Son's diet

[Hibernatalie]

DS5 is so fussy with food - would love to hear if anyone's child is the same/
Was the same but grew up with a broader diet!

Foods he will eat:
Granary toast
Cheerios and milk
Bacon
Scrambled eggs
Petit filous style yoghurt
Peas (at a push)
Red pepper (at a push)
Sweetcorn
Apples
Pears
Watermelon
Roast chicken
Chicken nuggets
Chips
Pasta with green pesto
Dough balls with houmous
Pepperoni pizza
Peanuts
Raisins
Spaghetti bolognaise
Popcorn

And of course any amount of crisps, sweets and chocolate.
It's so hard to get any kind of variety in his diet!

He used to eat carrots, bananas, cheese sandwich, fried rice. Just won't entertain any of these now.

Not sure how old DC is but that list isn't really too bad - you've got a decent balance of veg/protein/carb/dairy. My DS was a lot fussier than that - he is 9 now and eats pretty much everything.
I wouldn't sweat it, introduce new things now and again, eventually he will try new things but don't make a deal out of it

@Yuja he's 5
Thank you - that's reassuring!

OP I wouldn’t say that is fussy in the slightest - there’s loads on that list! Try not to stress, he’s eating granary bread!

@ohxmastreeohxmastree
But no other type of bread or any bread products and it has to be toasted!
But thank you for the reassurance. I wouldn't worry so much if I thought he would end up eating a bigger variety when he's older, I just worry his diet will become narrower iyswim. Because he's starting to reject foods he used to eat. But maybe that's normal for a 5yo.

It is normal. My DC spent over a year of his life eating plain pasta, peanut butter on white bread, bananas and weetabix. That was it. Like I say, it's a distant memory now and he's a decent enough eater.

That looks OK to me, only thing is a lack of omega 3 - will he eat the omega 3 fishfingers? You could sprinkle some chia seeds over his cereal, or use flora with added omega 3 instead of butter.

My DS was much worse than that! Now at a big, strapping 19 he's a great cook, loves food and eats everything put in front of him so don't worry too much.

That's not bad.
Kids don't mind repetition at all. He may gain or lose the odd food.
My DSD literally only ate peas or very thinly sliced apple as her accepted forms of fruit and vegetables for years but it started improving when she was at high school and as an adult she's still quite specific in her preferences but it bears no similarities to the peas/apple days!
DD would eat any kind of carb, pretty decent with fruit and veg, but no sauces (except home made tomato pasta sauce) no condiment (ketchup, mayo) fish was ok but no meat, no melted cheese no mixed up food. This started changing mid teens and there's still lots of texture she will not tolerate but does eat some meat and has found some different tastes she likes (curries and oriental//Japanese foods) so it's a bit more varied!
I really wouldn't worry too much. Feed him what he likes and occasionally offer something new - try new things that are similar to things he already likes so it's less challenging to try.

That's really not too bad. My children were much fussier at 5. Even now my DS who's 11 won't eat peppers and peas or pears or watermelon!
I wouldn't worry. He's getting everything he needs from those foods and will become less fussy over time.

Thank you so much everyone, this is very reassuring.

@Naptrappedmummy he won't entertain a fish finger. Used to eat tuna but not any more. You can get vitamins with omega 3 though, maybe I'll try those.

I think this is absolutely fine and his tastes will widen as he gets older. I wouldn't worry.

My 3 year old is similarly fussy i.e., fussier than a lot of children but nothing I find concerning.

From your list, my son eats:

Granary toast (with butter or peanut butter- also peanut butter sandwiches)
Cheerios and milk or cornflakes and milk
Bacon yes
Scrambled eggs never!
Petit filous style yoghurt yep
Peas (at a push) No chance
Red pepper (at a push) would never even try it
Sweetcorn used to, not any more
Apples yes
Pears no
Watermelon nope
Roast chicken no
Chicken nuggets yes!!!
Chips no
Pasta with green pesto never touches pasta
Dough balls with houmous loves humous with breadsticks
Pepperoni pizza will not eat pizza
Peanuts nope
Raisins yes

Spaghetti bolognaise I wish
Popcorn no

Additionally he eats porridge, cheese haggis, black pudding, fish fingers and French toast. French toast is the only way in get eggs in him.

My son also eats soup which is the only way I get lots of veg in him and chicken (bar chicken nuggets!) Would your son eat soups?

If it's not in soup he eats no veg. The only fruit he eats are bananas, apples, satsumas, blueberries and strawberries. He will eat dates and dried apricots so if your son likes raisins he might entertain other dried fruits. You just need to check which ones don't have sugar added.

I genuinely think you've nothing to worry about. Give him a multivitamin every day and blend as much veg as you can into his Bolognese and he'll be just fine. You could try adding flax seeds/chia seeds etc to things. I put them in my son's porridge every morning. Smoothies are another good shout as you can make them thick and sweet like a milkshake but hide all manner of fruit and veg in them- use whole milk, frozen bananas and a bit of honey as the base and then blitz whatever else you like. Flax seed mixes are great in smoothies.

@MrShneeblee I would be so happy if my kids ate soup! Or homemade smoothies. They both like innocent smoothies but only the berry one - it's good it gets some berries in him for a bit more fruit variety. He wouldn't eat his cereal if I tried to put any seeds on it. I will try hiding more veg in his pasta sauce though...

My son has sprinkles on top of his porridge 😂 I sprinkle chia seeds/flax seeds and rainbow sprinkles on at the same time and he's happy

Don't worry, he drinks milk and there's protein and fruit and veg in his diet, and the Bolognese and pizza gives you somewhere you can sneak more veg in. Blend everything you can into the sauce and they're none the wiser!