I want to tear my hair out arrrgghhh

for the last month or so ds has been on the steady slope towards becoming a VERY fussy eater!!! I am at a loss as to what to do..

Up until now, I have NEVER had any problems with him eating,he ate anything and everything. He never complained, whinged or cried, but just over night it seems he does not want ANYTHING!!

He won't eat his favourites (Lasagne, canalloni, rissoles, vegies,fruit etc), infact he is refusing to eat anything we put in front of him.

Meal times are becomming a nightmare as I try to remain calm and act normal when he refuses his breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We always eat meals as a family, nothing has changed in his routine. I have tried getting him to help me make the meals, shop for the food to make it with, serving himself from a comunal platter, making it look appetising, giving him a choice in what he wants etc etc, he just won't eat it! He will tell me he wants something, I will make it for him, then he tells me nooo i don't like it or I don't want it... aaarrrggghhhh :wall::wall::wall::wall:

Each day is getting harder and harder to try and ignore it and not make a big deal out of it, but i need to know WHY??? Why all of a sudden is he refusing to eat anything?? what has changed, how can I fix it? it is getting worse each day.

The only things I can think of is he is getting 2 molars and he did have a vomiting/runny poo bug for the last week but why would this make him say no to EVERYTHING 1 month before hand???
PLEASE HELP BEFORE I TEAR MY HAIR OUT!

I have even started smoking again :o and I haven't had a ciggarette in over 3 years!

no advice just big :hug:
x x

Ahhh... cos he's a toddler - and this is what they do? LOL

Seriously, try not to let it bother you, get some multivitamins for him if you are worried about his vitamin intake - but its a phase, and mostly every toddler will go through it at some stage, so just try to relax and ride it out.

I've always found that pretending to steal their food off their plate usually gets them to eat one mouthful though ;)

DS is the same, but I can tell you we are starting to come out the other side, finally!
Arimeh is right, it's a phase that they go through and it will pass. When DS was at his worst, I used to give him those "up and go" liquid breakfasts, V8 juice (has 1 serve of fruit and 1 of veg in each glass) and multi vitamins too.
Big :hug: to you, I know how frustrating it is!

Yep..todddler's who'd have them :lol:
My 3.5yr old only eats meat and pasta, not a single vegetable. DS1 is a different story again, only vegetables and pasta an no meat :doh:
The only thing I can suggest is give him what you know he will eat for sure, there is usally a fail safe meal and offer that at his tiredest time.
DS2 has a pretty bland diet and he is a very happy healthy contented toddler. Thank goodness for yoghurt and fruit.
I gave up on fighting, it was just too stressful and like you would dread meal times.
He will turn a corner and just all the sudden start eating (what? your guess is as good as mine)..that I can be certain of.
Hope he starts turning the corner for you soon :hug:

thanks for the replies ladies..

All that i have been offering him are his 'fail safe' meals and he won't eat them, flat out refuses. In fact all he has eaten today is a tub of yoghurt and 1/2 piece of toast.

We even made chocolate cupcakes today (A total treat for him, as usually I just make healthy muffins), he helped mix them and decorate them, and yet he totally refused to eat one, wouldn't even take a bite, and that is a huge thing as it is really not like him at all because when I rarely make treats like that, he will scoff them down and be asking for more :(

I guess i'm just upset and worried because it was litteraly overnight that he started this and its getting worse :(

Thanks for the V8 juice suggestion GG, i will try that and maybe the multi vitamin, but not sure how to get that into him.

:hug: Sirenz, awful aren't they at times?
My miss very nearly 4 does this on a regular basis. For the most part she's wonderful and will eat or try anything, but some phases make you want to cry.
FWIW he will never let himself starve, and secondly teeth move a lot before they appear and molars suck big time so it still may be that.

The molars could have something to do with it, but I think its more about discovering an area where he can say "no". My DS, who is 6 months younger than yours, has started to behave similarly, so I've been doing some research on it. The main answers I've found are that they are developing their own wills and learning to say 'no' and wanting to control things- food is one area of their life where they have some control, so they exercise it to the max.

Most of the advice I have found seems to be along the lines of 'you decide what they eat, and they decide how much', and that a toddler will not starve themselves. For me, I mainly try to give DS foods I know he likes, and if he doesn't eat them, well, that's his choice. He doesn't get anything else at that meal time (except some extra milk before bed). I have some multi-vitamins for the fussy periods as well.

I hope its a passing phase too- it sure is trying!!!

hmmm ds is at daycare today and the ladies there said he looks like he has lost weight.. they haven't seen him for a week.

I have got him into the drs tomorrow morning, hopefully she can shed some light on the subject, because my mummy instincs are telling me something is not quite right and it could be more than just a phase... I do so hope it is just a phase and not something physically wrong :( My poor lil man

oh I hope not hun :hug: keep us posted.

Oh no! You're so right to trust your mummy instincts- I suppose if he's refusing chocolate muffins, perhaps something isn't right. I sure hope its nothing, or nothing serious. Hugs to you and your little man.

How did u go at the docs Sirenz? I hope all is ok :hug:

hello ladies. thanks for all of your replies in this thread. I'm happy to announce that ds is now eating normally again and it seems the virus he had is what was causing him to not eat at all. I am awaiting poo sample results, but at the moment ds is almost back to normal :) I just can't express how relieved I am, as I was sooo worried that there was something seriously wrong with him, but turns out just the virus.

thanks again everyone :)

That's great news!!

Woohoo! That'ss awesome news- what a relief!