Toddlers and fussy eating (merged)

bloomin_freezing

Thanks everyone, I guess the only thing that'll improve things is time and hey, i've got plenty of it.

Your advice has been really appreciated!

x

Carmina_Piranha_3

can you get a referral to a dietician? they can check that she's getting enough of each nutrient she needs by you writing a food diary and it gets analysed by a computer.

i tried all of the suggestions with my youngest and nothing worked. the health visitor told me he'd eat when he was hungry, and being naive i stuck to it and went back the following week and said well he still hasn't eaten anything. he needed iron and a vitamin tonic because i'd starved him for a week :eek: health visitor had no idea that a toddler would starve for so long without 'giving in'.

the dietician took a different approach and told me off for turning food into a battleground.

Rikki

I agree with june and the others.

I had the same thing with No1 son. He could go days without food. :eek:

It was a scary time but if he didn't eat what was on offer he went without. Just a few mouthfulls was an achievement.

He's nearly 18 now and I can't fill him up. :rotfl:

spinning_hamster_wheel

bloomin_freezing wrote:

Hi

Excuse me if this becomes longer than I had planned....

My 18 month old daughter is such a fussy eater, and its getting worse. Currently there are about a dozen things she'll eat but thats all. Now you might think that a diet of a dozen differnt things for a baby her age is ok but she's started to refuse certain things from this list too. She'll eat toast, weetabix, cheese, a couple of slices of cucumber and raw carrot. Sausages, yorkshire pud, occasionally fish fingers and chicken dippers (yes I know they're not ideal but its food!), she was eating waffles (potato) but has now decided she doesn't like them. Fromage frais are usually a hit, but no variation is allowed, by this I mean she won't touch mousse, rice pudding from a pot.....


Can somebody please reassure me that this is only a phase (a very long one mind you) if she's not careful she'll end up looking like a chiken dipper soon!

Any suggestions/advice will be gratefully received.

I could have written this myself!!!! My 18 month old son has a very limited range of foods he'll eat, he'll also eat something one day and turn his nose up the next (unless its a biccy that is!). I'd agree with the other posts, if she won't eat what you give her, just leave her til the next meal or offer it to her again in an hour or two. Does she snack a lot? Toddlers have very small stomachs so if she's snacking or even drinking too much juice/milk between meals it may just be dulling her appetite so she doesn't want to eat her dinner.

Do you eat together as a family? DS always eats better if he's sees mummy and daddy eating the same, and if he won't eat his, he sidles up to us and starts pinching stuff off our plates out of curiosity.

abijanzo

I dont really agree with the concept of 'if you dont eat what I give you you get nothing'. Although I can certainly see where that line of thinking is coming from and I'm sure it works for some.

My DD is 2yrs 3mnths now and I've had similar probs to you OP since weaning. She just never seemed interested in food and unless she was being distracted by something (a toy, my DH, the telly etc.) and I was popping things in her mouth she really didnt eat.

My mum suggested always finishing a meal with something we knew she's like so that she remembered that food was yummy and it has paid off to a certain extent.

I would rather my DD ate a yoghurt or some semolina than nothing at all and wake up hungry at 2am!

She's really improved with time and persistance and just last night for tea ate garlic bread, carrots, sweet corn, broccolli, roast potato and a turkey dinosaur! For her that's a great amount of variety and I was so pleased! Some of it was 'stolen' from mummy's plate which she seems to like to do so I always try to make my food available to her and kind of play along saying ' oh you shouldnt be eating mummys food!' she giggles and steals and eats it, which is great!

I was very concerned at one point about her poor variety of foods, I did some research and found a leaflet about faddy toddlers on a gov. website (I'll try and find it later)...It suggested that for very fussy eaters you should try not to worry about the nutrition so much and just ensure they get the calories. This made sense to me. I know the health visitors always say 'no child that age will starve itself' but when youve seen your little one go without virtually anything for 3 days it gets scary!

I'll have a look for that leaflet.....

Here they are:
http://www.infantandtoddlerforum.org/objects/pdf/fact_sheet2.2.pdf

http://www.infantandtoddlerforum.org/objects/pdf/fact_sheet2.3.pdf

http://www.infantandtoddlerforum.org/objects/pdf/fact_sheet2.1.pdf

HTH (thanks to poppy)

abijanzo

bump - links added.

Cylindus

My 4 yr old ds is like this, his thing was chicken drummers, so I stopped buying them and set up a weekly order of organic fruit and veg from Abel and Cole (they deliver to me in Milton Keynes so they should deliver to Beds).

Now every Friday when the veg man comes he gets excited at "whats in the box", as it changes every week.

This has taken a few months though so persistence is the key, easier said than done though I know.

littlescarlet

Honey, do not worry.

I thought I had the perfect kid re eating when my DS was 1 he ate everything I put in front of him, avocado, salad, smokd salmon you name it. At 18 months he started to say no and for a year it was fruit, yoghurt and not much else.

I instituted a rule of eat a balanced meal or no pud which helped a bit but it took about two years before he really ate to my satisfaction - and I don't think worryng on my part helped at all. Just plonk a balanced meal in front of your little one, if its not eaten take it away, don't stress. It especally doesn't matter if things 'match' or if there is no variety. I used to give my DS what he calls a 'picnic' - raw carrots, raw cashew nuts, wholemeal bread and butter, yoghurt and dried or fresh fruit. This mishmash is just as good for him as meat and two veg (if not better, Dr Gillian would love the raw stuff) and he eats it with enthusiasm. Assemble the basic food groups from what she likes even if it doesn't 'go' by adult standards, and never mind if its the same meal every day for a week.

I promise if you keep offering her a little of what you have plus the above and by the time she gets to school there will be no probs,.

allIcouldwishfor

Mine always responded well to getting a sticker for trying something new. DS wanted to live on breadsticks and yogurt at that age if I'd let him. They are now 3 and 4 and will try anything and eat a very healthy, balanced diet. That said, they'd both live on biscuits given the chance - kids don't know what's best for them, they're not equipped to make informed choices.

Carmina_Piranha_3

a little picnic is a great idea. my 18 month old hates wet or sloppy foods (except jelly of course!) so he turns his nose up at casseroles etc. but will eat the meat and veg as a picnic, separated out.

he's not a fussy eater though and probably eats more than me in a day, that's quite shocking. i saw jaws drop at playgroup the other day when he was scrounging toast and i said he'd just had a full english breakfast and fruit salad

didn't mean to brag about my good eater lol! but i have one child with a tiny appetite and one with a huge appetite so it just goes to show that it's not me being a bad mother or doing anything wrong ...