Fussy Eater!

MooMoo100

I have a huge problem with my 3 year old son. He is a terribly fussy eater and its starting to have an effect on his health. He refuses to eat any meat or vegetables, and will only eat a dinner if it is a plate of boiled rice or pasta. If I even put something else on the plate he will push the whole plate away and a tantrum will follow. He used to eat everything I put before him but suddenly about a year ago that stopped. I have been reassured that its only a phase but its been a year now and he is pale and tired a lot. I'm giving him iron supplements but thats not ideal. He does eat fruit thankfully, but thats not a balanced diet. Any suggestions.

January

How do you react when he doesn't eat the food? Do you try to force him into it? Children learn very young that food is the one thing that they can control and it's often the one thing parents worry about most too, so if they see it's getting any type of attention then they will use it to seek that attention.

I'd bring the child to a GP first just to rule out anything medical, but if not then I'd just keep presenting the dinners you are eating and if the child does not eat, simply remove it and don't give him/her anything else, if they say they are hungry later then produce the dinner from earlier and don't say a word. If they are hungry, truely hungry they will eat it.

Lola92

Could you try to involve him in preparing and cooking meals? Although it is more effort (and definitely slower!) kids are often more enthusiastic about trying food that they have made themselves. Baking is a very good way to introduce this, maybe biscuits made using euro shop cookie cutter shapes? I know obviously not the healthiest but a home made treat that could get him excited about helping out in the kitchen. Then possibly fruit salads leading up to veg, soups, pasta bakes, casseroles, all sorts!

Start off with simple things - counting veg, picking the potatoes out, choosing which shape pasta, stirring and mixing, cracking eggs, helping to measure, sieving, cutting - obviously very closely supervised.

My partner has a 5 year old who is a fussy eater but he will give almost anything a try if he has 'made it'. He takes great pride in doing it too Hope that might help somewhat!

wolfpawnat

Know the feeling MooMoo, my 3 year old is the same. I have started the whole give him something good to eat, if he doesn't eat it, he can go without. He refuses to eat that, but is plenty hungry if you show him biscuits and chocolate, but he only gets them now AFTER he eats a bit of a good solid meal first.

There was a few days where he ate very little there for a while and you are scared of them not getting their nutrition, but as January said, they will eat it if they are truly hungry!!!!!

Penny Dreadful

I was the fussiest eater for donkey's years, how my mother stuck me I don't know. As January suggested, my mother would clearly explain to me that if I refused to eat what I was given (within reason, she knew I hated, and still do! gravy, mashed potatos and cooked vegetables etc) then the kitchen was closed and if I was hungry later the only thing available was the same dinner.
Over time we reached a working stand off: when she was preparing vegetables for dinner such as carrots, peas, turnips, she'd keep some of the raw ones aside for me and I'd eat them with delight. She took a potato or two out of the pot for me before she'd mash them for everyone else and I'd eat that. She never put gravy or sauce on my plate of food either.
I'd sit down to eat my dry dinner with no food touching off the other bits knowing that some compromises had been made for me. I felt like I'd won, Mum got to see me eat a healthy dinner and life went on.
When I was hungry I ate.

Moonbeam

Our rule is that you need to try everything and if you really do not like it then just eat the rest of what is on your plate.
My 3 year old would live on fish fingers and mashed potato very easily:)

yellowcrayon

Ive found that if the child will eat ant sort of sauce on the pasta/rice/other food, i blend together a pasta sauce with peppers carrots and loads of veg so they cant see it on the plate.

They''re still getting the nutrients they need, but dont know that they're eating somethin they claim they dont like.

And i agree with the above.. Children love eating things that they've made. If im making a casserole I give the child the ends off of carrots and onions and peppers and let her cut them up into pieces with her plastic knife.. She thinks she's the mammy making the dinner (even though the pieces she cuts dont go in ), and she's always first to the dinner table

duffalosoldier

Just opening up this discussion again as I've a lot of the same issues only worse. My 3 year old will not eat a single fruit or veg. In fact his diet at the moment consists of toast, yogurts and cups of milk. He was going through a stage of eating sausages and fish fingers but now that's stopped.
Any help???

MooMoo100

Hi duffalosoldier, I haven't had much success with anything I'm afraid. My son is now 7 and still it's a daily struggle. It's definitely a control thing with him, he likes that power he has over us so I find that when there is less fuss made of something then he is more likely to try it. Something that worked wonders for us was a programme in his primary school called food dudes. All the kids are asked to try different fruits and vegetables on different days and are given special lunch boxes, and little prizes when they try something new. It got him eating vegetables for us, only raw veg but it's great. I know your son is prob not in school yet but it might be something to keep in mind. He's improving in other ways but very slowly. When I posted my original post he was eating only boiled rice and pasta, now he will eat potatoes, and loves sausages, which is not ideal but it's some meat. He also eats quite a lot of eggs ( yolks only). In the last month he has started eating shepherds pie, which is huge for us, but we know from experience that that could stop tomorrow. I think the key is just to be patient and keep trying, sorry I know that's not much help!!!

shesty

For what it's worth.....zero fuss.Sit on your hands, keep your mouth closed, present dinner, remove fifteen minutes later, make no comment at all. The perception you want to present is .....I do not care :-) Even if you're boiling mad inside.He will not starve himself.

It takes an iron will and serious patience on your part though. I'd also watch to make sure he's not filling up on anything else during the day like water/milk or bread or anything like that.And if meals aren't eaten, there is no other alternative.

You can get them to participate in cooking etc too along with that, my two year old loves cooking, although it diesn't always result in her eating what's just been made!!