To just stop offering DD breakfast and lunch?

My oldest did that
Or i would tell him it waa Daddys and he was not alloweed to to eat Daddys tea ,worked a treat and he ate the lot.

Bloody hell you are so rude, wtf?! You haven't paid these people for solutions you know, its a chat forum, calm down, jeez. This responder was expressing disapproval that you let a 3 year old not eat. I agree with them. You are in charge. The 3 year old isn't. You are being more assertive with total strangers on here than you are with your own non-compliant toddler. I've raised 5 kids including fussy eaters. Firm voice, you are NOT getting down from that table until you have eaten your breakfast. There. Explained how you avoid it. Bet you don't bloody like it though! (I know my no-nonsense approach won't go down well with the gentle parenting generation but she's 31 now, alive and well and likes to batch cook!). Its not all unicorns and rainbows. You are making a rod for your own back if she already doesn't have to do as she's told.

Why do you consider broccoli an adult taste? Lots of babies and children like broccoli.

My 5 year old little girl is the same. She’ll eat her breakfast every morning though, usually porridge or a slice of toast, banana and yoghurt. But then she’ll flat out refuse her lunch and dinner, maybe 2 mouthfuls of each meal at best. She’s tall and very slim but looks healthy and has plenty energy. She’s been weighed at school (routine for every child) and is a normal weight. Do not let this stress you out, I have no concerns about it with my daughter, they’ll eat when they’re hungry and I would only be worried if she was lethargic or looked drained, pale etc. thousands of little ones have tiny appetites, please don’t worry!

Very similar here. I had a very limited diet up until i was about 17, was picky/fussy as all get out until well into my 20s.

There is stuff i can't/won't eat now, but i work around it and eat quite a varied diet in my 40s, but i still have some sensory/texture issues with some foods. i eat a much more varied diet than anyone else in the household. my trial is my adhd likes to obsess about a food/meal, then will randomly go off it and i can't touch it again for months.

I have one child (DS19) with full blown ARFID, with a real fear of new foods/smells thrown in and who won't even look at food not on his safe list, and eats about 5 meals and nothing else. we've made some breakthroughs in the last month and added back in two old safe foods that he suddenly stopped eating. (yay)
and one (DD17)who has a very limited diet but doesn't react to other people eating food she doesn't like... she probably qualifies for ARFID but is easier to feed and will make her own meals.

TBH.. even my own mum is borderline for it, but her issues are mostly texture related.

@turkishdeelitee what is her appetite like at dinner time? Does she eat well?

if she does, I’d try not to worry. Children need less calories than we think they do and she may just not be hungry. You did say some days she eats a morning snack and some lunch.. so chances are she’s eating when she’s hungry and not bothering when she’s not.

Get her checked out at the GP/HV and if all is well, keep offering, keep it breezy then try not to worry. Chances are in six months you’ll be worrying about something else.

You can get nitrate free ham if that’s a concern. Bearfields is one brand but there are others too.

Just don’t let her have any cartoons (or whatever - ‘start to the day’, can’t go to nursery/play/the park/outside etc) until she’s had breakfast. Doesn’t have to be big but it needs to be something. It’s like brushing teeth or putting on a seatbelt. Non negotiable.

You might find that when she is sitting with other small children all eating their lunch she copies what they are doing and eats hers, or some of it at least. It can sometimes happen like this.

I love Billy bear 😍

One of mine would never eat her own food but would eat mine 🙄so I use to just put our food together on one plate so that she thought it was my food she's eating. Does she show interest in what your eating?

@turkishdeelitee

Would she be interested in the Billy Bear sliced meat, OP? It might appeal to her at breakfast time.

https://grocerytrader.co.uk/iconic-billy-bear-celebrates-40-years-with-a-brand-new-look-supported-by-golden-acre-foods/

I suspect the OP was hangry when she started this thread.

What a snotty overeaction. What is extremely ignorant is not offering your 2 year old food from the moment she wakes until dinner time. I think that is called neglect....rather I know it is.

My food issues are nowhere near as severe as ds (and they are also the reason I made sure to expose ds to a massive range of foods from a young age which worked til be was 5!) but as a child I went though a phase of eating nothing but corned beef (yuck!) and another of only eating Asda waffles! My parents rightly didn’t make a fuss and in my case I now eat a normal varied diet with just a few sensory based issues.

will you stop repeating that.

children can and do starve themselves.

it is dangerous to keep repeating what is an outright falsehood.

When my eldest was little she hardly ate anything. She was basically surviving on cereal, plain pasta, yoghurts and cucumber at one point. I have no idea why she went through this phase. She is fine though and ended up eating normally. I would just note down what she does like to eat and give her that so at least she is having something.

When will people stop posting shite like “no child ever starved themselves” sadly that isn’t true and for some children they very much will.

My son basically got through childhood on grazing plates that are left out whist he was playing/tottering around. He's 11 now and not great with food but had a solid set of meals and snacks he will eat thankfully.
Mealtimes used to be frustrating, he wouldn't eat anything but when I was just left out he would grab bits every now and again.

OP. All you have to remember, is, no child ever starved themselves.
when she’s old enough get all the checks done.
How are her teeth? Always a good indicator if something is not as it should be.

Would she eat it if she helped make it

A friend said her child was a poor eater, she’d invited my son for tea with his friend's, and while I was there, her son went into a cupboard in the kitchen by himself and helped himself to lots of chocolate.

I asked him if he’d asked his mum, and he said he was allowed.

Hence why he didn’t each much real food.

Hi OP sorry I haven’t read the whole thread but I’m wondering if getting her involved in making the meal in an age appropriate way might help? My step kids, albeit a few years older at the time really started eating more and a wider variety when we got them helping in the kitchen. Good luck x

If she regularly eats nothing until teatime I would speak to your GP. They might tell you she's fine and getting enough calories from her evening meal, or she might need to see someone.

My niece is under a pediatrician for this reason. He prescribed a special milkshake to try and get the correct nutrients into my her, but he also advised them to forget about UPFs and offer anything she might eat (only limiting sweets). His reasoning was that it's more damaging for issues around eating to persist than to allow less than ideal foods. It was tricky for my niece's parents who naturally want her to eat healthy food, but it does slowly seem to be helping her eat more.

My DD was never a breakfast fan. I used to package her toast up and we’d sit in the car before nursery so she could eat some then. You’ve probably tried this but maybe leaving some plates with different snack-type foods for her? Or if you’re really concerned, kids in my experience often chomp away without even noticing it while the tv is on…