:( Fussy eater!! Updated :)

[charliebear]

AJ is quite a fussy eater he'll eat what he likes which happens to be anything chicken nugget/fish finger/potato smile type things He'll also eat dinners if its chopped little and I fed him.
He also eats breadsticks, rice cakes, yogurt, jelly, fruit, raisins, toast, cheerios with no problems.



He's now getting to the point where he wont eat veg at all.
He wont touch anything with sauce so giving him stew as a fingerfood is a no go.
He wont eat sandwiches, pasta, scrambled egg. Were going on a picnic next week and stuck for foods to take!!

Well if you managed to get through that I guess I have a question.

Do I put the veg down with his lunch and if he eats he eats. He tends to not eat anything if its there as he's not keen on meat either! If he doesnt do I offer something else?
I hate weaning and mealtimes with a passion, we've never had any luck. AJ has never wanted to eat.

Sorry for the ramble

 

[AgentM]

Hey hun. I have to be honest, Oliver has a fab appetite and eats me out of house and home! But he is crap at eating his veggies. I only give them to him every couple of meal times and if he doesn't eat them, then he gets less dinner. But now and then he surprises me and whoofs them down!

Have you tried casseroles? I find that he loves his carrots and sweet potatoes if they have been done in the slow cooker. I have tried not to stress about food and this seems to have paid off. Either that, or I'm just lucky!

Hope he picks up a bit soon x x

 

[Terrie]

just keep trying!!! give him veggies every day but mix and match them, once you find one he'll try then give that particular veg more often and then you can build up other veggies.

also i found that once my kids ate peas.. i could then try them on sweetcorn (similer shape,size and texture) and then move onto corn on the cob (same veg different style)

 

[JJ Mum]

If he likes some finger food like breadsticks etc , have you thought about trying raw veg even with cooked food , as your list included quite dry foods as the one he likes.

Cooked veg are quite floppy and wet, he may not like the damp texture in hands ?

Try skinny strips of celery and carrot and cucumber (although cucumber a bit wet, perhaps dryed on kichen roll) in with his breadsticks, sorry I don't know old he is, would he like to dip them all in a dip of some sort, as a fun way to use all his sticks? a good game

 

[charliebear]

If he likes some finger food like breadsticks etc , have you thought about trying raw veg even with cooked food , as your list included quite dry foods as the one he likes.

Cooked veg are quite floppy and wet, he may not like the damp texture in hands ?

Try skinny strips of celery and carrot and cucumber (although cucumber a bit wet, perhaps dryed on kichen roll) in with his breadsticks, sorry I don't know old he is, would he like to dip them all in a dip of some sort, as a fun way to use all his sticks? a good game

Thank you. AJ is 16 months.
I actually bought a cucumber yesterday to go with a picnic type tea tonight.
I will try the raw veg too.

He is a strange one and if he doesnt like the feel of things he wont eat, like gravy, sauce, scrambled egg. He must love beans though as he'll eat them with his fingers
I think he would be better with these things if he could manage a spoon or a fork, but were not there yet.

 

[charliebear]

Hey hun. I have to be honest, Oliver has a fab appetite and eats me out of house and home! But he is crap at eating his veggies. I only give them to him every couple of meal times and if he doesn't eat them, then he gets less dinner. But now and then he surprises me and whoofs them down!

Have you tried casseroles? I find that he loves his carrots and sweet potatoes if they have been done in the slow cooker. I have tried not to stress about food and this seems to have paid off. Either that, or I'm just lucky!

Hope he picks up a bit soon x x

Ah, bless Oliver.
Hmmm actually now you mention it he seems to like stew/casserole type veg.

I used to be really stressy over his eating but he was really ill over new year and since then I'm not really stressy at all. If he doesnt want to eat then thats fine but its the range of what he eats thats the trouble IYKWIM? x

 

[lanny]

my little gir is the same but she will only eat dry food pasta, rice, bread sticks, anything dry and plan she has just had her 2 year cheack (she turns 2 on 30th april) and it really scared me she has put 1lb o in a year at one year old she was 21lb now shes 22lb and gone down to the 9th centile on the chart. heath visiter was noy helpful said i am giving into her but she has never eat she just didnt waen at 6 months even chocolate is a no no for her. I have a boy 5 who was the other way was always on the 90 odd centile and they said i give him too much and had to cut his bottles down so i cant win. The other thing is she has terrible probs pooing and is on med for it so think im gunna take her back to the doc's next wk and see what he think i dunno what else i can do xxxx

 

[charliebear]

my little gir is the same but she will only eat dry food pasta, rice, bread sticks, anything dry and plan she has just had her 2 year cheack (she turns 2 on 30th april) and it really scared me she has put 1lb o in a year at one year old she was 21lb now shes 22lb and gone down to the 9th centile on the chart. heath visiter was noy helpful said i am giving into her but she has never eat she just didnt waen at 6 months even chocolate is a no no for her. I have a boy 5 who was the other way was always on the 90 odd centile and they said i give him too much and had to cut his bottles down so i cant win. The other thing is she has terrible probs pooing and is on med for it so think im gunna take her back to the doc's next wk and see what he think i dunno what else i can do xxxx

Lanny, I hope she improves and the Dr has some suggestions

 

[charliebear]

UPDATE: Forgot to do this yesterday so will do now.

AJ had a dinner for lunch, mince, potato, carrots and peas in a bowl all mixed together. Ate quite a bit, he played with his spoon and I used mine to feed him. He had a few raisins too.
For tea he had, grapes, raw carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, 1/2 a breadstick and a tuna sandwich cut into a shape. In the end he ate all apart from the sandwich which he wouldnt touch He also fed himself a yogurt

Today.
Breakfast. AJ fed himself some cheerios and Mammy helped in the end when he gave up. He also had 1/3 slice of toast and a hobnob!
Lunch. Not good He had most of a yorkshire pudding and 2 roast potatoes.
He was using his little fork too stabbing and putting the veg in his mouth before spitting it out.
Mammy had a nap and AJ snacked on 2 mini doughnuts with Daddy
Tea. Ham sandwich, raw carrot, cucumber, 1/2 a breadstick, 1/2 a pear. AJ ate most of it and even tried the sandwich (1st time ever) he spat the ham out though!

Fabby times. If no-one minds I'm going to try and continue to note down what hes had and how things are going.

 

[AgentM]

Fan news! Sounds like he's suddenly git a grip on it. You note away hun - it will be interesting to see how he progresses x x

 

[charliebear]

Fan news! Sounds like he's suddenly git a grip on it. You note away hun - it will be interesting to see how he progresses x x

Thanks hun.

Tbh, yesterday I had to leave the room to get him to feed himself his yogurt (I was spying through the crack in the door)
I've also stopped giving him snacks, so if he doesnt eat he's not going to fill up on rubbish and will be hungry to eat.
I'm also going to try letting him lead the way with feeding himself with a spoon/fork and only helping. x

 

[PippaJ]

UPDATE: Forgot to do this yesterday so will do now.

AJ had a dinner for lunch, mince, potato, carrots and peas in a bowl all mixed together. Ate quite a bit, he played with his spoon and I used mine to feed him. He had a few raisins too.
For tea he had, grapes, raw carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, 1/2 a breadstick and a tuna sandwich cut into a shape. In the end he ate all apart from the sandwich which he wouldnt touch He also fed himself a yogurt

Today.
Breakfast. AJ fed himself some cheerios and Mammy helped in the end when he gave up. He also had 1/3 slice of toast and a hobnob!
Lunch. Not good He had most of a yorkshire pudding and 2 roast potatoes.
He was using his little fork too stabbing and putting the veg in his mouth before spitting it out.
Mammy had a nap and AJ snacked on 2 mini doughnuts with Daddy
Tea. Ham sandwich, raw carrot, cucumber, 1/2 a breadstick, 1/2 a pear. AJ ate most of it and even tried the sandwich (1st time ever) he spat the ham out though!

Fabby times. If no-one minds I'm going to try and continue to note down what hes had and how things are going.

That's great. I'm soooo with you on this, Evie is fussy lately and has also started spitting food out too. We had more luck tonight with her feeding herself.

I'll be very interested to hear how you get on and what you try - lots of luck and here's to messy times eh!!

 

[JJ Mum]

Ahh well done AJ and well done Mum.

Great your laying down a choice in front of him and leaving him too it, he will think he is running the show and get control over what he is eating, (even tho we know your the boss).

I would agree with you trying to not give him snacks and anything between meals and then he can really build up his appetite for the proper meals and be braver to try something new.

With my first when Rhys didn't like something I would take it away and try something else, what a mistake from me! TUT I so caused my own problems. My other two kids ate it or didn't, no choice, and so they ate it!

Look forward to the next update

 

[titch]

Hey fab news that he's making progress!! If you think he's a bit phobic of the wet/sticky foods on his hands some messy play might be in order! So baking with hands in the bowl or just get some of that gelli baff, but I wouldnt put it in the bath if he might not like it,ewww, just a washing up bowl for hands in will do! Just dont force him or you will reinforce his fear of it, just allow him to play, and include other children so he follows them a bit!

Ive known this really work with some kids, but often at first they'll only try if they have a massive supply of wet wipes to constantly cleant their hands when it gets too much.

Good luck!

 

[JJ Mum]

Tiny, thats a great idea!

 

[charliebear]

Hey fab news that he's making progress!! If you think he's a bit phobic of the wet/sticky foods on his hands some messy play might be in order! So baking with hands in the bowl or just get some of that gelli baff, but I wouldnt put it in the bath if he might not like it,ewww, just a washing up bowl for hands in will do! Just dont force him or you will reinforce his fear of it, just allow him to play, and include other children so he follows them a bit!

Ive known this really work with some kids, but often at first they'll only try if they have a massive supply of wet wipes to constantly cleant their hands when it gets too much.

Good luck!

Thank you for the fab ideas. I'm going to try this more often.

TBH, I'm not sure how to take his 'phobic type behaviour' he will play in a bowl full of jelly and shaving foam too. Plays with paint and glue on his hands.
He also eats beans and spreads the juice off of his hands all over his face and hair
When he gets messy I dont rush to him to clean him up even if he whinges to me, I dont want him to be running to me to be cleaned up every 5 sec. I'm just hoping doing this helps.

 

[charliebear]

UPDATE.

What a fabby day
AJ did his cheerios and toast again this morning with a little help from Mammy.
He had a snack at playgroup as it was the easter party. Crisps and grapes, what a combination. He also had a lick of cheese, which is a good step forward too.
Lunch was with Daddy so he had a few chips and ham. He doesnt eat ham but tried some
Tea (I'm soo soo proud) chicken dinner mixed in a bowl and he ate by himself with his fork!! Not loads but its a start Also had a yogurt by himself.

I'm sure my little sausage knows I'm writing this as he's doing soo well

Ahh well done AJ and well done Mum.

Great your laying down a choice in front of him and leaving him too it, he will think he is running the show and get control over what he is eating, (even tho we know your the boss).

I would agree with you trying to not give him snacks and anything between meals and then he can really build up his appetite for the proper meals and be braver to try something new.

With my first when Rhys didn't like something I would take it away and try something else, what a mistake from me! TUT I so caused my own problems. My other two kids ate it or didn't, no choice, and so they ate it!

Look forward to the next update

Thank you.
Feeding has always been a problem with AJ and its soo hard. Trying not to make a big deal out of our eating problems so he doesnt pick up on the stress of it and there isnt a lot of info out there either. I've found 'fussy eating' info is more aimed at the older toddler.

I too used to go and get something else and after he was ill at New Year. He got worse with his eating and I decided if he ate, he ate and if he didnt...well he'd be hungry for his next meal.
(That sounds terrible when I've wrote it out like that )
But its worked x

 

[PippaJ]

Well done you! It's such a hard thing to get right when they refuse to eat but you're doing a great job!! I did the same thing with Evie and would rush to get her something else but after reading all of this I'm gonna stick to my guns too.

 

[titch]

Hey fab news that he's making progress!! If you think he's a bit phobic of the wet/sticky foods on his hands some messy play might be in order! So baking with hands in the bowl or just get some of that gelli baff, but I wouldnt put it in the bath if he might not like it,ewww, just a washing up bowl for hands in will do! Just dont force him or you will reinforce his fear of it, just allow him to play, and include other children so he follows them a bit!

Ive known this really work with some kids, but often at first they'll only try if they have a massive supply of wet wipes to constantly cleant their hands when it gets too much.

Good luck!

he will play in a bowl full of jelly and shaving foam too. Plays with paint and glue on his hands.
He also eats beans and spreads the juice off of his hands all over his face and hair

sounds like he's got no problem getting messy then!! Hope he starts putting more of it in his mouth!! (maybe not the shaving foam but you know!)

 

[charliebear]

I asked the childminder today and apparently he wont play with the shaving foam but fine with Jelly and beans!

UPDATE

Well we've had a good few days.
AJ is continuing to use a spoon and eat a good breakfast.
He's making good progress with trying new things.

Yesterday he had a picnic lunch but didnt eat a lot and ate Chicken Korma and rice!!, a full pear, yogurt raisins and some pom bears for tea.

Today he's had fruit smoothies, chicken and chips. And atm he has crackers, ham and cheese although he's only eating the crackers - might have to rethink that one???

He's also still having his 2 8oz bottles each day.