Toddlers and fussy eating (merged)

Spendless

BrokeBrokeBroke wrote:

We have to send his lunch in for him!

Cos they don't provide or cos he won't eat it?

jellyhead

glad it's going okay :-)

my dyspraxic son didn't use cutlery until age 4, and still had a bottle at night at age 4 too. he's okay now, a bit clumsy still and still prefers cups with handles but then it's difficult to say what's dyspraxia and what's caused by him not having the practise with cutlery and cups that other children have when much younger. building up the shoulder muscles helps with fine motor skills apparently, so taking him to the park, soft play area, doing wheelbarrows with him etc. will help.

if he really misses the bottle at bedtime what about drinks with sports caps? not sure if 2 year olds can manage them or not. you can buy bottles of mineral water with sports cap, and add squash if needed, or buy fruit shoot etc. teeth would need brushing afterwards though if the drink was sugary, so not much help if he falls asleep while sucking lol! lunch box cups have sports caps too.

swizzlebabe

My 5 year old loves milk and always has done, he wont drink anything else apart from tea.He drinks very little during the day, just the way he is.
He has takenen a drink to bed with him since he came off a bottle, in an anyway up cup, he drinks it and cuddles it too, a comfort thing.

Only trouble was through getting him dry at night, it did take a bit longer than some other kids, but saying that he is now dry and some kids in his class who do not drink after 6pm are still in nappies.

jellyhead

i've been told that around ten percent of 5 year olds aren't dry at night. i was worried about my son, he was 3 years old and showing no sign of understanding when he needed the loo. he became dry night and day at the same time though, before he was 4 but it is still quite common for 5 year olds to not be dry at night. i'd have thought tea would have hindered him being dry at night though, isn't it a diuretic? i'm just guessing though, i don't know any children who drink it.

for kids who like milk, what about nesquick or that robinsons stuff for making milk shake? with it being flavoured the child might associate it with being a bit more grown up than milk in a baby bottle, so might be happy about drinking it out of a cup.

culpepper

Milk being a food drink ,you could survive on that and nothing else.
We had a book by Magnus Pyke all about health which pointed out that kids need fat in their diets but that skimmed milk is fine as it has all the goodness of full cream milk, so long as they had fat from other foodstuffs.
My daughter fed herself from six months.She was very independant (and had an older sibling) and would grab the spoon and keep it. We had to cover everything in plastic as food went everywhere. My son would eat little squares of cheese,cut up apple,little squares of cut up sandwiches,raisins etc (shared with the toys sometimes) but hated having to sit still and bother to eat.

Spendless

I'd agree with getting him to help you prepare food etc. My 5 year old made us a fresh fruit salad yesterday,pineapple,mango,orange, and grapes. Exactly same thing I've made before that he's rejected cos he made it he ate the lot!!

HappySad

Hi Everyone,

I wonder if you can help? My 21month old son will not eat him main meal now. He loves eating fruit but when I offer him the main part of his meal he will only eat 3 mouthfuls then refuse to eat any more. If I then offer him an apple he would eat that all with no problem.

I have tried calling him a "good boy" and clapping for each mouthful that he does eat to encourage him but this does not work.

What do you think about not offering him the fruit until he has eaten a good amount of the main meal? I have tried not offering him any fruit and leaving him with the only 3mouthfuls that he has eaten at lunch time and then not give him a snack so that he is really hungery for his dinner time. This has worked a few times. Is this OK to do this?

The food that I am offerimg him is food that I know he likes because he has been eating them for a good 8months. (Curry+rice+veg, mince+rice+veg, quiche+pasta+veg, egg+fish+couscous+veg, curry prawn & lentils+rice+veg, Japanese soup+rice, fishfingers+couscous+veg, soya+rice+veg).

I have watched "Little Angels" on BBC3 for tips; but I cannot give a 20month old stickers for eating his food because he is just too young for that.

Also he will only feed himself for two spoons then he throws the spoon & food on the floor. From talking to a few mums this is quite normal at this age and it could be a year before he feeds himself properly on him own. Is it OK to just leave him to feed himself any way he wants for example use his hands instead of a spoon.

I will be grateful for any advice or examples of your successes, failures and experiences. :cool:

skylight

Cliche - but he will eat when hungry!

My 3rd old was/is still exactly the same - she can go weeks and weeks without eating properly and then suddenly stuff her face for weeks and weeks.

Rules are (Are persist regardless!)

1. Offer a variety of foods (not at the same time though!)
2. Don't make a fuss if he doesn't want it - take it away calmly and ignore it.
3. Don't offer him ANY thing else.
4. Ban all sweets and cakes and nice treats - leave as much fruit out that you can handle - don't let him snack at all (except the fruit)
5. Don't let Nan undermine you on this one!!!!! (As discovered - half the battle is with them!!!!)
6. Keep going. It will take ages and ages, weeks, maybe a few months - but he will take whats on offer. Just give him food just because you know'll he eat it! (ie McDonalds)
7. Its true - he really will eat when hungry! He is a toddler who is "trying his luck" and see how far he can push you. Just make sure that you and daddy are eating and smiling and chatting together at meal times and involve him in the conversation without making any remarks about his food at all.

Tried and tested - worked on 2 out of three - the third is still a works in progress and the fourth isn't quite old enough yet!

skylight

Okay - so point 4 - about the fruit - I dont really mean let him stuff himself with fruit all the time, but a snack of just fruit is fine!

And what you are doing so far is AOK - each kid is different and will deal with meal times differently.

rach1973

Oh the joys of Toddlers and eating!!

Our HV told me that they think sitting down and eating is boring and would much rather be bounding around, playing with toys, watching TV etc etc etc which I suppose is true.
Cameron - 26 mths, can be great one day and then won't eat a thing the next. He used to love cous-cous and now he won't even entertain the idea of it being in his mouth. :mad:
They'll get over it - they won't starve themselves....apparently that can't happen until they are 6 yrs old :eek: