to think this isnt that bad a diet for ds (2.9) - had row with DM

[Bethshine82]

DS is a picky eater. Until he was about 20 months he was great, would try most things and had a varied diet. Then he had an awful sickness bug, he didn't eat for a week and when he started eating again he rejected a lot of the foods he had previously eaten happily. He was also wary about trying new things and if I persisted he would gag and sometimes be sick.

His current diet is not as varied as I would like and he is very specific over certain things. For instance he will only eat broccoli quiche not any other type and only one brand of yogurt etc. My mom says I should be firmer as it does make eating out a pain but DS will still gag if basically forced (by threats) to eat something he is not keen on. I don't want to get into a battle with him over it and am of the opinion that he will develop tastes when ready.

This is what he will eat: (he doesn't eat all this at one time, it is just his accepted list!)
Breakfast: toast peanut butter, petit filous, banana, cereal bar, milk, yogurt.
Lunch: beans on toast, scrambled egg, cheese spread sandwich, fruit, organix crisps, raisins
Dinner: (where I really struggle) fish, beans, peas, carrots, sweetcorn, mashed potato (will only eat it in this form apart from chips and waffles!), quiche, roast chicken, omelette, little pizza.

Occasionally he will accept shepherds pie or fish pie or pasta or soup. But only very very occasionally.

It's bit that bad right? My mom has made me feel I am nutritional depriving my child. I'm doing my best but I'm not going to force the issue with him. I'll lose.

(Oh and cake, naturally.)

Haven't read the other posts but to be honest whilst its not fantastic its really not that bad either and I wouldn't listen to your mum. The foods you are feeding whilst minimal are all very healthy and thats what is important.

I would be far more concerned if your list was just full of things like chicken nuggets (or other processed rubbish) and chips, chocolate etc. Not that there is anything wrong with these now and again I may add just not on a regular basis (like my sisters horrible, sickly & extremely picky children - or teenagers as they now are)

Bad form to hijack but as a few of you mention it, and I'm fairly confident it wont derail the thread from the matter in hand, I have been wondering for a few days when I can introduce DD to peanut butter cause I love it and can scoff her leftovers? She's over one so am assuming that's okay. No known allergies in the family.

Sorry OP. FWIW it sounds fine to me. We're going through a 'throw every piece of food other than grapes or raisins on the floor' stage with DD at he moment so I dream of the day that she'll eat that much!

Peanut butter is fine - you are supposed to be careful with whole nuts but that is a choking risk not anything more sinister.

fishfingers DS is the same with baked beans as your DS was with cheese! Well...to a degree. I can get him to eat small pieces of things like beef and chicken if it is with baked beans. Doesn't really go in my opinion but it definitely helps DS to eat it!

Thanks Barry. I am quite relaxed about her food, but peanuts got me thinking.

In addition just a thought but have you tried letting him help to cook / prepare meals, I do this with mine and I find they are more likely to try something new if they have had an input into making it.

I would be thrilled if my DGC ate your DS's diet! It's far more non-existent limited than that.
He'll develop his tastes as he gets older.

gobble I have tried with things like bolognaise but he happily helped cook it and then said 'I cooked it for you mommy, you eat it.' I may try again though as it has been a few months and he does enjoy helping.
He will actually eat quite a few vegetables but it seems to be textures of things like pasta dishes that put him off. He will try and then gag and then obviously won't eat any more and I won't push it.
He does like garlic and occasionally I can get him to eat things like a jacket with garlic butter or something in a garlic sauce.
Thanks for all the ideas :-)

Bless him! It was just an idea as I know it often works for my fussy eater and as such is why I started doing it from a young age with my youngest.

I don't know if its a result of being involved from early on or just coincidence but he isn't at all fussy and will try most things with a bit of gentle persuasion, he starts nursery in a couple of weeks and they gave me a form today asking me to list the foods he doesn't like and I can't for the life of me think of any!

FishfingersareOK has got the right idea.

When little ones start being independently mobile, they certainly do run the risk of eating something icky. Consequently, they developed a way of overcoming this.

Naturally speaking (i.e. historically), many good things to eat are sweet tasting, so kids develop a much sweeter palate so that bad things taste EVEN MORE horrible in order to try to discourage anything more than a minimal taste. So think about the foods that you think are the sweetest - do your toddlers like those? Thought so.

My fussy eater will happily refuse sweets, or charmingly put them in his mouth then screw his face up and spit them out again. He will also refuse many and varied puddings - thus making a mockery of any suggestions that he shouldn't be allowed to have pudding until he has eaten his dinner as he is just as likely to reject dessert. Fruit is also mostly a non-starter.

I was only saying at the weekend that my 6yo will eat pretty much anything, but it's more of a struggle to get him to finish peas/veg etc than it used to be.

before he'd eat anything you put in front of him, the plate too if he could have done, but as he is growing up we have to do the 'Eat your peas' thing...

The food your DC eats OP sounds FINE! The worst thing you can do is get het up about it, the child will sense issue there and exploit it.

DS won't eat sweet things that he is unfamiliar with. For example he will eat fruit cake, but no other sort of cake.

I get embarrassed by my DS's refusal to eat sweets because if someone offers him a jelly tot or whatever and I say 'No thanks, he doesn't like them/won't eat them' I think that they're thinking I'm one of those mothers who doesn't let their children have treats.

I took him to a birthday party once and he refused all the party food. It was quite bad when he actually cried when I tried to coax him into at least eating some birthday cake.

The only unreasonable thing is that you appear to have kidnapped DS2 who has a virtually identical diet. Except he won't eat pasta. Ever.

I think your list shows a really varied diet.. It is frustrating when they were once great eaters, and would eat anything! And, then, they get ill... and it all goes down hill!
But, all is not lost... you've listed all his food, and it sounds actually quite varied, in most major food groups.
Just really really slowly begin to introduce things back in... and it's amazing that you can whizz down in the blender!!! Our spag bol has everything in it.. even my hubby hates sweetcorn, but he eats it every week!!!
Your boy is eating really well!
We all listen to family/friends and get worried about what they say... but, you've just listed a really great list of food! Hope you can see that now.. and relax a bit more about it.
Nip any stress you feel about meal times in the bud... and just be neutral about it. Any reaction, or if he sees you being desperate or stressed about it.. he will play it out like a game.
Just be neutral - and let him 'think' he has control with food.
My god, it's sooooo common for kids to take some control back as they get older, and it's always around mealtimes!
We're all under great pressure to provide healthy meals for our little ones.... and our family, no matter how well intentioned it can be... can just add the pressure on. We've all been there.... you're not the first and not the last.
Just relax about it... and over time, your little boy will have more and more interest in food.

It sounds like you're doing a great job...! xxx

Looks pretty varied for a child that age to me! My dd is 3 years and has a similar diet.

Nutritionally fine, PITA for eating out - but it's a phase and if you force it then he might get worse, so YAabsolutelyNBU

Better than my 4yo.
I don't have any problem taking him out though - there aren't many places that can't whip up some plain pasta or grill some plain fish. Also, if I know we're going out somewhere it might be tricky I just go with the understanding that I will get him whatever will keep him quiet and work a little harder at giving him nutritious snacks/meals for the rest of the day. I can't think of a time, though, where we've had a real problem, even with a more restricted list than the OP's child.
On the other hand, DS was a brilliant eater at 20 months and it's just deteriorated since then. It's merely a phase, as my mother would say.

I'm 35yrs old and since I was very ill at 9yrs old I haven't let a brussel sprout grace my kitchen or invade my plate under any circumstances, not for politeness or a quiet life will I let those manky little demons near me. I totally sympathise with your DC:(
One of the tactics my family has used in the past (I'm a LP but with a really close family full of little nippers and support) is plate sharing. Less confrontational than adding to DC's own plate but a lot of fun and hard to resist. we also do a lot table serving so children can choose rather than having their plates arranged for them (it also helps that they see what's on the other kids plates!)
Might be worth a shot, even get your DM involved if you can, nothing like putting them on the spot after a snotty comment:)

Why are you forcing him to eat stuff he doesn't want to eat? Thats a bad route to take. Why make food into a fight or control issue?

I deliver meals to the table and just leave it at that. The kids feed them selves or they don't. I always just give them what we adults eat and I never give alternitives. It's not a big deal at all - they are used to it and will eat most things happily. We don't have food fights but sometimes things are left. They know they have to wait x many hours before another meal is served.

Why don't you try introducing normal meals in an evening?

Also we don't often discuss the food during meal times as we chat about other things.

skyblue if you serve them up something that they don't like, don't offer an alternative and say that they'll get nothing else till the next meal, then isn't that forcing them to eat stuff that they don't want to eat - or go hungry?

It's varied, it's healthy, and picky kids will usually come back to eating a wider variety.

DD went through a picky phase, and still has different picky phases (now 6). We've been through the "need parmesan on all pasta dishes" (and has to be parmesan, cheddar doesn't work!), ketchup on most things, only eating tins of spaghetti shapes for a couple of weeks, ...... loves roast potatoes one week and hates them the next....(and that love/hate is repeated ad nauseum with LOTS of different food items).

But on the whole, once we make sure that her overall diet is reasonably healthy, and that she is not overloading on junk so she won't eat healthy foods, we don't worry too much.

One of her recent phases was that she had to make her own salad for dinner every night for a week - she doesn't eat lettuce or green stuff (spinach leaves etc), but wanted to grate a carrot, some cherry tomatoes, tinned corn, grated cheddar, ketchup, leftover roast chick (had a half slice ham later in the week) and there was definitely something else really odd in it because both DH and I very politely declined the repeated offers for her to make us a salad too. As she made it herself (mostly) and it was healthy (if slightly strange combos - I really can't remember the strange part but it was a case of - "lovely dear, you eat that but I had already made dinner for me and daddy (sotto voce Thank God!), you can have some of this too if you'd like."