toddler eating habbits

[lozzylou]

hi i know this has been asked before but just wanted some new advice. I have a 2 year old who is very fussy with his food. he wont eat chips, mash pasta rice etc etc. if i give him sausage mash and beans he just eats the beans, if he has spagetti on toast he just eats the spaggetti.
my question is if he wont eat what is on his plate, do i just take it away from him and make him go without, f s how long for cause he will go for days without a proper meal. i have tried cuttin out snacks but dont make no difference, anyone any ideas

[elaine33]

if i came to your house and you gave me spaghetti on toast and I just ate the spaghetti what would you do? Just because he is a child don't try to force the issue. Perhaps he does not like the toast with spaghetti on it. perhaps try the toast on a separate plate.
My son would not eat a cheese sandwich but if I gave hima chunk of cheese with bread and butter he ate it all up. Another phase he went through was he would only eat pink food, so we had pink porridge, rice, mash, pasta, and cauliflower for several weeks. Keep trying all the foods he will not eat but only in small quantities or serving in another way. To be honest if he won't eat chips or sausage I would be glad, especially with sausages as you don't know what is in them half the time. Also at the age of 2 perhaps you are giving him portions that are too big, he may be overwhelmed by sausage mash and beans, too many flavours on a plate. for now give him a litte less and if he does not finish what is on his plate just take it away and then do not give him anything till the next meal. No child ever starved itself to death. Can I just say you should not be cutting out snacks, you should not be feeding snacks in the first place.

[mumof3angels]

Hi lozzylou- does your son eat any fruit or veg, or have yoghurts. All 3 of mine have had different eating habits. My daughter would not eat anything unless she had ketchup with it but now she's 11 and only has ketchup with things like chips etc. My middle son has always been brilliant with food-he's like a human dustbin-there's nothing he won't eat. My youngest has been the worst. He will eat but rarely finishes all his food. I've tried putting smaller portions on his plate but he still leaves half of it. However he will then have a banana and yoghurt, and still drinks loads of milk. He also is not a lover of sweet things so it's not like he fills up on biscuits. They are all healthy kids and I think it's important not to make eating an issue. I remember being made to eat rice pudding(which I detest) at school when I was 8 and I remember each and every mouthful. So I've never tried to push food on to the kids that they didn't want to eat.
I think if your son is eating some of his food, perhaps try praising him for doing well at that. It might encourage him to start to eat the other things on his plate. Do you get annoyed with him when he doesn't eat, as that might not help either. Best of luck :) x

[lozzylou]

elaine, why can a child not have snacks, snacks dont need to be junk, he snacks on, raisins, fruit yoghurts so why should i not be giving him these????
he does like the spaggetti with toast on it as he has ate it plenty of times before. i only ever give both my sons small portions but save enough in the pots incase they want more.

hi mumof 3angels, thanks for not making me feel like it is me doing something wrong. yes he does like grapes and apples and eats yoghurts all the time which i am happy about. i would just like him to eat more meals before he has these snacks. he is allowed as much fruit as he wants but should i be allowing him these things if he refuses to eat his dinners.
i have tried bringing him in the kitchen to help me cook it, i have tried letting him chose what we are all having but when it is in front of him he just picks at it then pushes it away. i thought maybe it was because he just wanted to play so tried telling him he has to stay at the table till the others are done but he dont care.
it would just be nice to see him finish his dinner for once.

[MiniN]

lozzylou, I think all kids go through a time when they are fussy eaters.

As long as he is eating enough outside of meal times then he will be fine and will probably grow out of it in no time. perhaps don't let him snack around (soon before or after) mealtimes, as he may be full from the snacks still.

just try lots of praise for eating what he can. I never used to finish all my food when I was a child and it was horrible if anyone made a big deal out of it. I'm more suited to eating 6 small meals a day rather than 3 big ones and maybe it is the same with your son. we're always told it is healthier and more natural to eat 6 small meals rather than 3 big ones.

why not try not spreading out his food to these 6 small meals instead if he finds it too challenging to eat 3. that way he will still consume the right amount of food and probably won't even realize what you're up to. he'll think the extra meals are just snacks.

good luck, you sound like a great and very patient mum x

[tigwig]

I would just ignore it and focus your attention on the food he does eat. It will probably be a phase and won't do him any harm. Kids are very quick to learn that not eating gets them a whole lot of attention negative or not. You don't want to make a big issue out of it. You could try getting him to eat just 1 mouthful though for a sticker on a reward chart or something similar and see how you go.

[elaine33]

I apologise for offending you which I honesly did not mean to do. The snack thing, what I meant was not to give foods between meals. Just to have his 3 or 4 meals a day. I do realise there are healthy snacks. From your response to me it actually sounds as though your little one is eating very well and if I were you I would not worry about it too much. I am now a little confused as to whether you want him to eat his meals or just eat a balanced diet.
Again please accept my apologies, for what came across as criticism when I only meant to help. that is the trouble with writing the response, you do not hear the tone of voice

[lozzylou]

no problem elaine, all i would love is for him to eat his meals, i know he eats alot of fruit and theood stuff but its just the meals he wont eat

[naflharrison]

my son has been through a fussy stage now and again for the last 6mths and he will be three in december. he loves all his fruit and most veg but refuses to hardly eat any meat ie. chicken beef pork and can only sometimes accept fish. i can hide chicken in some foods like chicken curry and rice which he adores and he loves spicy food but had a breakthrough today where he ate a plate of roast chicken and potatoes. we have learnt if we dont really talk to him much when he is eating he is far more prepared to eat. also how about trying this, when i am preparing food ie cuttin a chicken up or things like that i play a game with him and he has to pretend to sneak bits of cooked chicken of the board without me noticing and then of course i have to be all surprised and say things like ooh are you sneaking my chicken. strangely it works also you could try making a carpet picnic of lots of different foods and st doen with him and just nibble them all. it is just a fase but trying some of these might help and he will not starve by not eating a meal but golden rule if you eat a meal at say 5pm then the snacks must stop at 3.45-4pm and no free run with a drink. it will only fill him up.

[JonnyBoy12]

Not having known the "joys" of parenthood I wouldn't know how to resond to this. I always thought that the problem was stopping kids eating too much. As long as they drink enough I don't think they will starve to death, but the idea of giving them nuts and fruit sounds great. That is the best diet for anyone.

[lozzylou]

thanks naflharrison i will try that, we have tried thr picnic thing before and he just nibbles on fruit or raisins.
he does eat im not saying thta its just he wont eat meals, if he has a sunday lunch he will pick at bits of chicken then push the plate away and if there is any green stuff as he calls it ( veg ) on his plate he wont even pick at the chicken.
he has never really ate chips, which is a good thing but used to eat mash or pasta. as soon as i say lets put toys away now cause its nearlly dinner time, he says things like
dont give me mash cause i wont eat it or
i dont like pasta as it makes my belly hurt

i dont give him pop with his dinner, he has water( which he dont drink ) but he isnt allowed pop till after dinner as i do find that pop fills yous up. his brother eats all his dinners and is like a human dustbin, so i normally let him have a treat after dinner for eating it all, hoping that his brother may think to himself that if he eats his he can have a treat but he just isnt bothered.

[Mully79]

I wouldn't worry about it. My daughter goes through stages, I think she's kind of testing her limits and our reactions too. Her latest phase is "I don't like cheese butties". One day she'll eat them, another day she'll peel off the cheese and just eat the bread. I keep offering them to her regardless. She's been through the same phase with cereal, mash, strawberries, yogurts etc.

It's not a bad thing if he doesn't like chips, keep up with the variety, try different foods and see how it goes. I think also keep portions quite small, children can be overwhelmed by too much on their plate, I found that out the hard way!

As for snacking, my daughter has a breakfast, lunch and tea, plus a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack and sometimes supper. Snacks are things like fruit, breadsticks, yogurt, toast, crumpets etc. Some days she'll eat more than others, it really depends on how well she's feeling, whether she's been really active that day etc. I offer her the same portion sizes each day unless she specifically asks for something, usually when she's been really active and is eating like a horse!