Toddler not interested in new foods

[mummato1]

DS2 is an ok eater, he will eat what he knows and likes.. but getting him to try anything new seems to be a no go. It only started at about 18 months, before that he was a great eater!

Breakfast is usually always weetbix, maybe very occassional he might have toast

Lunch at c/c - they know he wont eat anything off the menu except for the pureed veggies so they put aside a bowl of veggies, offer him what is on the menu which he will always refuse and then he will eat the veggies. Mixed veggies, but he will only eat them pureed. At home its usually a sandwich or ricecakes.

Dinner - is hit or miss, if its chicken nuggest or crumbed fish 90% of the time he will eat them. Other than that (and pureed veggies) he just will not try anything! I am not too fussed if he has had lunch at c/c if he has a sandwich for dinner.

He will not even taste anything new, we try to not make a big deal of it, we offer what we are having and if he refuses he will get down from the table. I have tried telling him he will have no dinner, but he isnt fazed. But he will come back 30 min laster asking for a sandwich.

He is great at the supermarket, loves to say all the veggies and we really get him involved. Its the same in the kitchen, he loves helping out but will still not eat what we have made together. Yesterday we made pizza dough, and then pizza he was so excited.. but come sitting down to eat he would not touch it! Was the same when we made pumpkin soup the other day.

I am just worried about setting up bad habits! Is this just a toddler phase? Does anyone have any tips on what has worked for them?

[Gigi]

Just subbing, i need to hear the replies (in need of ANY suggestions for my child too). My 4.5yo HAPPILY makes pizzas with me, then won't eat it once it's cooked.

[belfie]

Mine too!!

Except in our case it's everything potato, bread & meat! Oh and fruit. But heaven forbid he should actually eat a green or red vegetable!

[kelebek]

Toddlers go through a stage where evolution has taught them not to try new foods because when they started crawling if they ate the strange berry they could die. So there is an instinctual thing not to want to try new things.

There is a couple of things to consider 1) does your LO have any sensory issues? for eg a friend of mine's boy would only eat white things and it had to be round.

I agree don't make tea a battle but you need to be consistant, so if you are going to go with the no dinner rule then don't give a sandwhich, he know's that he will get that (I know that was another pp response but it is the same thing). If you are happy for him to have the sandwhich then give that to him at tea time. I was doing this and then realised it was becoming really common and had to stop so it wasn't the norm. If we have a tea that I know he won't eat (my DS doesn't like mince) then I will let him have other food.

About dinner/tea evening meal (just to avoid confusion ) sometimes my DS is just too tired to eat much and just isn't hungry. I find if I feed him earlier with less snacks closer to tea (regardless of teatime in relation to snacks) then he will eat more.

Ironically we never gave DS purees and now he doesn't like mush at all, so won't eat potatoe or pumpkin.


*shrug* it is hard and while my DS is a fairly good eater there are lot's of things he won't eat. Watching my sisters boys they do grow out of it

[~Kim~]

It is a toddler phase. It will end. But like you I'd be worried about setting up a pattern I wasn't keen to continue.

Totally agree with Kelebek about consistency. I'm up to my second quirky toddler and it's the one thing I have learned. I wouldn't offer a sandwich nor the option of pureed veges TBH. He's not trying anything because he knows you will give him what he prefers. Same with cooking him a different dinner. He won't starve, I promise. We only serve a different dinner if it's something they seriously cannot eat like a vindaloo.
I totally get that you're happy with the pureed veges because it means he's getting something 'good', but TBH most 12 monthers don't need mashed food, so a much older child (without any side issues) certainly does not.
I truly think you're going about the enthusiasm and helping thing exactly the right way. Toddlers need up to 10 exposures of new stuff to be familiar with it, then there's the same amount to decide whether they like it or not. Just because your little guy doesn't want to try it right now in his "I'm going to dig my heels in cos I'm a mighty toddler!" phase, doesn't mean he won't in the future.

[mummato1]

thanks.. I am not sure about sensory issues, not idea really what to even look for tbh!??

I am also finding he is so tired by dinner time, but at the moment (hopefully not for much longer) both DF and I are working f/t and we dont get home till 6pm.. so by then he is over tired, probably past hungry and just ready for bed.

I do sometimes wonder if it may have something to do with his teeth, he was a very very late getting teeth (18months) and he still only has 7 (at 25 months!).

Hmmm I think you right I think DF and I need to sit down and decide on a way forward and being consistent with it.

[kelebek]

Oh yeah teething never helps, he was always fussier, didn't eat as much when he teethed (and who can blame them when it must hurt to eat)

Maybe a chat with a GP about food/sensory issues is a good step as well (I know that's where my friend picked it up - she had soo much going on that it took until her 2nd child to realise his eating habits weren't normal)

Goodluck

[Gigi]

yeah, Sensory Processing Disorder has been suggested to me too, as the reason why my 4.5yo is so into purees and mince and yogurt, at the expense of food you actually have to chew and masticate. My DD would happily survive on the Rafferty's Garden puree tubes if i let her. So i KNOW she likes the taste of vegies, but will only eat them, if in that pureed state, in the tube from the shop. My home pureed veg version she will not touch.

I'm trying the "one meal, eat it or don't eat" mode, THIS week. Again. Not sure how long before i cave. When she boycotts lunch, then boycotts dinner, i get the guilts so bad.

Then kindy tell me, "if she won't eat lunch (she rarely does), they give her bread eventually" - and even when i said i don't want her being given the bread, their stance is, she needs SOMETHING to get her thru the day. And i can see their point. She boycotts morning fruit time, afternoon fruit time and most snacks. So some days, the ONLY thing she's eating at kindy, is the bread.

She looks so darn healthy, just very small for her age. The being on the edge of constipation (due to no fruit or veg) is the thing that makes me so anxious. Plus, i would just like to realise, food is an enjoyable part of life, such a nice way to get all the nutrients and vitamins essential for her growth. Her not eating, is very anti=social too, makes me feel like the bad mum who can't get her own child to eat, when all the other kids are happily eating SOMETHING.

mummato1 - what you said about not getting home until 6pm - noticing WHEN your child is hungry is pretty big. My child's window for eating is 5 - 5.30pm. i know if i don't offer her food in that timeslot, i have an uphill battle (more than usual, haha). So if we're going to be in transit, when i know her normal eating time is, i pack a lunchbox meal, and let her have that in the car. Your son is prolly too young for that, but i just wanted to share, that feeding at the time when THEY are hungry, had more success for us, than feeding her when it suited our adult ideas/schedules. I'm guessing you don't have many options, when you're just trying to do the get home commute. My guess is your little man has gone past "hungry" by the time you get home. That is a hard one to work around. Is the CCC close to your work? or closer to your home? Is there any possibility of feeding him dinner at the CCC (either in the actual centre, or outside, sitting in your car)? Not ideal i know, but it's all i could think of.

i discovered my own child's hungry timeslot, back in the days, when i desperately wanted us to "eat together as a family". So that meant waiting until her father was home and ready to eat. Which often meant 6 - 6.30pm. That didn't work for her at all, so i had to let go of my plan, give up on eating together as a family, so that she could eat when she was actually hungry. I could never work out, previously, why she got so ratty, early evening. It turned out, that ratty behaviour, was her being hungry. So i fed her earlier, her behaviour didn't escalate. Seems so obvious to me now, but i had other stuff going on back then, coudln't see the obvious.

Everything i read about Fussy Eaters, all the "the child can try a new food up to 12 times, before they like it" crack me up. Virtually every veg and fruit, i have offered to her hundreds, if not 1,000's of times. She has done the "one bite" of brocolli so many times, still refuses to eat it unless it's in the Rafferty's tube (which i refuse to buy / give her now).

[Miss.September]

I'm needing help too. Last night I was at my wits end with it, DH and I had a fight over it out of frustration, and then I bawled

My problem is she's so clever. She used to eat pasta sauce (not the spaghetti, just the sauce). So I started to hide vegies in it. Now she won't eat it at all, even though the vegies are hidden. Mashed potato has now become the same thing, used to love it and it was our vegie staple. Made the mistake of trying to hide zucchini in it - she won't touch it, even when it's straight mash. She eats very bland food and won't try anything new. She loves blueberry muffins. We got her one yesterday that had raspberries in it too. She ate a mouthful and then refused to eat the rest. But constantly asks for things. Tomatoes. Cucumber. She won't even eat cheese at the moment. So at the moment, we have a toddler (with great communication skills) who won't eat fruit or vegetables at all and only eats bland food. I feel your pain, mummato1

[Gigi]

i tried to bribe bilby, to have a bite of a strawberry. I bribed her with a chocolate bar. Didn't work. She is so determined NOT to eat fruit, not even a choc bar got her to take one lousy bite of a strawberry. Yet she loves strawberry yogurt. I guess it's the sensory thang at work again.

[Kmn]

Have you tried the picnic option - for some silly reason my DS is much happier to try new things when he is either at the park or at someone elses house or at a cafe.

We try and have a "you must try it before you tell me you don't like it" rule.
If he tries it and doesn't like it then he can have something else (but not a favourite thing, just an OK thing). No substitute until things get tried.

Gigi - for the constipation, have you tried things like sultana bran buds, or the tiny weetbix - as "biscuits". They're probably not as healthy as fruit, but they do contain a lot of fiber.

[Swoop]

We have similar issues here and have seen a dietician who has confirmed texture aversion (most likely caused by reflux, which appears to be quite common it appears) which has caused all sorts of problems as meat is her biggest issue and she ended up severely iron deficient. We've also got the added complication of food allergies and possible intolerance meaning a severely restricted diet anyway (nuts, dairy and wheat are all out right now). We don't have the purée only issue, but only because we did BLW, and I thank my lucky stars for that one small mercy on a regular basis!

I've done a couple of things which have helped a bit. Firstly the chiro looked at her palate as she had a pretty strong gag reflex. On the two occasions she had it adjusted I noticed a massive difference in her gagging and as a result she will now eat some foods that she would point blank refuse previously. Secondly, we have done some texture therapy - not related to eating, so gradually persuading her she really didn't need socks on all the time, stroking her face with fabrics and talking about the feel, mixing cakes with her hands, putting her feet into bowls of dried lentils, rice etc. Thirdly, we go through this 'game' with her eating - 'can you touch the beef with your finger, well done... Can you pick it up in your hand, wow you're so clever, can you touch your lip with it, well done, can you lick it?' At this point, nine times out of ten she now takes a bite, chews and swallows and gets a huge cheer. Recently she's started doing this process herself without prompting and giving herself a cheer. Not how I particularly want to parent but I never envisaged ever having a kid who is fussy over food and certainly not who has suffered some fairly severe health issues because of it so I'm happy to do it for the results.

It's been a slow old game, and frustrating often, but I am noticing small results over time... baby steps. I'm not sure if this will help all of you, but if you're considering sensory issues maybe it will. Just wanted to post and say that I feel your pain though.

[mummato1]

Wow thank you so much for all of your replies!

I had a look at sensory issues on line, and I dont think that is it as he will happily eat when he wants to.. offer him chicken nuggets (real not processed) or crumbed fish he will devour it. He did finally eat a sausage on the weekend too.

I tried the bed without dinner option last night and it didnt work... and honestly it doesnt sit well with me. We got him involved in dinner again and he was all excited.. sat down at the big table with DF and I and the first thing he did was push the plate away! He flat out refused to even taste it, so he got down, got back up looked at it pushed it away again. We explained to him that was his dinner and he wouldnt be given anything else... we then played a bit of a game where he would tell me what veggie I had and then I would eat it... still nothing.

About 30 minutes later he wanted yoghurt, so I got out his dinner from the fridge and he LOST it! I said yes to yoghurt (instead of just saying no) but he would have to have some dinner first.. nope nothing just tears.

Another 10 minutes later he was saying he was hungry and was again upset, so DF gave him some toast and yoghurt.. Refusing him food just doesnt seem right for me. Maybe I am just trying to many new things at once...

I just dont know how to handle this situation. He is also now refusing lunch at c/c so he cant not eat at dinner as well.

thanks Gigi.. maybe thats an idea, cc is closer to work (about 20 minutes from home) so I could probably pack a lunch box, but the things I would pack for lunch are the things he would probably happily eat at home - sandwiches, fruit etc. Maybe I could try some veggie muffins or slice. Hopefully me working fulltime wont be for long.. it really isnt working for us very well at all.

swoop - thanks for the suggestions.. I think I will give that a go tonight, getting him to touch and play with food. I did try it last night and he wouldnt play along, but he was also pretty cranky by that stage.

Kmn - doesnt seem to work, even the try it line doesnt work.. or the just have one bite, nope stubborn little man!

PacRak - its so frustrating, but I am trying so hard to not make meal times a drama.. as I know that isnt going to help either!!