Getting 2 YO to eat veg

smileypigface

You are definitely not alone OP - I could have written your original post. I had a chat with my Health Visitor this week about my 2 year 1 month old son.

Up until last October my littlest lad would eat anything you put in front of him - he would try anything - he did have likes and dislikes but wasn't afraid to have at go at anything a few times before definitely deciding if he didn't like it.

Then he got a really heavy cold - which lasted on and off until about March - obviously not the same cold but it was one of those periods of time when it just felt like he had a continual runny nose and spells of coughs to go with it. (He was checked out regularly by the doctor during that time and it was most definitely just normal coughs and colds). This seemed to kill his appetite completely (understandably) and he lost his interest in eating generally.

During this time he also cut some back teeth and I think that knocked his enthusiasm to eat a wide range of foods too.

He now has a list, very similar to the OP's child, of food that he will eat. He will occasionally eat carrot batons and sweet potato sticks (baked in the oven) (notice the orange stick theme!!!) - but that's about it for veg at the moment, apart from the occasional new potato.

We put a very tiny bit of every food we have in our meal on his plate and make no comment - he can then have more of anything he chooses - we try and keep mealtimes more centred on sharing news and chatting around the table with the whole family and he sees everyone tucking in - so I'm hoping that he will get back to where he was before - although those days seem so far away now.

I feel he is making progress - albeit very very slowly - a couple of days ago he asked for some of his dad's breakfast boiled egg and ended up eating the whole thing - big celebrations in our house that day!!!!!!!

He has recently started nursery two mornings a week and has a mid morning snack and a two course freshly cooked hot lunch - he has eaten a few meals there but has also had several mornings where he hasn't eaten anything. I've told the nursery not to worry as he won't starve if he doesn't eat for two mornings a week (he has a breakfast at home before he goes) - I'm hoping that seeing all the other children eating will encourage him to join in - he really enjoys the social side of the meal experience!

We had a bit of a setback this week - MIL was staying and insisted on turning every mealtime into a theatrical performance of very loud "yum"ing and "mmmmm"ing at every mouthful of food she ate - of course my lad immediately worked out that he could increase this performance by not eating and boy did he work it!!!! I did nearly stab her hand with my fork when she started pushing his food towards him on his plate with her fork - needless to say the dog enjoyed clearing the floor at the end of the meal that day!!! Grrrrrr :mad:

Now MIL has gone home and we have a quiet week at home this week I'm planning on getting him more involved in cooking and playing with/handling different foods - see where that takes us.

So, no words of wisdom to offer I'm afraid- but just wanted to wish the OP well and let him know that he's definitely not alone and I'm watching this thread with interest to see any pearls of wisdom that I haven't thought of trying yet! My lad is the youngest of 4 and my 3 older kids eat anything you put in front of them (and always have done) so this one has me flummoxed!!

SqueekyMouse

Make-it-3 wrote: »

LotusEater, you say you have tried everything, how about now trying nothing?

I started out doing baby led weaning with my LO, and I'm a big advocate of it because I think the philosophy behind it is spot on.

My 17 month old is by no means one of those eat everything children, but the key is to be totally relaxed and trust that kids instinctively know what their bodies need. Look at the bigger picture, not what they eat at any given meal, or even over a day, but over the course of a week or longer. We all have phases or food cravings, why not kids?

I think what you have described he will eat is is a range of foods from different food groups. So maybe you need to accept he is eating a balance, for him

To help there are a few things I live by:

Always eat together and ensure there is a least something you know they will eat on the menu.

Relax, just eat your own food and let them eat theirs, or not as the case may be. Don't encourage, offer bribes or show any kind of pleasure or displeasure at what they are doing. If you offer healthy deserts let them eat them first if they want.

Don't resort to offering junk even if the list of things they will eat is very small.

Let them eat the portion size they want.

Keep experimenting, food comes and goes with seasons, try to include something new in your own meals on a weekly basis. Most of us aren't adventurous enough ourselves. This week I bought kiwi fruit for the first time (my LO also eats very little fruit and veg) thought she wouldn't be interested, but she loves them.

She also won't touch any red food, I agree maybe an instinctual protection thing about avoiding poisons, I offer her strawberries she bats them away, she then sees me chop and mix them into yoghurt and she's happy to eat them. We all have our own little foibles - I can't bear cabbage but will happily chow on coleslaw.

Lastly, after this essay, may I recommend a book called "My Child Won't Eat" by Carlos Gonzalez (I think it has just been reprinted) its not about tricks to get your child to eat but about understanding what their dietary needs really are and how not to make meals a battle zone.

Totally agree with everything you said, but then I'm a BLWing mum myself!

The thing to remember is that eating is normal so doesn't require any praise when they eat or negativity when they don't. If you remove that, you remove the stress for yourself and your child. Then you'll find there's all sorts of things you can chat about over a meal and have a happy, enjoyable experience. Then the actual eating will take care of itself...

green1970

I really would try not to beat yourself up about it, Lotus Eater. My nephew at 2 and a half has gone from eating just about every nutricious food going to perhaps half a dozen foods, none of them particularly nutricious. He was really poorly with a sickness bug a few months ago and lost a lot of weight and it's happened since then. Making an issue of it makes it worse. Children copy what they see so if you all eat the same meal together, it'll just become the norm eventually. He's still too young to understand why you want him to eat the things he doesn't want to eat - all you can do is what you're doing, make sure there's something you know he'll eat as part of your meal and just sit down and eat together. I think when my daughter was about 4, our rule that we explained was that foods should at least be tried, you never have to finish your plate but trying something on at least 3 separate occasion means your tastebuds can see whether they'll like it eventually. It became a bit of a game to see if you could eventually get your tastebuds to say 'yay' to something you were not too keen on before.

I remember her trying moules mariniere in France when she was 4 and she was adamant that she'd hate them as they looked like aliens. She only had one but then she had a whole bowlful the next night and loves them still. We still use the 'try it' thing on ourselves now as our tastebuds are constantly evolving and needing new flavours.

I went through my senior school on the same meal every single day - chips, mayonnaise, can of coke :-) yet I'm really adventurous now. However, I still remember being forced to eat peas, really traumatic experience and I still won't touch them now.

Sounds like he's getting enough calories if he has bundles of energy so I would try not to care so much - I know that's difficult when you're a foodie and trying to do your best for your children. At some stage, he'll enjoy your love of food, especially when he has a hand in the preparation. Until then, please don't worry as this stage is normal for most children to go through, sometimes for weeks, months or even years. It only gets worse the more you try to tackle it so just do what you gotta do to make your mealtimes a nice time.

Seanymph

Bless you.

I could write the book on a 'selective eater' - NOT fussy eater.

I can list pages of people who gave me advice, blamed me, assumed it was my 'limited offerings' (this includes my ex), or told me it was a battle of wills and I was 'giving in'.

My daughter is now 17. I am not a bad parent, she is healthy (competed at county level cross country and trampolining) does A levels (maths chemistry biology) skiis, ice skates in displays........ and for years as a child she ate marmite sandwiches.

But for years and years I blamed myself - tried to outwit her, force her, reason with her, bribe her.

Don't put yourself, or your child, through it. There is no need.

'Cheese, marmite, bread, pears, bananas, breakfast cereal, meat, potatoes (if he feels like it), baked beans (if he's hungry), raisins, strawberries (most, although he'll put a particular perfect one aside and just won't eat it for some unknown reason, after inspecting it thoroughly), raspberries (I think, it's been since last year since he tried them), pasta (no sauce).'

I could have written that list - apart from it had no cheese on it! (no dairy, not milk, ever, not from a baby - breast then squash - never water) - no strawberries.

They change, with time - give up manipulation - give your child choices - stick with what you have and build on it.

Yorkshire puddings are great, try jam on them still warm - pancakes (with chocolate sauce) - korma (truly) - with naan breads.

She went onto sweetcorn first, then broccoli (no idea why) but only swimming in gravy.

I don't know if it will ring any bells, but as a child she had a phenomenal sense of smell - and is very clever - I think the smell affected her eating...... she ate things at other people's houses first, always. Korma was a breakthrough, and then we had spicy butternut squash soup added in (tastes like it).

It passes, there is no law that your child has to eat fruit AND vegetables. Most countries have a VERY limited diet compared to us, and thriving kids.... it is a fairly new thing for parents to stress about. You need to stop worrying, let it go, and just stand between your child and the rest of the world until such time as he decides he's not that boring, and he's curious about foods.

You will have bigger battles, don't worry about others judging your parenting and just shrug in a 'what can you do' type way...... otherwise it'll go on for longer