Toddlers and fussy eating (merged)

Spendless

My son is 5 and just finished his reception year and it's only in the past few months he's stopped being faddy.

He eats lettuce as they grew it at school. They also fetched it different fruits pineapple/mango/passion fruit and got the children to cut it up to make a fresh fruit salad. The school also started put veg on the plates of those who had school dinners and from this he's now started eating carrots and broccoli.

I'm finding it far easier now he tries it to see if he likes it rather than just refusing. He's recently discovered that he doesn't like cauliflower but he does like fried onions.

Shez

Hi there all. have been reading this threa with interest as I too have a 15 month girl who never seems to eat anything!

She's not my first child as I have 2 boys the youngest boy is now 3. I never had any problem with him transferring from milk to food. I wasnt particularly worried about it - but she is soo tiny that I still have to buy 9-12 month clothes to fit her and I always have to have the waist taken in on things.

However, she has so much energy and never wants to go to sleep - so she must be surving on small amounts of food! Funnily enough she does like vegetables and fruit so she seems to live on that and weetabix of a morning and only pasta and the odd yoghurt.

She still has quite alot of milk though, maybe I should cut out her milk during the day to see if that helps? usually when they start eating solids the milk cuts down naturally doesnt it? but she still seems to like it. I did see another thread about using gold top milk to top up the calorie intake?

She is so diddy shes like a little dolly!

Savvy_Sue

Shez wrote:

She still has quite alot of milk though, maybe I should cut out her milk during the day to see if that helps? usually when they start eating solids the milk cuts down naturally doesnt it? but she still seems to like it. I did see another thread about using gold top milk to top up the calorie intake?

She is so diddy shes like a little dolly!

I would definitely discuss with your HV. I'm sure you know whether she's in the right centile for her age and birthweight, but if she's not, then drinking lots of milk and not eating a lot may not help. But I stress I'm no expert here, you're right not to panic, but some kids just love milk and will fill up on it. Of course it's good for them, but they do need other things too.

Best of luck all - as for choosing food at the supermarket I've even had my 13 year old looking for a 'happy chicken' for Sunday lunch!

Bendybops19

Hi there, i have just read the whole of this thread, its very interesting!!

To the OP - I dont have children, but i was just wondering, do u think maybe ur little boy wouldnt eat his dinner because he was eating quite filling food for his lunch? You say he has pasta? Maybe just a sandwich would be better? How is his eating now? He eats some great food though! I wish my mum had given such a variety of food when i was younger - i hate anything spicey and despise fish! I only ever ate v bland food.

Gingham_Ribbon

People are told that kids only like bland things so I think that's a common problem! I was the same until I was in my late teens. My son loves quite spicy food and has been eating lots of garlic since he was about 8 months old! I can't keep him away from the garlic bread on pizza night!

HappySad

I so much feel for you and your situation with your 23month old son XXJULESXX. I would have thought that being in nursery would help him to eat as he would see other children eating their food.

I have no real advice to give. I feel that you are doing the best by still offering him different foods while still allowing him to eat something in the day. Not giving him snacks is a good idea because it means that he will be more hungary for his lunch and dinner. You are doing well in being calm. You are doing a good job with your son's eating.

I am currently feeding my son precooked sliced meats for dinner/lunch and trying different foods to see what else he likes. The other day I gave him some of my dinner which was a tufu soup. He loved it and had a small bowl of it! I was so happy and supprised at the same time.

I have also found that he likes to eat tinned mackeral and sometime like tuna mayonaise.

I am taking things easy now and letting him eat most of his meal with his fingers. He now eats well most of the time the following Carbs- rice, pasta & oat cakes biscuits; protien - tofu, various precooked sliced meat, tuna mayonaise, tinned mackeral; fruit&veg - organic mixed fruit puree (he has one everyday), little carrots, cucumber, stawberries, pear, banana; diary- milk, yogart, cheese(for some reason he will sometime only eat the cheese if I slice it), drink - water & milk.

He eats most of his food with his fingers and i then let him eat the pureed fruit and then yogart with a spoon.. most of it gets into his mouth.

As adviced previously I am going to start eating my meals with my son and see if that helps.

Thanks everyone so far for their advice and support. :T I am now much more calmer about the whole thing. I am now less stressed about what he eats and i don't see the whole thing as a dome and glume situation.

HappySad

Lillibet_2

After yet another disasterous meal time with my son I am ready to cry. He is nearly one and was a bit late in starting to feed himself, he has only been doing it for 2 weeks but now everything has to be finger food, he will only be spoon fed for breakfast & that's getting harder every day. I wouldn't mind this but he is eating about a third of what he used to eat, most of it is going on the floor (so I am at least saving money on dog food) or around the room/over me etc etc. He is back to waking up twice a night beacuse he is hungary & only goes back off to sleep after a bottle. He wants to feed himself but after 3 or 4 peices he loses interest and just squashes the food up, he won't let me put any food in his mouth to the point that he clamps it really tight shut & even puts his hand over it! Trying to find a variety of finger food is hard enough & his diet is suffering as a result, but he is really only eating a little bit of carbohydrate & maybe the occasional odd bit of veg or fruit.
My husband is going away for 2 days this week & the thought of getting through 6 meals on my own with him is making me weep already!
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this please? The end of my teather is, once again, about an arms length away

Thanks x

Lola23

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time just now. Could you maybe have a quick word with your Health Visitor as they are usually very good at coming up with solutions.
What about the small yogurts you can get.. Munch Bunch. I know it's not perfect but it's something wee fingers could hold and eat without a spoon.
Trying to think just now what else you could try.

Good Luck


:A

LearningToSave.

Hiya,
firstly i wouldnt say he was late in feeding himself.....my dd2 is 15 months and only just started and my first dd was about the same age.
secondly i do sympathise as we are going through the exact same thing at the moment so you are not alone but as much as i can work out from my two dd's ansd friends children is that it is a phase they all go through.
not what you wanted to hear!! i find it very hard as i hate mess and dread the change of clothes every messy/saucey meal brings!! but the very best thing you can do is try and ride it out and bear the mess,it doesnt last forever although i admit it bloody feels like it!!! if you try to keep it less messy etc and get stressed yourself then your ds will pick it up and mealtimes will become a stressy and problematic time for both of you....i learned this the hard way with dd1!! if you ride it out it will pass a lot more quickly.
it doesnt matter that he is eating less,it really doesnt hun....i know as a mummy you'll be worrying...hell here i am preaching sense but it still doesnt stop me having the same worries about my dd when i dont think she's eaten enough.
they wont starve themselves...they are just learning to assert their independance and eat what they want and how much they want.when we spoonfeed them they dont for the most part 'know' exactly when they are full etc as well as they do now.....also they are just walking,crawling etc and everything is simply more entertaining than eating,whereas before they were just sitting etc so may as well be sat eating!!
well its probably not helped but just wanted you to know you arent alone....pm me if you fancy a chat etc.

LearningToSave.

oh and forgot to add there is a fantastic book called finger food for babies and toddlers by jenny maizels.
its fantastic-it was a total godsend with dd1.