eating habbits help

[lozzylou]

hi all i have posted this question a while ago but need some new advice. my son who is 4 in may is a terrible eater. just when i think we have had a break through wego back to square one. he eats no real meals at all apart from toast. his daily routine with food. is a slice of toast for breakfast. nothing in the afternoon, sometimes he may have a jam sandwich but only max of once a week. then his dinner includes 1 sausage and baked beans every night. if i put chips or mash on his plate with the sausage he wont eat the sauage. i have tried him with lots of new foods but he just wont even try. people have said he will eat when he is ready but he has gone 5 days with no food apart from 1 piece a toast a day, after 5 days i cracked and give in to him as i was worried. he wont eat chips, any type of potatos rice mash smiley faces waffles nothing like that. the only meat he will eat is sausage. has any one got any advice ( please no silly comments of the certain few that dont seem to understand ) i have tried reward charts and treats have stopped giving him pop. i give him water cause he hates it with his dinner and tell him if he eats his dinner i will swap it for pop but still nothing

[lil75]

Maybe you could try and leave small bowls of food around the living room, salad, ham/chicken, fruit etc and tell him they are there to eat if he wants them, keep a note of how much is on the plate and see what happends???

[lozzylou]

hi all, dinner went better than expected. he helped me do everything from washing peeling chopping and laying the table. he had carrot and swede mash with chicken and i gave him beans as i know he likes them. he didnt eat anything apart from the beans but he didnt moan about it been on his plate he just eat the beans. plus he asked a million and one questions about what was on his plate.he put some mash on his fork at one stage and i was getting very excited inside but he just stared at it and put it bk down.
so he didnt try anything but it is better than normal. maybe the fact that he helped cook it all made him more aware of what was on his plate and that it wasnt going to harm him.
theres hope yet!!

[annie0000]

Wel done lozzy - just keep at it - sounds like he is at the very least interested and not scared of the new food - just keep at it and maybe one day soon he will try something new - the other thing is just to put tiny bits of the new foods on his plate, so that it doesn't look overwhelming to him - it depends on the child of course, but what we did and still do sometimes with our youngest is to say to him that he cant have something because he is not grown up enough. Despite being a very bright 7 year old (he wants to be a judge and already reads at the level of a 10/11 year old), he still falls for it every time - he hates the thought of not being grown up, we know which buttons to press!!! We have gotten him to eat all sorts with that, the latest being stilton and celery soup.

The trick is that now you have started, keep it up - even if you only do it a couple of times a week with him, I am sure that you will get results eventually.

[angiebaby57]

Good thats a start if he is showing an interest in the choosing and preparation of food .... use little tricks like piping the veg or mash out of an icing bag and then you can make it really good fun and make the meal look interestin...use special plates as a reward, or even make a picnic up and use paper plates just for the novelty factor. Let me know how things go and there are MANY children out there with similar probllems and I know that for a fact....smug parents are the worst...ignore any judgemental comments and do what is the right thiong for your boy...you do not need to follow what others do. x

[lozzylou]

thanks everyone for your help. he still hasnt tried anything new but seems to have stopped taking everything he dont want off his plate.so we are getting somehere hopefully.

[angiebaby57]

Small steps are good...and he will learn that he is not dis-pleasing you if there are no negatives. Its great that you dont show any disappointment when he does not eat the things you hoped he would. The fact that he is prepared to handle the ingredients and get involved and show interest are all good signs and its important to continue with what you currently doing and one day you will hit the jackpot. I told you all about my 13 yr old son and his issues and last night he made homemade burgers with fresh garlic and sundried tomatoes, noodles and a tomato sauce...all from scratch, on his own and ate the lot....just a few years ago I would have laughed at you if you had suggested we would ever experience that! Sadly, I still havent been able to get him to clean up after himself!! lol. Keep going and the best of luck to you. xxx