I hate to comment on others parenting, BUT...

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

I've just seen a post on facebook saying that someone is proud that their 6 week old baby has just eaten a whole jar of puree...

Has anyone else seen examples of interesting parenting first hand that they thought were the stuff of MN myth? I honestly didnt think that people this, ahem, naive existed!

It is weird, though. How did you find out that he would only eat jam sandwiches and crisps, Nooby? I kind of agree with Rhonda in that he wouldn't eat them if they weren't on offer, tbh. But not really in a judgy way.

Ask your health visitor for advice then. Children will not voluntarily starve themselves (unless theres a health issue) so dont worry about him skipping a meal. He will eat the next when hes hungry.

Sorry you are angry, but its a fair question. And it is tough, so dont beat yourself up.

Because I'd tried everything else!?!?!

I wish to Christ I'd never seen this shitty thread.

Ah bingo... there we are with the terminally, insuferably smug again... not a 'fun' thread at all, is it? Just one for the self-professed 'gifted parents' to give themselves a well-deserved pat on the back.

Some of the posters on this thread... really? Are your own lives so devoid of appreciation or validation that you need to get this from boasting, bragging and generally putting other people down? I'm sad for you, if that's the case and I really wonder what you're teaching your children.

So, I'm now crying.

How utterly pathetic that I've let someone I don't know make me cry.

Noob you need to speak to someone. You shouldnt feel like that.

Noob - his diet is fine. It's just a phase. Like all other phases he will grow out of it.

Honestly.

FFS, nobody was being smug wrt Nooby's issue (well, I can only speak for myself, obviously, but I wouldn't have taken offence at what rhonda said either).

Sounds like you're feeling a tad oversensitive about it, Nooby. I can't comment further because my children just ate what they were given. Still do. If they didn't eat what they were given, they didn't eat. I didn't run around trying to find things that they would eat, when the week before they'd have eaten the same thing and liked it. So I've basically never been in your situation. I don't know whether that's down to me, or down to luck.

I think you've done enough damage already, Rhonda.

rhondajean... If you've ever had or known a child with an eating disorder, you might understand that to get them to eat anything can be a real accomplishment. Nobody 'starves themselves voluntarily'... a mental health condition is not 'voluntary'. You generalised on something you obviously know little about.

This thread is pathetic really now I'm viewing it in all it's 'judgemental delight'.

Slightly off on a tangent, Lying, but I don't know that I've ever heard of an 18 month old child with an eating disorder

Thanks Toby.

Witch if you read properly you will notice I mentioned health problems.

Its not a balanced diet whatever way you look at it but there are people who want what they are going to do to be justified and there are people who are genuinely interested in whether they can change something and I dont need to pander to things that I dont agree with just to avoid hurting someones feelings. However Noob getting that upset makes me think she really needs someone to talk to and shes feeling bad about it and it wasnt my intention to upset anyone just to make a point.

Anyway Ill leave you to your cauldron.

yikes, what a nasty thread this is [hurriedly slinks off]

My nephew ate NOTHING but sausages and potatoes from the age of 4 to about 12. He drank milk and water and that was it.
For 8 years that is honestly all he ever ate. He did not consume a single piece of fruit or any veg.

He's now 6ft 3 and an Olympic standard rower and eats about 4,000 calories a day and there's nothing he won't shovel into his gob now.

they grow out of it - it doesn't matter. Nooby - just carry on as you are.

As you say, TobyLerone, off on a tangent. I didn't refer to an 18 month old child but there we are, you go and enjoy being 'judgey', really something to be proud of. back at you.

This is a broad statement and not about poor Noobs who I hope has gone off to talk to someone real.

Its interesting that its socially unacceptable to smoke near a child/let them have alcohol but poor diet, which is responsible for so much adult ill health and premature death, is viewed as being completely acceptable. We all know people who smoked and lived to 100 but noone accepts that as a defence of cigarettes any more.

rhondajean... I thought this was a 'fun' thread, really... like the other one. I didn't think for a minute that the anecdotes on it were true. Just goes to show how wrong a person can be. That's what unasked for advice does, I suppose, leads to all manner of justification.

Working in Children and family teams, i have come across toddlers with eating disorders.
Sometimes it is a reaction to something, like a close family death, the DC cannot verbalise their feelings, so does other things, food being one.
Sometimes it is a reaction to abuse etc.
It can be an undiagnosed SN or medical condition.
It can just be a power battle.
There are more, but it would fill books.

These threads make me laugh, as a mum of grown ups, i now dispair at their diet,s after all my hard work. Likewise i was brought up on 'crap', never ate a vegatable but am now vegan.

Humans recover very well from bad diets, we are made able to, to survive.

It's not worth arguing about, a strangers opinion on your DC's diet doesn't matter.

why is it a badge of motherhood honour if your child eats five portions of fruit and veg a day?

i don't understand it. is it some primeval instinct?

nooby please don't get upset. if it cheers up i'll list what my 3yo normally has for breakfast, it's enough to make your hair curl. seriously though, please don't let something like this get to you.

This thread was always going to get nasty

So much smugness on one thread is hard to stomach

noob, don't let it get to you

Its quite fascinating really.

I hope shes okay. People are allowed to comment as they will on posts on a public forum.

Actually I think it's terrible parenting to leave an 18 month old hungry because they aren't eating as healthy food as you would like. Nooby you're doing fine, his diet will improve again at some point, and at least he is used to eating when he's hungry, DS refused all food to the point that I think he actually must have stopped listening to his hunger cues, I was also advised to give him anything he would eat, even if that was crisps, chips or jam sandwiches. He now eats normally again and doesn't exist solely on jam sandwiches.

How patronising! My goodness me.

I used to be quite up my own arse judgy about children who wouldn't eat "well", having had two boys who loved fruit and veg - luckily.

That was until I realised that it's not down to being a "good parent" whether children eat veggies, it's down to the individual child's taste. Of course, offering these foods is important, but whether or not the child will eat them or not is another matter.

Noobs. You're alreeeet, love.

nooby is not an experiment in a petri-dish, normajean.

she's a person who's upset - what's fascinating about that?

You are all lightweights with your commenting. I had to BF my sister's baby once when she was newborn.

There would have been FF facilities except that the cat was sitting on the steriliser and the bottles were in a sink full of cold greasy water with cat hairs floating on top. And no formula available but plenty of cigarettes.

Apparently the lack of baby milk was all to do with her then DH who had left for work at 7am and nothing to do with her. That caused a bit of discussion.

So while my sister was bellowing at my parents I snuck screaming newborn niece off for a cuddle.