Ok this is getting serious...

paradise lost · October 13th, 2008, 07:48 PM

I can't add to all the wonderful dietary advice. I just wanted to give you a

and tell you that between 22months and 4years i would only eat:
peanut butter
yogurt
grapes
green apples
plain white bread toast without crusts
cream crackers

My parents were worried sick. I continued to grow but was very pale and didn't gain weight for MONTHS at a time - i can still remember mum putting me on the scales every week and dad running his fingers down the knobbles of my spine to see if they were less prominent. I was only ever borderline anaemic, but wouldn't really eat things with a lot of iron in them anyway, so that was a battle with them trying to get iron into me and me always being on that line. They were worried sick, doctors told them to add butter, cream and oil to my foods (how do you add butter to apples? lol) which didn't really help. When i was 4 i suddenly got over it and began eating selectively but MUCH better.

Fast forward - it did me NO long-term harm. It didn't interfere with my development, growth or brain (let's assume the madness is genetic and not nutrition-related

). It was never a reflection on my mum - luckily i was the youngest of her 6 and she had already raised 5 good eaters and knew it wasn't her. I was too busy to eat, had a very weak appetite, and didn't want to waste valuable runnin-about time sitting chewing something.

I would agree that a trip to the doc to try to get him feeling more well would be a good idea, but don't beat yourself up about this or fear long-term horrors. SOme kids are just this way. My love-handles proudly indicate the extent to which i got over it - i'm a total foodie now! Hang in there hun

Bx

**{sarah}** · October 13th, 2008, 07:50 PM

Zander is quite a difficult eater as well, so we have learnt to be creative. His favourite lunch at the moment is dinosaur sandwiches - I got a cutter from Howards, if you want I can get one here for you. Or we have puzzle sandwiches, made with a star cookie cutter & the surrounds cut up too. Generally he has Nutella, it's not great but our pead suggested it as he needed the fat in his diet. Otherwise he may eat vegemite & cheese or fairy bread, yeah the 100s & 1000s aren't great but he's getting fat from the butter & also the bread. We've tried just about every type of bread & his favourite for the moment is soy & linseed, but that's likely to change next week, or even tomorrow.

If he will eat something then give it to him for every meal. Our pead said the same thing over & over is better than nothing. Zander's dinners are generally, carrots, corn & goujons (like chicken nuggets but sticks) or sausages. We might add cheese to this & sometimes mashed potato, never ever change the way I make mashed potato cos he won't touch it! Other than that, it's always the same.

Does he like pasta? Try some pasta with just grated cheese on the top. Zander will eat it if I give him a bowl of pasta & a bowl of grated cheese so he can add it in himself. Hmmmm smiley potatoes, you get them frozen at the supermarket.

Have you tried the party in his tummy thing? Didn't work for Zander, but I've heard it can be really good for some kids.

**Arimeh** · October 13th, 2008, 09:15 PM

Hey guys

thanks for all the tips (and support!!!)

Its still pretty much the same in this house, i'm trying to feel less like a crap mother by putting the food on his table, and if he eats it, he eats it, at least I've made the effort.

I haven't made the trip to the GP yet - was feeling too guilty and too much like crap as a mum to bring him out in to the open!!!! i've been giving him his vitamins though - which he takes really well.

I've resorted to nasty mum tricks - i got him some apple/pear squishy juice type things that he absolutely loves - then I got him a rafferty's spinach, pea, apple mixture type thing - and sneaked that in - he thought it was the pear one.. lol... so he had a good sip of that last night - and then made a face, handed it back to me. Did the same thing tonight.. lol....

Its weird how he is so selective about the foods he will eat. At the moment he is off his weetbix and toast, just wants milk in the morning - and his juice. Then he will eat a little bit of fruit over the day - mostly just wants biscuits!! Its a huge struggle to get him to eat anything else, but bloody biscuits!! its doing my head in.. I feel like the worst mother in the world when I put him to bed at night and I hear his tummy growl, he is obviously hungry but wont' eat any of my food!!!

I might try a roll of luncheon meat or something - haven't tried that before. have tried pasta - no go, hates vegies at the moment, won't eat anything freezer type meal... seriously, I'm running out of food ideas!!!!!

I think I'll make up some of my fried rice tomorrow - he might eat that - it was usually the most successful meal... (albeit not the most healthiest - but its with olive oil so at least his hair will be shiny!!!)

**Footsteps** · October 14th, 2008, 04:27 AM

mel,
you are NOT a crap mother you are doing amazing iv been reading this thread with interest coz my 2 year old nephew is a very very picky eater and i wanted to see if theres any tips i can pick up to give to my sis, iv just phoned her and im gona phone her back in a hour and ask if theres anything she does to help...i'l come back on then and let you all know what she says that can help.
Really you are not alone..my niece is 1 and eats great so its not a reflection on you.
take care hun
rach xxx

**{sarah}** · October 14th, 2008, 07:26 AM

If it's biscuits he like Mel, have you tried rice cakes & things like that?

Just so you know you're not alone, Zander asked for plain bread this morning, ate 3 bites then said "I don't want this bread now, can I have watermelon" Hes been going on it for nearly half an hour & it was only a few pieces

**Arimeh** · October 14th, 2008, 07:57 AM

Thanks Rach

Sarah - he had one little bite of toast this morning, went into the kitchen and asked for biscuits, then chucked a tantie cos I said no.

He likes rice cakes and corn thins, but I'm just worried about the nutritional value of these foods if that is all he is eating... i'll try the pasta with cheese on it again tonight, and fairy bread for lunch....

I even had the thought that maybe he is filling up on too much milk (even though he only gets 3 sippy cups a day and hardly ever finishes them) so this morning I put 1/2 a cup of milk on his table for him - he has taken a couple of sips - but not drank heaps.

Watermelon for breakfast is a good choice - especially in summer

**MrsFabuloso** · October 14th, 2008, 08:17 AM

Have you tried letting him help you cook? Maybe if he's part of it he might eat something? I have recently let Lily stand on a chair and 'help' me. For example, When I make sandwiches, I give her things like some cheese, peice of bread and a spoon or fork and she can do what she will with it. Or at dinner time from a salad she gets lettuce, grated carrot and cucumber slices and a bowl or two. There's usually a free flowing sippee cup of water or milk in there too and it all ends up drenched, but she often tries some of the food I give her before she ruins it! And even then she still eats the soggy bread or whatever (ugh!!). But even if he doesn't eat any of it, at least he's having fun with food rather than it being stressful or having to eat it if he doesn't want to, kwim??
Good luck!

**squidipa** · October 14th, 2008, 08:33 AM

Big hugs sweet

You are not a crap mom Not at all your doing your best egtting inventive what more could be asked of a mother. I have never had issues with eating really my 7 year old was and still is extreamly slow but once i worked out what eh wil eat we had no issues I dont say this to make you feel bad so plz dont take it that way, I do however remember my brother and i remember all the tears and heartache and worry on my mothers face cause he would not eat anything AT ALL! He is thin like my step dad but solid as well and now loves his vegie's and meat

Not to say its the right thing to do but i used to offer the same meal for the 7 year old till it got it that he had to eat it. Not all things are great tasting but they are good for you. So last nights dinner would become breakfast warmed up. In the end after some skipped meals he did eat it and i learned that maybe that dish wasnt the best to give him.

Me i hardly eat meat except for chicken no im not vegetarian just not keen on red meats

I do tho try to seek protien form other area's like eggs.

Have you tied quiche or maybe tuna patties, if he eats bickies maybe make a oat and fruit bickie. We have this recipe for fruit balls and its great its all dried fruit processed together with a splash of condensed milk and we roll into balls and the kids love them rolled in coconut so easy you could make it with him and he would probably eat it then.
I have found cooking the meals with the kids helps them to enjoy the eating as they are proud of what they have made.
We also make vegetarian spaghetti bog so the kids can do this, mind you my kids are older but i even can get the 3 year old pouring and stirring OFF the stove of course before going on the stove. Cook ya pasta , then get drained tin tuna put i a pot add pasta sauce and stir. Then warm on stove and once pasta is cooked and drained pour on top. This you can have cold too.

We also do zucchini cakes ya see the word cakes thats what makes them go yumm. My daughter calls them "mutant muffins" its egg grated zucchini bacon onion grated carrot even tried it with grated raw pumpkin cheese and bake i can give you recipe's if your interested mel let me know tis k if you dont want them.

Another dish i do is roast all my vegi's individually to retain flavor then after throw in pot add pasta sauce and stir and thats it YUMMO!!! kid will eat things they didn't know they liked like small roasted pieces of egg plant or turnip parsnip even the hubbie eats everything and he is the worst person when it come to vegie's

good luck sweet let me know what dr says.

**squidipa** · October 14th, 2008, 08:36 AM

He likes rice cakes and corn thins, but I'm just worried about the nutritional value of these foods if that is all he is eating...

you can buy multi grain corn thins have you tried these??? maybe dehydrated fruits also??

curl · October 14th, 2008, 08:40 AM

Most children go through a very fussy stage. Neither of my older girls at the moment tend to eat much of their dinner and its very frustrating and alarming at times. They will however eat cereal, fruit and yoghurt, not much help to you I'm afraid.

I do recommend the use of Incremin as a supplement. My mum used it for me when I was a toddler as all I would eat was yoghurt or cheese and it helped boost my iron levels. I've used it for my girls too and found huge improvements. It is an iron mixture with lysine, vitamins b1, b6 and b12 included. Its specifically for fussy eaters and actually tends to boost their appetites. It is sweet but has no added sugar. I sound like a commercial for it... apologies for that.

Have you been to the doctor yet? I'd be asking everyone for advice including your baby clinic nurse as they often have some real gems of ideas.

**{sarah}** · October 15th, 2008, 11:53 AM

I had a thought last nigt when we were having dinner, Zander picked the pasta we had & whilst it took him forever to eat it, he enjoyed it

The one he picked was called "soup mix" and they are tiny little stars, hearts, letters, circles, numbers etc. Zander was picking them up with his hands (they were plain for him) and was telling us what each shape was, I think he also enjoyed having something the same as us for dinner for once! Might be worth a try to see if you can get them?

**Netix** · October 15th, 2008, 02:31 PM

I still think you should take him to the dr. Just bite the bullet and go. You might feel worse if you hold off? Forget feeling like crap, it might help him feel better. Not having a go at you, okay? Just if his iron is low, it would be better that you discussed this with a professional. Don't ever be afraid of going to the dr, the worst they can say is there isn't anything to worry about, but don't feel silly or bad for going.

Can't remember if its been mentioned or not, but egg? Hard or soft boiled spooned straight out of the shell is a bit of a novelty if you take the top of the shell off.

Watermelon is a good choice for brekky, but there really isn't anything in it of nutritional value, aside from water. But if its that or nothing, then I guess it has to do.

Re not being happy with toast instead of biscuits, he will eat if he is hungry, as you say he may be filling up of milk. My Mum says hunger is the best chef.

But do take the little tike to the dr, okay?

**squidipa** · October 16th, 2008, 12:38 PM

Just letting ya know i sent email with recipe in it k

**Von** · October 16th, 2008, 12:46 PM

Now I feel like a crap mum...dd when she was younger had awful black rings under her eyes and she was also a terrible eater i just thought she was not getting enough sleep...oh well she has made it to 4 so obviously i did something right..lol..

I jave not read through all the posts but my ds is a very fussy eater and will not eat meet actually he wont eat anything unles sit is blended i feel awful that i am blending my 18 months old food still but i figure better blended like mush rather then him not eating, so maybe that is worth ago for you...

and remember you are not a crap mum it is not like you are delibratly not giving your ds food there is only so much we as mums can do we can't force them to eat...trust me on that i have trie dit and well it did not work just caused lots of tears for ds and me and a very big mess afterwards

gbh to you

**Arimeh** · October 16th, 2008, 12:55 PM

Well I haven't taken him to the doc yet - I know I know - but its hard when my husband has the car during the week, and if Miss M doesnt' wake up till later in the morning - he's already left and i'm carless!!!! And I don't really fancy walking up and down one of the steepest hills on the sunny coast with a toddler in the pram and a 2 month old in the ergo!!! I'll see if we can get an appointment on Saturday.

Yesterday was a horrible day - not food wise - but he is just so cranky and irritable all the time - and I find myself yelling at him all the time.. and then I feel like the worst mother and just want to go and hide!!!

He didn't eat any breakfast this morning - at all - he played in his weetbix, had maybe a sip of milk, and drank 1/4 of his sippy cup of (heavily diluted) juice. Didn't even give his toast a look in.

I tried Sarah's suggestion of fairy bread the last few days - he had a little triangle and then chucked a tantie

I always have fresh fruit out on the table and I just let him graze between meals - but most of it goes to waste.

Last night was weird though - he didn't want his dinner (pasta with grated cheese - still a no go!) but then a few hours later when i was making his lunch for day care today - he wanted a vegemite sandwich - and ate 1 and a half sandwiches!!!! Plus some apple (before he choked on it cos he was lying down eating it even though we told him not to) and some of the vegies in the squeezy bag thing...

So that was the most he had eaten for AGES of a night time!!!!! And he didn't wake up either till 6am (had a brief wake up at 10 but that was cos his sister was going mental) so i think most of his wake ups of a night time is because he is starving!!!!!

I'm going to do up my fried rice tonight for his dinner - see if he will eat that.... may as well try!!!!

Squidipa - yup I got them - thanks

I am trying all the hints in here - so keep em coming if you can..