Very fussy 2 year old! Ive run out of ideas!

[Abz1982]

DD is really fussy with what he eats. He only eats 1/4 of what his wee friends eat and is heavier still - Though I notice now that if she sucks tummy in he is ribby.

He will eat
Apples and bananas and grapes like they are going out of fashion.
Chips - with ketchup.
Digestive Biscuits
Chocolate - agin he would make himself sick given half a chance.
Sausages - but never more than one,
Mashed potato - but never more than about half a soup spoon worth.
Cheerios
Fromage Frais - again like going out of fashion.
Pepperami.
Cheese now and again.
Ice cream - he wants it every day all day.

He also has a taste for vitamins - he will gladly take his and wants to eat them all!

I just worry this is most definitely not a varied diet. I have tried hiding veg and it doesn't work.

He is very efficient at getting energy from food that is for sure. If I give him a fruit shoot he will go mental for about 6 hours. Fruit as well sends him LOOPY.

I have tried what the HV has said about not offering him anything else and so far 3 days with just juice is what we have gotten to. He just wont eat.

Anyone else have a wee one like this??

 

[noon_child]

Its not as bad as it could be. He is getting vitamins, minerals and fibre in his apples and bananas and frogmen frail. Its just a little salty and sugary and like you said not hugely varied but I think that is normal around that age.

If I were you I'd make a meal consisting of something he likes with one new thing (e.g sausage and mash with carrots) and a set pudding of 1 fromage fraise and a banana. Ask him to try the thing he wouldn't normally eat but say if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to eat it (and stick to that) but do it every meal. Once he has eaten his set amount of yoghurt/fruit he doesn't get anymore, and if he's still hungry he needs to eat more of his main meal (but please be prepared to heat it - you don't want him thinking he's being punished for something by being made to eat cold food!). He will probably not try new things at first and refuse more main meal after his pudding, but for now it isn't about getting food in him (as he's obviously growing) it is about normalising a larger range of food.

I'd also limit the fruit drinks as its easy to fill a small tummy with sweet squash and then not have an appetite for food. If you want him to get vitamin C etc. from fruit juice then have a set snack time when he gets juice that isn't too close to meal time and the rest of the time if he is thirsty make it water. If he point blank refuses water, diluted fruit juice (half juice half water) is a better choice than fruit shoot (they taste so insanely sweet - even though a lot of that is artificial sweeteners - that kids just chug huge quantities just for the taste). At meal time try to keep the drink as water.

 

[MindUtopia]

I think noon_child's advice is really good. I think you just have to set boundaries for what you'll offer him and what you won't, and also see this time now as a chance to explore new foods. It doesn't matter how much he eats (so long as there aren't genuine concerns about him being underweight from your GP or HV). It matters that he tries a wide variety of food and not just a increasingly narrowing range of foods, some of which are kinda junk food that probably he shouldn't really be eating regularly if at all anyway.

Try making him meals with a mix of things he usually likes and things he usually doesn't. Like the PP said, limit the amount of the foods he likes and offer as much of the new stuff as he'll eat if he eats it (within reason and as long as it's healthy). Get him to help you with preparing meals (my daughter helps me to chop fruit and veg at the counter by putting it in a pot or a bowl I've given her, or she helps me pour things into a pot or stir them). Sit and eat with him and eat the exact same things you've offered him. Don't make special meals for him that you wouldn't eat yourself, except in certain circumstances (sometimes we make our daughter a special meal when we're having a really spicy curry or something not really appropriate for her, but not just because I know she won't like something). Be okay with him not eating. You may need to hold out longer than 3 days to see any change. He's gotten into a habit of only eating these things over a long time probably, so it will take time to change that as well. If he truly won't eat anything, make sure he gets lots of milk between meals, rather than fruit juice. It will fill him up more and keep his blood sugar more stable, plus avoid the issues with tooth decay that come with having too much juice. I would take that approach for at least a month and then re-assess and see if you see any change and what's working and what's not.

Also, try loads of new recipes. I've discovered my daughter likes all sorts of things I never would have ever thought she'd eat by trying new things that I was pretty sure she would never even try! And then she did and loved them. Fried whitebait is one (I don't even like them, their little fishy eyeballs creep me out). We also found out she loves steamed mussels, which are actually a really cheap and easy meal with a bit of bread and butter. I made spanikopita one night and it turns out she loves spinach when she doesn't think much about it and it's all baked into something flaky and tasty. If he'll eat pasta, you can blend just about any vegetable into pasta sauce. I make a sauce with roasted butternut squash, fennel, onions and garlic, blended up with some stock to thin it out, and mix it with pasta topped with cheese. My daughter loves it. I've also in the past made a pasta bake with a broccoli cream sauce, basically it's just a regular old white sauce (make your own or buy it), with steamed broccoli blended into it, pour over pasta, top with cheese and bake. That was also a real hit.

And if you think it's becoming an issue that he only wants treats instead of healthy food, cut out the biscuits, ice cream, chocolate, etc. all together. My daughter very, very rarely gets those things because I know she'd want to eat loads of them and nothing else. Like, only maybe on special occasions like her birthday she would have some cake or for Christmas she'll get a little bit of chocolate or for pudding after a Sunday lunch she might get some ice cream. Otherwise, her pudding is fresh fruit (and still only a limited amount of it, or else she'd eat herself sick). If I gave her that stuff often, it would definitely cause issues, so she just isn't allowed it and we don't keep it around the house.

 

[noon_child]

Its not as bad as it could be. He is getting vitamins, minerals and fibre in his apples and bananas and frogmen frail.

HATE auto correct! But also LOVE autocorrect! - frogmen frail...classic

A bit like the time I texted my OH to get teargas at the supermarket....it was supposed to be teabags

 

[Abz1982]

Its not as bad as it could be. He is getting vitamins, minerals and fibre in his apples and bananas and frogmen frail.

HATE auto correct! But also LOVE autocorrect! - frogmen frail...classic

A bit like the time I texted my OH to get teargas at the supermarket....it was supposed to be teabags

I actually think if such a thing existed he would eat them!

Haven been trying with him eating the same thing at teh same time as us. He just sits there and messes it all up but wont eat it . He did it tonight, I was SO SO SO hopeful, he picked some food, we all sat down (at my dads so him and my sis and BIL ) and he just sat there, watching us. I tried to offer him some, and he went mental. If I touched the bowl or his cutlery he went mental. He just wanted to sit there arranging the salad in colour order .

Strangely he likes cold food. Seems to prefer it over hot meals.