.

- Similarly with milk. We only have milk at lunch as although it is very nutritious, it is very filling.

- By all means make a face out of veg every now and then. But I draw the line at cookie cutter sandwiches (lots of hassle and waste) and faffing around for longer than necessary. If a kid will only eat dinosaur chicken nuggets and star shaped sandwiches, they'll struggle when it comes to real life.

Hope this helps.

osian

Thanks all. She has formula milk morning and night time- perhaps this is too filling - when have others dropped the morning and evening milk?

She doesn't have free access to snacks as they are in cupboards and fridges but I'll normally give her a snack mid morning and mid afternoon (fruit and yogurt), which she'll usually eat if she feels like it. Sometimes she will see me opening the fridge and know there are yogurts there and ask me for one and I don't usually refuse - maybe I should cut out snacks, but I'm glad she eats them as there is more fruit in her diet and I can see she is eating something.

I was a very fussy eater as a child too (not really now) and although I was very healthy, I don't want her to follow in my fussiness.

Kimberley82

mine stopped having formula at one, but had cows milk after that