2 year old doesn't want savoury foods or normal meals anymore

[PlacesIGo]

I know it's a story as old as time, and I know they're always going through phases... so trying not to be overly concerned. However, my son's food fussy phase seems to be lasting for ages and ages!! I'd say it's been going on at least 3 months.

He's 2 (25 months if relevant) and before this phase he basically ate everything! All the family meals I cooked plus all the usual toddler fare, homemade stuff, normal homemade dinners, normal lunches - everything home-cooked or at nursery. We avoided added sugar till 18 months so he's not had an overload of sweet things, though he's enjoyed a few ice creams over the heatwave.

Nowadays he refuses almost all savoury foods, main meals etc, both at nursery and at home. He will eat bread but not a normal hot dinner. He's stopped eating vegetables, or veg sticks, and has gone off eggs. He's basically refusing all savoury meals. He's also refusing his usual cup of milk before bed so now I don't know how to sneak the multivitamin into him.

He will eat bread, houmous, cream cheese (but not when spread on bread!), berries, apples, homemade healthy muffins (made with mashed banana and flax seeds rather than sugar), fruity yoghurt, banana pancakes etc. and ice lollies made with fruit juice when allowed!

As per health visitors advice I continue to offer up a plate of food knowing he won't want it. I usually include an element on the plate I know he will eat just so I know he's getting something. But it's far from a balanced diet.

Is there anything else I can do? Did anyone else's 2 year old go through a lengthy phase of fussiness having previously gobbled up a wide range of foods?

Following as I'm in the same boat with my 2 year old, so sorry no advice. I keep cooking, keep offering but 9 times outta 10 it's either left or thrown on the floor. He won't even eat yogurt now despite it having been a staple since he was 6 months 🙄 just another joyful side to toddlerhood, hopefully will pass soon.

In my experience it is a phase that lasts a couple of years. Previously enjoyed foods rejected, anything new which isn't a recognisable pudding or a familiar type of nugget is refused. It is soul destroying and wasteful. I went with serving up meals unless I knew they really did not like it, with something on the side like a slice of baguette or cheese. Slowly slowly they start to broaden what they try again.

Oh gosh @Floydthebarber that's really depressing / shocking! A few years!

This happened with one of ours many years ago. The DR advised to not serve him anything but just sit him at the table when we ate ours.
He looked round puzzled and asked where his was. We basically said he wasn' t going to eat it anyway so we decided not to serve it. He made a fuss and said he wanted some, which he immediately ate.

Now I know this is a risky thing to do and I don't know if I'd do it again, but it sure worked in my case.

They do this, little buggers. Both of mine weaned beautifully, ate everything that was offered. Then stopped. For no logical or obvious reason other than they could.
It lasted til eldest was about 4, she's still quite fussy but we manage to get by. My nearly 3 year old presently eats plain pasta, beige freezer foods and ice lollies. They are surviving, I can't give it any more headspace. Just give them a multi vitamin every day and keep persevering.

Same here, she used to eat kale, avocado, quinoa (sobs into my lace hanky). She seems fine though and nearing three has had the odd omelette recently. Its gone on for a year.

We’ve gone with not making a fuss and just plating dinner up, she started eating a bit of salmon again (not a lot but it didn’t all end up in the bin which is a win). I think you just ride it out and let him keep seeing you eat what you want him to eat.

Oh gosh it sounds like we are in for a long phase!

I think sometimes they eat so much at nursery they're just not that hungry by the time they get home. Some nurseries do toast, then morning tea, then lunch, then afternoon tea.

He may just have stopped growing. They grow sooo much between newborn and two and you feel like you have to feed them all the time. As their growth slows down so does their need for food.

You've said,
"He will eat bread, houmous, cream cheese (but not when spread on bread!), berries, apples, homemade healthy muffins (made with mashed banana and flax seeds rather than sugar), fruity yoghurt, banana pancakes etc. and ice lollies made with fruit juice when allowed!"

That list is fine. He'll be fine. Don't give him the power of knowing you'll make a fuss if he doesn't eat. Just act super low key about all food.

Some toddler taste buds change so that lots of things taste bitter, it is a hang over from our hunter-gatherer days so that newly mobile children didn't eat the wrong thing.

It's a phase that will pass but lasts a while.

You can get kid multivitamins that taste like gummy sweets if that helps? I eat them.

It's easy to say but don't stress about it. Your job is to put the food in front of him. After that, leave him to it. If he doesn't eat remove without comment. If he's hungry an hour later serve it again. If not, just continue as normal with the next meal. Accept a fair amount of meals won't be eaten but don't try and drive yourself crazy predicting what he will eat on any given occasion.

Thanks for all the advice!

@Watchthesunrise I think what concerns me slightly is that from that list of foods he will eat, basically everything tastes sweet! Even at nursery he don't eat a savoury meal eg pasta bolognese which he used to love. He skips it and moves straight into pudding!

At home we don't have pudding, (we have fruit etc but no cakes or puddings). But he still leaves the whole of his dinner.

I'm okay about acting cool and not stressing in front of him. I just worry he's got the worlds biggest sweet tooth suddenly!

I have the same with now four year old, and yes sorry its been the last two years. Just keep offering. I'm generally pleased if she's eaten protein, fat and something green. I'm now hoping her horizons will be broadened again by school dinners, which worked with my older one as they get so hungry at school. My older daughter went through the same and now is much more adventurous with food.

The key is not reacting to it. Keep calm even if you're screaming JUST BLOODY EAT inside. And remove uneaten food without comment. Our middle DD was like this from around 3 to 7 and she was horribly underweight for a lot of this stage. But she did eventually come out the other side and I'm so glad that I never gave in. My other 2 thankfully ate anything and everything. My sister in law had 2 boys that existed on bread, sausages and sweet fromage frais for about 5 years. Both now strapping lads in their 20s and both over 6 foot.

Make his savoury foods sweeter until they become acceptable again: make pasta sauce with tomato, red peppers and carrots so it's as sweet as a dessert, for example, and see how he gets on.
It will pass, but you may need to mix up the sweet and savoury at mealtimes for a while to get him back in to main meals and put him off diving straight to the pudding.

Make his savoury foods sweeter until they become acceptable again: make pasta sauce with tomato, red peppers and carrots so it's as sweet as a dessert, for example, and see how he gets on.
It will pass, but you may need to mix up the sweet and savoury at mealtimes for a while to get him back in to main meals and put him off diving straight to the pudding.

Just give him sweet stuff for every meal. It worked for me when my niece was insisting on chocolate pudding at every meal. I just gave it to her for breakfast, Lunch and dinner. By day 3 she was sick to death of it and reverted to eating normally again. Or what the pp suggested about don't serve them anything as they won't eat it anyway. They'll kick off then when given their food they either have to eat it or lose face.

I have an 11 year old here who is still going through the phase! What would have been eaten 2 weeks ago is now on the no list, it's soul destroying serving the same things as you know it's the only thing they will eat. Luckily the 10 year old will eat everything and anything unless it's potatoes. Only in chip or waffle form 🤦‍♀️

When DD started this phase I didn't waiver at all. I'd say 'you don't have to eat it but you can sit with me while I eat mine'.

I didn't put any pressure on her to eat and then she started picking at bits on the plate, maybe out of boredom just sitting there while I ate.

One thing I did do was to make sure we had our main meal in good time as she was more likely to eat it if she wasn't tired and hungry (which is counterintuitive). Once they're tired and hungry everything is harder work in my experience. This meant me eating my evening meal a good hour or two before I would choose (I'm lucky that I'm self employed so my work time is flexible) but on balance I think worked better than her having her dinner on her own as meant she had an example to follow and that mealtimes were sociable rather than her sitting with a plate of food when no one else is.

Mine are teens now but I remember this stage because it caused so much tension with my Now ExH. I started to put food on serving plates and distracted them with the faff of serving yourself. They liked the ritual and then i could say 'but you chose it, so need to try some of it'. I remember them really liking having their own little jugs of gravy or sauce next to their plates and little ramekins of grated cheese to sprinkle on pasta. It seemed to jolly them along into eating a wider variety. Their toddler diets were great. Their teen diets less so.

I agree with sweetening up normal savoury foods using naturally sweet veg, or make them look more 'dessert' like, Increase protein by adding extra eggs to the pancakes. Add veg by stealth to normally 'sweet' things they wouldn't guess was in it e.g make a chocolate cake with grated beetroot (can't taste it, just makes it dark & moist). Avocado in a cheesecake. Have you tried custard and rice pudding for gettng milk in? You can make it with coconut cream for added calories. Add finely ground up seeds (and nuts if no allergies) to things they do eat. Will he eat cheese? Try a fondue - make it fun (cos it is!) Stop worrying abot the extra sugar and just go with getting as wide a range of food in him as possible.

And if you haven't already, get him cooking with you in the kitchen. Amazing how much they will nibble at whilst cooking & baking and will usually at least try the results as well. My niece is autistic with ARFID type tendencies and this has worked for her.