22month old very very fussy eater :-(

monkey8

Our 22 month old eats the following

Ready brek
chicken (on its own)
Spagetti Bolognese
Steak (on its own)

She won't eat any fruit veg or anything other than the above.
Won't even put it in her mouth.
If we try to sneak other things in with the above she will detect
the different texture in her mouth and spit the whole thing out.

Was hoping it was just a phase but it's going on for over 6 months now
and starting to get worried about it. Especially the lack of fruit & veg.

Any ideas???
Thanks in advance.

staticdoor71

monkey8 wrote: »

Our 22 month old eats the following

Ready brek
chicken (on its own)
Spagetti Bolognese
Steak (on its own)

She won't eat any fruit veg or anything other than the above.
Won't even put it in her mouth.
If we try to sneak other things in with the above she will detect
the different texture in her mouth and spit the whole thing out.

Was hoping it was just a phase but it's going on for over 6 months now
and starting to get worried about it. Especially the lack of fruit & veg.

Any ideas???
Thanks in advance.

Have you tried smoothies... letting her pick the fruit and put in blender etc? Peppa pig (if she likes it) has an excellent episode on smoothies and fruit.. its either called fruit.. or fruit day.. or Mr potato... maybe worth a shot?

Other than that.. I guess puree veg in the spag boll??

mrsWhippy

I've no advice but I just wanted to say that I feel your pain. My 23 month old is the very same, incredibly fussy. She has a menu slightly bigger than your little girl but she won't put a piece of veg near her lips.

I'm hoping it's just a phase alright (albeit a frustrating one!), it's supposed to be completely normal for toddlers to go through fussy periods.

Does she take a lot of milk during the day, it could be quashing her appetite? I've just been trying to keep offering her a selection of different foods at every meal, but never more than one new thing at a time. She might try something off our plates too, I just try not to make a big deal out of if if she does - it's partly a control thing I think as she will eat anything at creche!!! I use one of those plates which are divided up into sections - and I give her a selection of finger foods she can pick from. Sometimes she will, more often she won't but you just have to roll with it as best you can.

Best of luck!

Edit: I'd definitely puree some veg into the spag bol sauce though!

ariana`

I have a 21month old who will eat anything and i have to say its a pure joy because i've been where you are with my older child. My 4.5yr old was just like your child. My advice is to just hang in there, keep offering the things that you want him/her to eat, take deeps breaths and try not to get too frustrated/upset when it gets pushed aside. Sneak things in where you can (tomato sauce is great for hiding things in - Annabel Karamel has a 5 veg tomato sauce).

It will get easier. My older boy still isn't the best eater but we've come a long way in the past 2yrs, once he got to about 2.5yrs we started using a star chart and one of the things on it was to taste something new (he had to have 3 tastes to earn the star), we also introduced a treat every day after dinner which he only got if he ate what mammy considered to be a "reasonable portion", the treat could be anything from a very plain rich tea biscuit to a small portion of ice-cream (we got this idea from the food nanny)... He now loves spag bol & meat balls which are both brilliant for getting any amount of veg into (we had spag bol at the weekend with 7 veg and he devoured it), he will eat roast chicken + carrots + mash, chicken curry, chicken casserole, fish pie... Aside from hidden veg he will eat carrots, broccoli & peas. The only fruit he will eat is grapes so still not great there but its an improvement. And he'll eat banana pancakes, banana muffins... The main thing is meal times are peaceful affairs now for the most part - very little cajoling, coaxing and thankfully lots of plates are being licked clean, and mammy is content that he is getting good food. He even ordered spag bol and chicken curry off the kids menu, when we've eaten out in the past few months, without any encouragement from me, this is a small miracle when i think back 2.5yrs.

Just remembered the other thing we had to do at that age was hold back on giving him his milk until he was half-way through his dinner. And also stopped offering alternatives.

Will she try soup for you? That'd be great if she would. My lad wouldn't at that age and still won't if she did it'd be great for getting stuff into.

Dan_Solo

I'm assuming your child is never in the slightest bit hungry? The old fashioned way is to just keep serving up the same food until they're hungry enough to eat it. It works.
Probably a jailing offence these days though!

pwurple

I find mine will only try new things when she is hungry.

You've got the power struggles going on at that age as well, so part of it is that. I basically didn't force it, and kept offering by putting it on the plate. (without talking about it. No bribing, no coaching, no persuading, no alternatives).

Basically followed the gist of this article
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/dec/10/child-fussy-eater-what-not-to-say-dinner-table

Eventually she started trying bits and pieces again, and eats most everything again now at age 3 1/2.

ariana`

Agree with PWurple not to make a big deal out of the situation. We used a star chart which is bribery but we were very matter of fact about it, he either got the star by doing what was on the chart or he didn't, nothing was said if he didn't get the star but he got high-5s when he did get the star because it was and still is a big deal for him to try new things, it doesn't come easy to him. We were using chart at the time for other things as well, and stars were always accompanied by praise. We tried to avoid begging/pleading/coaxing, though it is an easy trap to fall into.

There's a book i'd recommend called My Child won't Eat by Carlos Gonzales. It's very comforting, the gist of it is that a child won't starve themselves, once you know and believe this it's a lot easier.

I don't know if it's coincidence but i did baby led weaning with my 2nd child and so far he's great to try new things and will eat pretty much anything. First guy was spoon fed as a baby, my biggest regret in this parenting lark so far

sleepytrees

My 21 month old, used to eat lots for me but now is going through a fussy stage! Although he loves smoothies thankfully and that is my way of getting fruit into him. He will only drink the prepared ones though even though i've tried him with homemade ones. Aldi do lots of smoothie pouches and so does Tesco, they are 100 percent fruit. I think he loves drinking from the pouches for some reason!!

He will only eat for dinner- Pasta or potatos, chicken, homemade chips, sometimes fish, carrots and sweetcorn. All have to be separate, he won't eat mixed food!!!

Lunch- rolls, or pasta or toast with a little bowl of cheese.

Breakfast- Brown Toast- yogurts and a bottle

and a bottle before bed.

He snacks on smoothies and bananas and rusks!!

He has two bottles of milk a day but drinks lots of water

I worry about the variety of his diet and him eating enough but I know it's just a fussy stage. I don't make a big fuss about it because they can pick up on it! My sister had the same probable with her child and she kind of make a fuss about it and his still fussy at almost 3. I'm pretty sure it's for the attention now.

Don't worry, lot of kids at this age are fussy!! It's just a stage ( I hope)

Mink

My guy goes in and out of phases of being willing to pick up and eat broccoli and peas.
Mad about bananas and will occasionally eat a small bit of mandarin.
99% of the time we have to hide fruit in his brekkie and veg in his dinners, when they are mashed up stuff that he eats with a spoon.

We found that we could get nearly anything into his mouth if we blew some bubbles. So we'd blow some bubbles and then tell him "dinner" or "spoon" and he will either feed himself a bit or we feed him, then more bubbles etc.

Prior to that we were able to get different things into him if he was watching telly but this only lasted a few weeks.

Once he had a few spoons of something new, he'd usually get a taste for it and want more or he'd tell us where to stick it.

As another poster asked, is she drinking a lot of milk or juice during the day? This could be majorly filling her up. Hunger is the best sauce and all that.

It's recommended kids that age have at least 600ml milk a day (approx. 3 sippy cups worth) and then just plain water. I only give my guy juice now is he's ill and dehydrated or it's a very hot day etc.

If there is only water on offer she will drink only as much as she needs and then will be more hungry. Also cut out too many snacks. One small snack halfway between mealtimes is probably enough.

Other than that it's just patience and keep offering and reward her for at least trying something new.

aristotle25

Our fella wouldn't eat fruit either but then decided he loves nectarines and plums. Could be worth a try, make sure they are nice and ripe and skinless.

Misssally

Try the fruit pouches to start & if she gets Into them you could then say try her with an apple & show it to her on the outside of the pouch so she knows she likes it. Is it a texture thing? What about mixing berries with ice cream as a treat? Or puréed fruit? Or putting them in her ready brek. You could start with a tiny bit of purée & work up eventually to pieces. Pear or apple won't make it look different.
A pasta sauce loaded with veg & puréed is another great way.
Best thing is not to pay too much heed & make a big fuss when she does try them & let her see you eating them too. Good luck!