My 17 month old is a fussy eater too. She used to eat anything, then at around 15 months got very selective. Now she has a limited range that she will eat which covers most of the food groups (luckily), but like your little one, will only eat one kind of meat - in spaghetti bolognese sauce. She is even fussy about the shapes of pasta she will eat and won't put anything new in her mouth at all. I am adamant like you that she is only going to eat healthy food and never ever offer her something sweet as a replacement because I know that she will want that and nothing else. I think if you get into that trap you will have a loosing battle on your hands, I've heard other mothers say "he/she will only drink cordial" and I think, why did you offer that in the first place? My 5 year old didn't even know what a lolly was until he was 3. Sounds mean but it worked for him, he is really a healthy eater. But I know how hard it is. I guess on the bad days you could give him some little bits of something (cheese, crackers?) and a glass of milk before bed so you know he won't starve and keep offering foods that you want him to eat every day (apparently you have to offer things up to twenty times before a toddler will accept it!) and soldier on. Sorry, not great advice but I just wanted to sympathise as I know how frustrating it is! Hope it works out for you.
I was talking to my aunt about this yesterday and she suggested to try giving them one thing at a time. She said sometimes giving them so much choice at once makes it a bit too overwhelming for them so they don't know where to start and will pick at things rather than eating it all. I had been giving her for lunch the same thing as me (eg salad sandwich with some ham) but because she didn't like anything on her bread i was putting it all next to the bread on her plate to eat. So she would have a couple of quarters of bread, 2 slices of ham, some cheese, a few cherry tomatoes, some cucumber sticks, some grated carrot and some avocado. It would take her half an hour to get through it all and she would be up and down like a yo-yo with a million excuses not to sit at the table. My aunt suggested leaving it all prepared on the chopping board and giving her a small bowl with one item in it and getting her another once she has eaten it all, i am going to give this a go on Saturday and see if it helps, but like you i am tearing my hair out!
Thanks ladies, no time for a big reply, but just a quick q...DS won't eat meat. Fair enough. But he doesn't eat veggies or legumes either. So what kind of protene foods can I give him?? He will only eat sausages, bacon and baked beans. I don't like to give him the sausages or bacon often besides the fact they wouldn't have much iron in them, they're so salty, unhealthy and processed. Occaisionally he eats mince in the form of bolegnaise or (even more occaisionally) rissoles. What else can I give him for proteine and especially iron??
Does he eat eggs? One of my standbys used to be an omelette with lots of veg in it (grated zuchinni, carrot, mushrooms, cheese, whatever). It hides a multitude of things (but now she won't eat it, I think I overdid it!). Eggs are good for protein. I had a friend whose son used to only eat baked beans, her doctor said it was fine, as baked beans had all the nutrients he needed! Not sure if that's true... Also maybe take a weekly approach to it and look at the food he eats in a week rather than in a day. Try to get some meat into him every couple of days and alternately the baked beans or eggs if he will eat them. If you are worried you could ask your health nurse or gp for some advice on diet. From the sounds of it you are doing well. I think most fussy eating toddlers go on to try things later (that's what I'm hoping anyway...)
Nope, no eggs. I just made some french toast for them for lunch though and he like that, so he will eat eggs in things, but not like omlettes or scrambled. He won't eat cheese either. He eats yogurt, so I try to give him that 2-3 times a week for the protien. I give him baked beans what feels like a million times a week!! He eats it for lunch alot of days because otherwise it would be vegemite or peanut butter sandwiches every day! That's another thing he will eat readily, nuts! And soy nuts, he has soy milk because cows milk upsets his tum. So there's protien in that too...I guess the protien isn't such a big deal, it's the iron. There's not much iron in sausages!!
DD isn't such an issue. She has always been a fairly adventurous eater and will try most things. DS just won't even put things to his lips if he thinks there's something 'wrong' with it!! There's absolutely no convincing him!
It sounds like they eat well during the day, so like a couple of other pp's have said, maybe offer them a bigger meal at lunch and just something small at dinner. Also, just a thought, maybe they just don't need to eat so much at dinner - they might not be hungry.
If you're really concerned, maybe having an appointment with a dietitian who's a children's specialist may help. They might tell you that everything is fine, or they might give you some ideas. Dietitians look at the course of a week when deciding if the child is getting enough of the nutrients/food groups etc and not just one day or one meal time.
If you find an answer let me know. DD1 is a great eater, DD2, terrible, only has set things she will eat, we do all the things you do too, she will not eat any vegies or fruit, I get fruit in my getting pureed stuff and mixing it with yoghurt and cereal. She'll eat breads, chicken, yoghurt, I make spag bol she'll pick out the spaghetti. I make fried rice she'll pick out only the bits rice. I tried to make muffins with vegies grated she wouldn't even try them!
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