Dd who had undiagnosed allergies v fussy eater

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Has anyone else had this experience? I find it very very hard not to beat myself up about this but I simply didnt know DD had severe wheat &dairy intolerance. I breastfed her for 2.5 years as she was so fussy about foods and fussy generally and as soon as I stopped she had months and months of diarrhoea and looking ill. Repeated trips to GP in tears yet it took years to realise.

I am so convinced she'd eat more normally if I'd known. She's nearly 7 now and has never tried a strawberry, mango , so many things as seems 'scared' of new food despite me never pressuring. I worry so much, she won't eat any green veg (except raw celery) though likes meat, rice etc.

Will it ever get better as I desperately want her to have a nutritious diet and a million miles from giving her a boiled egg or porridge for breakfast as all she'll have is dry sugary cereal ?

It will.

You can get assistance for this. See your Dr and get referred.

A friend of mine has a 7yr old son who suffered horrific reflux and rejected foods except for chocolate Freddos, toast with jam ( no butter), chicken and finely sliced apples. They see a food specialist and after over 6mnths of appointments he has tried baked beans, a pea, a tiny piece of carrot, fish, tomato, cucumber and some other things.

He is beginning to be willing to try a new food without instant rejection.

It's slow and sometimes it's "yeah getting there" then take several steps back. My friend finds the support from the food specialist invaluable. In fact the first appointment she just sobbed like it was therapy for her.

Ah, don't blame yourself. Try to bear in mind:

a) some children are fussy regardless of allergies, there are plenty of posters on here who tear their hair out at their DCs' veg refusal, and most of the nation's children breakfast on sugary cereal!

b) finding out about allergies can be a long process - DS1 is 6.5 and we are still finding things he's allergic to at a rate of about one a year.

I think it is very natural for allergic children to be cautious eaters, DS1 is wary of trying new things especially if they're mixed up - he likes everything to be separate so he can see what's in it! He seems happy with his 'safe' list of foods, it has gradually expanded and it's broad enough that I don't worry about vitamin deficiency, we can eat out at restaurants etc. I would let her have what she's comfortable with and add stuff to her plate in a non-threatening way. She will no doubt improve with age. My DSis (undiagnosed lactose intolerance) was fussy as hell as a child and teenager, now in her 30s she eats a far more varied diet than I do.

Please don't worry too much.

My DMum tore her hair out about my DSis and her fussiness...although to her credit back in the '80's she trusted her instincts and realised something wasn't right and did modify my DSis's diet quite considerably. We ate a lot of foods from health food shops back then!

My DSis didn't get her allergies diagnosed until she was about 30yo. Since diagnosis she eats a much wider and more varied diet.

She is fine. I suspect I had some issues too, but have largely got by.

I am starting this journey with my own DCs now (it seems these things run in families).

Please don't feel guilty.

Thank you for your kind words. I might try going back to the GP then. We did see a dietician but the dietician told us how much better DD!'s diet was than most as her weight right for her age (she's quite slight actually) but it wasn't her weight I was questioning so I didn't think we were progressing really.

I do give her a multivitamin and cod liver oil (she loves both strangely) but long for her to eat fresh things especially as she gets next to no calcium!