Please can I have your suggestions - what am I doing wrong??????????

[Lukesmammy]

My ds was weaned at 5.5 months - all lovely organic and homemade purees which were wolfed down with no problems.

Teething started to get worse at around 6 months with DS refusing all of my lovely home cooked food. Out of desperation, I tried reverting to jars which he ate with gusto so continued with that.

Skip to the past few months and started refusing those too! Moved onto BLW, DS was already eating finger foods such as toast so just started adapting that a bit and giving steamed veg and stuff like chicken alongside jars. No real interest in veg, meat or jars but continued eating toast and rusks!!!

Out of desperation to try and get something other that bread into him - I once tried with a fishfinger which he refused at first but now loves. Tried with a chicken dipper in order to get meat into him which he also loves.

Problem I now have though is that he refuses to eat anything other that fishfingers and chicken dippers!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obviously, not what I want my nearly 12 month old to be eating every day but he point blank REFUSES to eat anything but.

He will eat toast at breakfast, maybe a bit of sandwhich for lunch followed by yoghurt or fruit pot and then fishfingers for tea.

I have tried nearly everything I can think of - all types of fruit cut into fingers - not interested, sweet potato cut into wedges - same, strips of meat, pasta, chunks of cheese, serving his fishfingers with babycorn, peas etc etc with the end result always being the same - everything else goes on the floor except the fingers or dippers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What am I doing wrong? He simply will not try and eat anything else - I've sat on the floor and made picnic lunches, he eats with us on an evening and will touch the food on my plate out of interset but just clamps his lips shut.

Is this a phase - do any other MN's have the same problem???

Am getting concerned now, this has been going on for about 2 months!!

[Lukesmammy]

Anybody? Sorry about the long post but I would really appreciate some advice if any others have been in the same situation?

[moopymoo]

both mine were the same - would eat lovely homemade purees at first and then ..nothing jaws clamped shut. It is stressful i remember it well.
ds1 is now 10 and didnt starve - he now eats a great diet and hates fast food.
ds2 is 3 and still very faddy.
how about trying home made fishfingers and homemade dippers? it does sound like the salt in shop bought is very attractive to him. but actually his diet is not terrible at all, if a bit limited. sweetcorn and cucumber and apple are the only fruit and veg ds would eat for literally years.

[PhDlifeNeedsaNewLife]

lukesmammy, I've got no experience to share with you, but I do remember reading in a couple different places that you might have to offer the same thing around a dozen times before it started getting taken!

good luck...

[Lukesmammy]

Thanks Ladies - had another similar day today with pasta and sweetcorn getting chucked on the floor in favour of chicken dippers.

He very nearly ate a slice of strawberry though!

Good idea about making my own - the salt thing stresses me out a great deal - what I do though is make sure that what he eats through the day has v v v low salt/sodium content so that I know if he has 2 or 3 dippers at tea time it won't take him over his 'allowance' of 1g a day.

My plan is to make my own and also cunningly hide vegetables in the mix!