fussy eater

monday monday

I think im looking for reassurance more than anything on this one.

my 2.5 year old son is a fussy eater. aggghh. I know this can be very normal but I find it very worrysome. I have been told by other mammys that he is not as bad as their children. my 4 year old daughter was never like this. whilst she can be fussy about some things I feel that overall she has a good varied diet.

I have tried all the text book answers and nothing works. I tell myself that he wont be 25 and still have this diet.

a typical day is
Breakfast: Weetabix
Lunch: sausages or waffles. he loves sausages but we only give them every 2nd/3rd day.
Dinner: well he doesn't really eat any dinners that I make. he like chicken goujans. we get them from the buthers in the hope there is some chicken in them.
he eats plenty of fruit, drinks milk/water, eats bread, crackers yoghurts.
the odd time he will eat scrambled egg or eat a bit of plain spaghetti.
he eats no veg at all. sausages and goujans and sometimes a few meatballs is the only meat.

so should I be worried or will it pass.

Dtp1979

If a child never tasted chocolate then they’re not going to miss it or crave it. Why on earth would you give a child that’s only 2 chicken nuggets and sausages or waffles. The reason the child won’t eat veg is probably because it’s craving the high fat tasty shjt that’s in these foods. Why would a child choose broccoli over something tasty. They know no different.
My advice, wean the kid off the shjt and at the same time mash up veg into their potato. Over time they’ll adapt.

TheBody

monday monday wrote: »

I think im looking for reassurance more than anything on this one.

my 2.5 year old son is a fussy eater. aggghh. I know this can be very normal but I find it very worrysome. I have been told by other mammys that he is not as bad as their children. my 4 year old daughter was never like this. whilst she can be fussy about some things I feel that overall she has a good varied diet.

I have tried all the text book answers and nothing works. I tell myself that he wont be 25 and still have this diet.

a typical day is
Breakfast: Weetabix
Lunch: sausages or waffles. he loves sausages but we only give them every 2nd/3rd day.
Dinner: well he doesn't really eat any dinners that I make. he like chicken goujans. we get them from the buthers in the hope there is some chicken in them.
he eats plenty of fruit, drinks milk/water, eats bread, crackers yoghurts.
the odd time he will eat scrambled egg or eat a bit of plain spaghetti.
he eats no veg at all. sausages and goujans and sometimes a few meatballs is the only meat.

so should I be worried or will it pass.

That's almost an identical diet to my 2.5 year old, except my fella won't eat chicken.



We brought him to see a dietician and essentially she said he's fine. She said to look at what he eats over a week rather than any one day. She siad just because it might seem odd to you and I that he only eats a VERY narrow variety of food, that doesn't matter provided he is eating and is getting vitamins etc from fruit. She didn't seem in the slightest bit worried about him not eating any veg.


It's extremely frustrating as a parent but there doesn't seem to be a lot we can do!

monday monday

Dtp1979 wrote: »

If a child never tasted chocolate then they’re not going to miss it or crave it. Why on earth would you give a child that’s only 2 chicken nuggets and sausages. The reason the child won’t eat veg is probably because it’s craving the high fat tasty shjt that’s in these foods. Why would a child choose broccoli over something tasty. They know no different.
My advice, wean the kid off the shjt and at the same time mash up veg into their potato. Over time they’ll adapt.

hmmm where to start.
im not sure why you have written that message in such a nasty tone. im really trying to do my best when it comes to dealing with my fussy 2 year old. im finding it harder I suppose because my 4 year old wasn't like this. curry stews etc she'll eat.
I am well aware that sausages aren't good for you. hence why we restrict them. I am not the type of parent to just throw any aul crap into my kids or myself/husband hence why the sausage situation bothers me so much.
we never get takeaways...ever. we cook all our meal from scratch. broccoli carrots are on the plates every night because my daughter loves them. they are also on my sons plate.

not sure why you mentioned chocolate. my 2 kids eat very little sweet treats. we never have any choc/crisps etc in the house. they are allowed something nice at the weekend.

ainy

My 3 and half year old has a very similar diet. Weetabix/porridge with fruit on it in morning, cheese sandwich for lunch, sausages/fish fingers and beans for dinner.
she will eat spag bol/chilli beef/ beef stew dinners but majority of time with those I have to spoon feed her which I know is ridiculous at her age but if it gets her to eat! I load these dinners up with as much veg as I can and all the sauces are homemade.
She used to be great for other dinners, fish/potatoes and veg but she won't eat them now. Has never eaten chicken for me.
Why I'm saying all this is so you know you are not alone!! Im sure they will eventually eat more!

TheBody

monday monday wrote: »

hmmm where to start.
im not sure why you have written that message in such a nasty tone. im really trying to do my best when it comes to dealing with my fussy 2 year old. im finding it harder I suppose because my 4 year old wasn't like this. curry stews etc she'll eat.
I am well aware that sausages aren't good for you. hence why we restrict them. I am not the type of parent to just throw any aul crap into my kids or myself/husband hence why the sausage situation bothers me so much.
we never get takeaways...ever. we cook all our meal from scratch. broccoli carrots are on the plates every night because my daughter loves them. they are also on my sons plate.

not sure why you mentioned chocolate. my 2 kids eat very little sweet treats. we never have any choc/crisps etc in the house. they are allowed something nice at the weekend.

Don't mind that other poster. They clearly have no understanding of what they are talking about. When their only insight is to mash up some veg into the food, it shows how clueless they are. You would think we haven't tried everything under the sun to try get our kids to eat their food.

monday monday

TheBody wrote: »

That's almost an identical diet to my 2.5 year old, except my fella won't eat chicken.



We brought him to see a dietician and essentially she said he's fine. She said to look at what he eats over a week rather than any one day. She siad just because it might seem odd to you and I that he only eats a VERY narrow variety of food, that doesn't matter provided he is eating and is getting vitamins etc from fruit. She didn't seem in the slightest bit worried about him not eating any veg.


It's extremely frustrating as a parent but there doesn't seem to be a lot we can do!

thanks for that. yes it is frustrating. on the days he eats scrambled eggs im over the moon. he is so reluctant to try anything new.
its weird actually. I bought kiwis one day and think it was the 1st time he'd ever seen a kiwi. and they're kinda funny looking but he was straight in to try it and loves them now. but I made chocolate brownies one day and there was no way he was going to try them.

monday monday

ainy wrote: »

My 3 and half year old has a very similar diet. Weetabix/porridge with fruit on it in morning, cheese sandwich for lunch, sausages/fish fingers and beans for dinner.
she will eat spag bol/chilli beef/ beef stew dinners but majority of time with those I have to spoon feed her which I know is ridiculous at her age but if it gets her to eat! I load these dinners up with as much veg as I can and all the sauces are homemade.
She used to be great for other dinners, fish/potatoes and veg but she won't eat them now. Has never eaten chicken for me.
Why I'm saying all this is so you know you are not alone!! Im sure they will eventually eat more!

sounds like your 3 year old isn't doing too bad.
my little fella used to eat little bits of veg when he first started on food. and he loved avocado. but one day he decided that was that. and he used to loooove grated cheese. wont touch it now.

TheBody

My son used to eat beef stew but for no reason, won't touch it now. Very odd the way they just give up on something they used to eat.

shesty

Ugh they are such a pain.Four year old has recently gone off bolognese.She is now down to eating plain pasta, drives me nuts (i add the bolognese anyway, she picks around it).She eats shepherd's pie.She will eat odd varieties of other things, like fish fingers, carrots, homemade meatballs and tomato sauce etc, but honestly I spoon feed her a lot.She's so busy talking and messing, she would never take more than two bites.Drives me crazy.She also does eat a lot of fruit, will eat toast/bread, yoghurts etc.I try to really limit snacks between meals because she won't eat the meal easily them, even if she's just had an apple or something.
Two year old eats a lot of stuff and will try most things.But I am finding she is going off stuff as gets a bit bigger too.And when they are sick it's a disaster, they would eat nothing for several days.
It really irritates me, to be honest.Now I understand why my mother used to get annoyed!!!!

cbyrd

I wouldn't worry too much but you could try the hidden fruit/veg route. I make smoothies with say
Frozen strawberries
Coconut milk from the tin with the cream)
Avocado
Apple
Grapes
Sweet potato
Half teaspoon of cacao/cocoa
Squeeze of honey.
It tastes like ice cream.
You can put raw carrot or squash in it too and it won't affect the flavour. The avocado thickens it, you can use this as yoghurt or as a treat.
I wouldn't worry too much as long as he's eating.

Dtp1979

TheBody wrote: »

Don't mind that other poster. They clearly have no understanding of what they are talking about. When their only insight is to mash up some veg into the food, it shows how clueless they are. You would think we haven't tried everything under the sun to try get our kids to eat their food.

Lol yes hugs all around. The mash was only a starting suggestion and a method of weaning the child off rubbish like waffles sausages and nuggets.
I have plenty of understanding what I’m talking about too btw.
Op. I mentioned chocolate as a metaphor.
Child won’t eat veg so give them sausage and waffle. What do u think the child will crave going forward? That why I suggest weaning them off it. Children shouldn’t be ever exposed to that rubbish at such an early age.

Edit. My apologies op if that sounds harsh. It’s really not meant that way. Kids can be frustrating but offering easier options to a child can have called consequences if the habit persists

monday monday

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Lol yes hugs all around. The mash was only a starting suggestion and a method of weaning the child off rubbish like waffles sausages and nuggets.
I have plenty of understanding what I’m talking about too btw.
Op. I mentioned chocolate as a metaphor.
Child won’t eat veg so give them sausage and waffle. What do u think the child will crave going forward? That why I suggest weaning them off it. Children shouldn’t be ever exposed to that rubbish at such an early age.

the mash is a good suggestion. I have tried this many many times before. I will keep trying.
again I know sausages and waffles aren't ideal. my understanding or misunderstanding of nutrition isn't the issue. im fully aware hence my original post and why im trying to change things. parenting is tough. i'm looking for reassurance, advice, similar stories. not someone to post a message with your tone.

Dtp1979

Sorry I didn’t realise you were looking for reassurance and for someone to tell you it’ll all be ok. I thought you were here for advice. I had no idea on your knowledge of nutrition or the consequences of giving kids bad food, that’s why I gave my advice.

ford2600

monday monday wrote: »

the mash is a good suggestion. I have tried this many many times before. I will keep trying.
again I know sausages and waffles aren't ideal. my understanding or misunderstanding of nutrition isn't the issue. im fully aware hence my original post and why im trying to change things. parenting is tough. i'm looking for reassurance, advice, similar stories. not someone to post a message with your tone.

Up to 18/24 months I think is best period to introduce new foods. We like foods
because of texture/mouth feel, smell and primarily calorie density.

Even as an adult you can teach yourself to "like" foods you hate. It means introducing tiny amounts repeatedly; up to 16 times according to an interesting specialist dietician on Newstalk a few months ago. Your brain's food reward circuitry then learns there is calories in the food you previously didn't like.


Maybe try with tiny amounts of veg at start of each meal when he's hungry and repeat until his brain "learns". Veg is low in calories so be patient, but he can learn to like it.


Best of luck

bee06

OP, I don’t have any experience of this as my baby is only 6 months so this is just a random idea that I would try if I were you. Could you get him to help you with the cooking/preparation. Maybe he’d be more likely to eat it if he “made” it himself. For example if you are having broccoli he could break the florets up. Let him throw the veg into the pot of you’re making stew etc.