Toddlers and fussy eating (merged)

cathys1_2

Oh goodness - I remember cooking 3 dinners per night for dd at that age. Dh and I had HUGE rows over her eatting! Then we read that the easiest way a child will show it's independance is by refusing to eat. It just wont open it's mouth!:p
DD now is still a fussyish eater - but I tell her she can only have X if she eats Y!!!! (She would have choc spread sandwich for lunch and macaroni cheese for tea every day given half the chance!) My rule with her is 2/3 of food must be eatten to get the next "course" so to speak. We stand firm, and put a choice of healthy foods on her plate too, and always insist that she has some fruit every day as well as what she has at nursery (school). I def agree not to force feed - in the end it's you that gets stressed - and who knows what long term implications it has on the child. I know I'm a wotsit with food because of what my mum was like! (We had to eat every scrap - and I eat more than I should at times now!!!!!)

I now childmind, and the 18 month old is going through the same stage. Right from the off, I tell her that if she doesn't eat what's in front of her now, she'll have to wait until the next meal. Not sure if she understands what I'm saying, but when the food gets taken away, I say "are you sure you wont eat" and then dispose of it. I feel really wicked, but Mum has problems feeding her at home too, and by both of us doing the same - she knows she'll have to wait.

It's the puppy dog eyes when the others get snack that get to me - but I know that I am doing it for the greater good, and that long term they (dd and mindee) will be healthier for it!

The best advice I could give anyone, is to stay as relaxed as you can about it. My Dh tells me for four years all he would eat was chips cheese and cucumber or chips, cheese and bacon. His mum did the dr thing, stressed etc, and eventually went with the flow! You should see what I have him eatting now - and even at 30 years young, he still tries one to two new things a year - so there's still hope!

Carmina_Piranha_3

scottishflower2000 wrote:

I would never order steak as i get fed up chewing

this is what my eldest is like too. there are foods he hates because it takes too much effort to chew them, and some he hates because of the texture - but if you give him foods he likes he will eat a proper meal. he knows he has to eat protein, fruit, veg etc. and he will do.

he started off very picky but it slowly got better with him trying new foods as he got older. at the age of nine he started to eat bolognese and chilli but no other red meat.

they will make their own food choices as adults/teens anyway and i prefer to teach him about WHY mums try to get their kids to eat sprouts, so that he can make informed choices when he's older and know the benefits of eating enough fruit and veg even if he never eats sprouts. if that makes sense!

back to this 18 months stage - do they all develop selective hearing or is that just mine? :rolleyes:

jopsey

not read all the post but I have a little boy who has just discovered that eating is a power game ,my DP sits with him and tries to coax him to eat and gives him 'loads of attention' where I just leave him to it , and guess who he eats more for ..ME everytime..they are sooo clever at this age.

Another thing my little boy does is if he is at playgroup and has snack/ lunch with other children is to eat much more than if he was at home.



I do worry some days he hasn't had his 5 a day then like today I think after the 4th satsuma has he had too much ..

your a parent thats our job to worry, like you said yourself baby if fine and up to scratch with everything else

they need very little food at this age please dont worry

Aoife's_mum

I'm in a similar position with my youngest, only 11 months but already quite picky and I don't want it to get worse, so thanks for the advice. My eldest eats really well, so I think some of it has to be due to their personality rather than parenting.

Have you tried peer pressure? - we often have 'toddler tea' with friends with similar aged kids, and they all, without exception, eat better when the others are all eating it. Think this is partly why some kids will eat fine at childminders/nursery but not at home.

vixarooni

im a fussy eater, goes back to primary school when the smell of the canteen made me heave, combined with people being sick alot in there and i think that is why!

I wont eat things depending on what they feel like in my mouth aswell, buscuits and cake i avoid cos they dont feel nice, i hate sauces on things and i hate things that are dry. My mum often moans!

I think it will be a problem when im older, as i just have no desire for food. If i lived on my own i would hate to think what id eat!

So i would do everything you can to make her a non fussy eater! its just plain annoying!

claireandella

Some really good ideas on here. Can't add much as my little monster eats most things (especially if we're eating them too)but I have noticed that my friend's very fussy little boy always wants to try whatever my daughter is having, even though he eats a very limited variety at home. His mum was amazed when he tried some strawberries, risotto and cheesy pasta and cried when it had all gone (as did my daughter, but then it was her tea!). Siomilarly we discovered that feeding his dinner to the dog suddenly made him want it...
I've never tried the 'going hungry' method but maybe making new food fun may help. you could try brightly patterened character plates with a picture that only becomes visible as the food is taken from it, or making the food into hedgehogs or other shapes or using cooking glitter or sprinkles...

Carmina_Piranha_3

claireandella wrote:

Similarly we discovered that feeding his dinner to the dog suddenly made him want it...

:rotfl:

roo always wants what's on our plates. that's how he got started on drinking plain water instead of baby juice (daddy's water) and eating all kinds of fruit before i thought he was ready for it, i was still giving him baby mush but he was taking whole berries off daddy's plate :rolleyes:

if he got picky i think we could persuade him to eat anything by getting my sister to pop round with half a sandwich in her hand, he's always begging off her.

umami

My poor friend is suffering terribly from hay fever but won't take anything whilst her son is still demanding breast at night.
Any solution to get her son off the breast without tantrums?
I have posted here because i can't find any similar threads.Thanks in advance.

Js_Other_Half

chun wrote: »

My poor friend is suffering terribly from hay fever but won't take anything whilst her son is still demanding breast at night.
Any solution to get her son off the breast without tantrums?
I have posted here because i can't find any similar threads.Thanks in advance.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=472612&highlight=medinose is worth a read. It would at least give her breathing room to work out a plan to help wean him off her.
I bought the product last Saturday (as I'm feeding) and have used it whenever I needed to this week - it's brilliant!

hth

carolwat

I remeber worrying myself sick over my little boy when he wouldnt eat anything but bread, crackers, sausages, fruit and yoghurts. He went through this stage for months and I spoke to HV etc and they all said dont worry about it but I still did because I couldnt see how he was getting what he needed on what he ate. I would never send him to bed without having anything to eat though. If he didnt eat his meal then I would give him fruit and yoghurt instead so he was at least getting something. He is nearly three now and the fussy eating is a long distact memory and I cant believe we worried so much. He will eat almost anything now and loves his veg.

So long as your little one is eating something then she will be ok. Dippers are not that bad, I tend to stick to Birdseye as they dont use rubbish.

Goodluck