Toddlers and fussy eating (merged)

donna-j_2

I wouldn't let a toddler go to bed hungry. A) it's not very nice it might disrupt their sleep and C) If I don't like something or just don't feel like it then I wouldn't eat it either, so why should my wee boy? I was fussy as a child, and now I LOVE my food, but still could not eat things I hate like macaroni cheese, so I can totally appreciate folk not liking things.

I'd always rather my baby had some yogurt or a banana if he doesn't want his tea. So many things can put them off their food at this age, teething, constant colds, toddlers just being toddlers and testing boundaries etc. They get skinny really quickly too, as is seen when they are not well, so I'd rather shove some calories in somehow.

Fizog

As long as your little one is heathy and growing well I wouldn'y worry too much. All toddlers have fads and it seems to be causing you to fret, she will pick up on it. Does she eat with you and eat what you eat? I'd Keep putting a very small portion of what you eat on her plate and see if she joins in. When children socialise at nursery /school you will find they start trying other foods so as not to be left out.
Try not to get agravated or irritated my eldest still is a fussy beggar and he is 16. Tall, handsome and never ill. He was a pain with food as soon as he was weened onto solids, his favourite food was weetabix- still is. As long as your little one doesn't eat sweets, fizzy drinks, cake, biscuits etc. just wholesome food she'll probably have a better diet than other children - just rather boring. You're finding as most parents do that you can't control your child just love them and compromise.

Carmina_Piranha_3

as donna says i found out to my cost that a child who hasn't eaten anything will not sleep well. when i 'starved' my boy he did have a drink of milk at bedtime.

a dietician will tell you not to turn food into a big deal or source of anxiety. some children/people are 'supertasters' and hate certain tastes. 'the truth about food' last week said a quarter of people have the supertasting buds on their tongue. some just don't like certain textures. mine is like that, very picky about textures of clothes, foods, the brightness of lighting, people sitting too close etc.

you could try doing a food diary and see if the amount of food eaten in a day is actually more than you thought, or if it balances out nutritionally throughout a week with better appetite on some days than others.

bloomin_freezing

Thank you all agin so much, my DD does tend to have a mish mash of things at the moment but as you all said at least she can have several food groups and she doesn't kknow that cucumber doesn't necessarily go with yorkshire puds!

Gonna start a food diary for a couple of weeks and see what she is actually eating.

x

abijanzo

ooh yes as 'Carmina Piranha' said above...my Health Visitor advised never to look at what a child eats in a day but always look at what theyve eaten over the course of a whole week to see if theyre getting a variety of foods.

It really is very very common for little uns' this age to be fussy and refuse food so dont worry - try and relax (easier said than done esp. if it's your first child I know!) and it does get easier as they get a few months older believe me. It's lovely when they start munching on a food they love too!

My little girl is also a potatoe waffles, chips, sausage, fish finger and turkey dinosaur fan! And although for an adult this isnt a great list of foods it's actually not as bad as you might think for a child as they do need a lot of fat at that age. Luckily my DD will eat pureed fruit, some yoghurt and a growing number of veggies in small amounts so we are deffinitely getting there! Stick with it and like the others have said as long as she's thriving youve cracked it!
Good Luck!

Violetta_2

Thanks to bloomin freezing for starting this thread, abijanzo for the great links and everyone else for the advice. I am having problems with my 18month old dd and this has really helped.
She does seem to like most foods but just this past week she has started refusing to eat. At first I thought it was because she was ill (cold/cough etc) and is on the mend now, but it seems that it's me and oh feeding her she is not happy with, she has been getting quite upset at meal times, if I let her feed herself it goes everywhere and I'm not sure she actually eats much. Think I will go with the mainly fingerfoods stuff and take a step back & try not to get stressed about it.
Strangely it coincided with oh's mum babysitting her last week and she wouldn't eat anything when she tried to feed her?? Grandma also didnt give her anything to drink:eek: so she had her last drink at 11.30 at nursery then went all day til 7 when I got home without so much as a sip of juice? (am I right to be annoyed at this?)

VickyM_2

If it's any help at all, I was that fussy eating child - and I survived! From somebody who wouldn't even eat potatoes or eggs (don't ask), I now like just about everything. The one thing I did really like was milk, and when my mother took me to the doctor, he said as long as she's drinking lots of that each day, don't worry.

And as other people have said - don't turn it into a battleground. There are still things I won't eat because I have a vivid memory of my mother sitting me in front of them and saying 'you can't get down until you've eaten it!'

Carmina_Piranha_3

Violetta wrote:

she had her last drink at 11.30 at nursery then went all day til 7 when I got home without so much as a sip of juice? (am I right to be annoyed at this?)

yes, absolutely! :mad:

is it common for children to start asserting their 'independence' over food at 18 months? my little darling just turned 18 months yesterday and he's very stubborn. it hasn't affected his massive appetite yet but i await the day when he will eat nothing except hula hoops :rotfl:

Sarahted

My little boy has always been very awkward with his food and is very thin. the doctor finally convinced us that he's totally healthy and there's nothing to worry about. The most important thing is to make sure that you give them healthy food, keep offering a wide variety of foods and don't get stressed about it or they'll pick up on it and be difficult on purpose.:j

Scoflo

My kids would eat most things apart from a spell when the eldest only eat black pudding - no other meatish type (I reckon it's probably offal).

I on the other hand eat soup every day because I hate vegetables. I ate brussels for the first time around 3 Christmases ago an couldn't a cooked carrot. I would never order steak as i get fed up chewing and only eat my own stew etc as i can control the size of the veggies.

I'm 40!