Is this normal re toddler not trying foods?

[mamakim]

My ds is 16 months. He will eat toast with peanut butter or cheese, quiche, chips, roast parsnips, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, cheese sandwiches, yogurts, crackers, bananas, fruit sweetened cereal bars, digestive biscuits, crumpets. Think that is it. And seriously that is ALL he will eat. He will not let my feed him by the way. I regulary try him with other things but he tantrums and shakes his head wildly. I'm not overly concerned as i know toddlers are strange creatures. I just want reassurance that this is normal behaviour really. Sorry about the one long paragraph, on my phone.

[EffiePerine]

normal. Just keep offering and he'll prob surprise you one day

you can also try a few sneaky things like roasted veggies in chip shapes

[littleboyblue]

Definately normal. He's discovering what he likes and dilikes and also figuring out how to push your buttons too.

[MissKubelik]

yes sounds like my DD

it's not an unhealthy selection of food so nothing to worry about I reckon. Just keep offering different things alongside what he likes - eg some chunks of tomato and cucumber on the plate with the cheese sandwich, and one day he might decide to try one...

[MegBusset]

Sounds very normal to me. DS (21mo) will eat a reasonable range of snacky/finger foods (toast, fruit etc) but the only veg he will eat on its own is peas or sweetcorn and he has the same 5 or 6 hot meals in rotation for tea. I try not to worry too much although I am very of friends whose DC eat whatever's put in front of them!

[edam]

Entirely normal. There's an evolutionary thing that crops up at this stage - toddlers become much more sensitive to the bitter flavours in vegetables. Supposed to be to stop them wandering off in the forest and trying all those brightly coloured berries back when we were hunter-gatherers.

[mumof2andabit]

I hope its normal my 2.6yo is just the same!

[rookiemater]

Totally normal, but don't fall into the trap that I did of only giving him the food he eats. Keep offering him a variety of foods along with the things he is comfortable with and hopefully he will get better in time.

Also could be teething and not that hungry so only happy to eat the stuff he likes.

[thatsnotmymonster]

As others have said just keep offering other stuff and he will surprise you.

I always gave dd1 the same as ds even though she wouldn't touch it- then she started eating tomatoes, then ham, then cucumber, then fishfingers etc. (this was after maybe 6-12 mths of offering it!)

[PinkPussyCat]

edam - That is itriguing! I also have a 16mo ds who, up until about 3 weeks ago would have eaten anything at all. It was as if someone had suddenly flipped a switch and now we are down to weetabix, bananas, toast & philly, fish fingers or spaghetti bolognese. If I offer him something other than these he absolutely FREAKS and gets himself so upset that he cannot eat at all.

I can't bear the thought of him NOT eating so for the last couple of weeks have stuck to only the things he likes. I know, I know.

Apologies for hijack mamakim! Let's hope they sort themselves out soon

[mamakim]

Thank you everyone. Sorry it's taken me a while to reply. Feel alot better knowing my ds isn't the only one.

[PinkPussyCat]

How's it going mamakim? Has ds tried any new foods lately?

[PinkPussyCat]

(well, at least since you posted! Yesterday feels a long way off now)

[mamakim]

Hi pinkpussycat, nope he's barely ate anything the last couple of days. He has a cold, think he might have a sore throat because he only wants milk and yogurts. How's your ds doing?

[PinkPussyCat]

Aw bless him. Ds had some tangerine segments and half a cherry tomato at toddlers. I am encouraged because this is the first 'new' food he's tried in 3 or 4 weeks, and he seemed to like it. Annoyingly, he then went on to try to eat almost all of the plastic 'play' food they have there, and got in a right state when he couldn't eat it! GAH!

I never thought I'd be the type to get my knickers in a twist about such things

Hope your ds feels better soon

[mamakim]

Lol i've had the same thing with ds and plastic food at toddler group. If i put the real thing infront of him he'd go crazy. Oh i have actually found another thing he'll eat, litte m&s feta cheese and herb pasties. He loves them. He's an odd child.

[PinkPussyCat]

Ah yes, but there NOT JUST feta cheese & herb pasties are they?

[PinkPussyCat]

they're

[rookiemater]

DS loves M&S childrens spaghetti bolognaise, but refuses to eat mine. Blinkin annoying.

[PinkPussyCat]

[rookiemater]

Don't go down that route ppc. Costs a blinkin fortune, but I'm just so happy to see him eating a balanced meal even if it is a ding (microwave)dinner. Used to love the Easy Peasy Rice as well, but not so keen since I have tried to recreate a homemade version.

[PinkPussyCat]

hehe! Don't worry rookie, I never made it to M&S. Ds will have to learn there's a credit crunch and stick with home-made for the time being