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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

all my 3 year old will eat is beans

57 replies

firefly78 · 31/01/2015 22:33

or pasta. im slightly at my wits end.
he will have tuna, sandwiches, ham, fruit, cheese, jacket potatoes. he wil eat some dinner like shepherds pie, fish pie but generally he is so limited! my 7 year will eat anything. we did homemade pizzas today. he made his own yet still barely touched it, just cried cos the cherry tomatoes had been cooked. so again he hardly had any tea. i gave him some weetabix so he didn't go to bed hungry but still despair!!

OP posts:
Original poster
firefly78 · 31/01/2015 22:33

sorry meant to post this in chat.

OP posts:
FluffyRedSocks · 31/01/2015 22:41

My 2yo dd is going through a super fussy stage.

I'm pretty hard on it tbh, I know which foods she ligitimatly doesn't like so avoid them, but if she doesn't eat her dinner then it's left available for her on the table but she goes to bed 'hungry' if she doesn't eat

I'd say atm 3/7 days she will eat her dinner, but she knows the rules, and sometimes will climb back up to the table to eat something before bed!

Worth a shot?
Unless there's other problems he will eat when he's hungry..

DuelingFanjo · 31/01/2015 22:45

My DS, who is just four, is the same. Last night he inexplicably shovelled spoonfuls of lasagna in his mouth which is the continuation of a recent 'trying new stuff' trend. Not sure why he is suddenly more adventurous but I am amazed. Up until then it was ham sandwiches, mini sausages or beans... Then he went off beans.

Anyway, you have my sympathy.

We have made some efforts to at least get him to taste new stuff and I think his nursery have been encouraging him, you just have to keep trying I think.

Original poster
firefly78 · 31/01/2015 22:51

they are a pain arent they. hes tiny and i always worry if hes not had his tea he will wake up at 4am moaning hes hungry!

OP posts:
silky80 · 31/01/2015 22:52

My step son from weaning point would never eat certain foods and is notoriously fussy as did used to be my step daughter. My two daughters pretty much eat everything.

Beans are very healthy, I found texture has a lot to do with it. My step daughter now nearly 16 eats everything and has done for years. Step son now 10 still just bland food, think meat and two veg.

From my experience and semi limited, my experiences are veg etc are enjoyed raw by the fussy ones ie carrot sticks, cucumber slices.

He does sound like he has quite a healthy diet, taste buds change as we grow older.

Notso · 31/01/2015 22:52

All you can do is provide a variety of healthy foods and let them get on with it.
My 4 year old has been fussy from around 11 months. I just serve up and if he eats he eats. My only rules are no messing with food and no whining, if you don't want to eat something just leave it.
I try and serve safe options 3 or 4 days and other foods the rest of the time. I nearly always serve salad as a side dish as he will eat that. He does eat a decent breakfast and lunch too.
It is a total PITA but you can't force feed them and making a fuss or badgering them to eat just creates more stress all round. We made that mistake with DD and I'm not going there again. It would be easier to just serve up what he will eat every day but I think I'd just be reinforcing his fussiness.
It's not even as he dislikes some of the foods, he'll eat carrots for example in lasagne or stir fry but not as part of a roast or in soup Hmm

monkeymamma · 31/01/2015 23:09

Sounds just like my 3 yo but yours eats a slightly wider range :-D
Notso, I hear you! Ds will eat boiled carrots but utterly rejects delicious roasted ones. It's very frustrating!

Dinosaursdontgrowontrees · 31/01/2015 23:11

My 2yr old is super fussy at the moment.. Driving me mad. I'm praying it's a phase.

Notso · 31/01/2015 23:15

I know monkeymamma. I'd understand if he didn't like them raw but did like them cooked or vice versa as the texture and taste is totally different but cooked carrot is cooked carrot surely.

TheRealMaryMillington · 31/01/2015 23:23

Sounds not too bad tbh, in terms of range of things and yer food groups etc

My 2 boys (the girl ate ANYTHING) went through an exclusively plain white carb and fruit phase which was quite tiresome.

Best to view their intake over a week rather than a day in terms of nutritional balance, supplement if necessary and only offer decent unprocessed stuff. Don't sweat it, this too will pass.

raspberryshake · 31/01/2015 23:51

Omg.... I wish my 3 yr old would eat half of this! He eats pasta (cooked, no sauce), butter sandwiches, cucumber, raisins, strawberries, and grapes. He also eats Mini Cheddars and chicken flavour crisps. He will eat pasta with tomato sauce or pizza at a restaurant or he'll eat dinner (chicken goulash, or chilli or beef stroganoff) at nursery. But that is it!
I think that no child will starve itself, and at this age what they eat is the only thing they can control. They are trying to exert their independence and push our buttons. I just keep offering food (we have a new tastes reward chart) and am trying not to make mealtimes a battlefield. I also have a 7 yr old. She's a fab eater now that she has been having school dinners. Hang in thereGrin

JessieMcJessie · 01/02/2015 06:08

Plenty of people in the developing world survive just fine on a staple diet of rice and beans. I wouldn't get overly worried about it.

Jackieharris · 01/02/2015 06:58

Confused his diet sounds fine and healthier than lots of DCs

Your title is rather misleading as he is eating much more than beans.

Why do you think his eating is a problem?

What kind of things are you expecting his to eat?

FoxyMcFox · 01/02/2015 07:29

I agree with everything notso said.

FishWithABicycle · 01/02/2015 07:49

My 2yo had a list of 10 items he would eat - all "dry" unmixed items, nothing with 2 substances or textures mixed together. It was very limiting. Your list seems much more varied (shepherds pie! I dream of such a thing - you can hide any veg you like in the sauce!). Now at 5yo the list is about 45 items long and we can usually find something he'll eat on café menus but he's nowhere near willing to eat what we eat.

I'd recommend you have a 2 week complete break from trying to persuade or cajole any eating that he isn't happy with, just give him things you know he'll be ok with. Takes the pressure off and stops food being a battle ground.

Then introduce a sticker reward chart for trying new foods. Buy £1 sheets of really exciting stickers. Stickers are only awarded by trying new foods, nothing else. The first time with each new food, I was giving a sticker for every mouthful. If that was ok the the next time it would be a sticker for the first mouthful, the half-way through the serving point, and for eating it all. The third to sixth time just a sticker for eating it all and after that it's not a new food any more.

Roomsdoom · 01/02/2015 08:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JJXM · 01/02/2015 08:33

My DS aged 4.5 will eat the following:

Walkers prawn cocktail crisps (no other brand or flavour)
Jacobs crackers (square ones only)
Chocolate buttons
Home made bread rolls with nutella
Chips (with ketchup)
Pizza (but only margarita from pizza hut)
Garlic bread (occasionally)

Anything else we present to him is just left - he does have ASD and we do worry about his diet (refuses all vitamins) but we saw a nutritionist and she said he was a healthy weight and not to worry. . About once every 2-3 months DS will try an apple or orange and goes through obsessional phases (pineapple was one and we encouraged it knowing it would eventually fallout of favour). We try to get some goodness into him - for example we swap the oil and water in the bread rolls for butter and milk).

Original poster
firefly78 · 01/02/2015 09:50

poor mite has a sickness bug today :(

OP posts:
Chunderella · 01/02/2015 10:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Latara · 01/02/2015 10:24

At least his bowels will work well....

But seriously it sounds like he has a healthy diet anyway so don't worry too much, just hope the fussiness doesn't carry on too long.

Latara · 01/02/2015 10:25

Oh just read he has a sickness bug, that's horrid for both of you hope he gets well soon.

RitaOrange · 01/02/2015 11:04

Baffled as to your title and then listing what sounds like a perfectly reasonable diet Confused

You are in danger of making it a huge problem - step back, put the food in front of him and relax.
I agree with posters who say put it in bowls ie shepherds pie on his plate, he can serve himself peas and sweet corn etc

Imagine someone watching your every mouthful, that's what its like for toddlers if you get really anxious.
Its normal for toddlers to howl in depair if they don't want round carrots instead of batons . DD once had a full on meltdown because her banana was too bent Grin Just ignore .
Sorry to hear he is poorly ,hope its not Noro

Original poster
firefly78 · 01/02/2015 14:31

yes u was being a bit attention seeking with my title! but he eat wont roast dinners or curries or pizza or stew or mince (except in shepherds pie). he would have jacket pot with cheese and beans or mac cheese everyday i swear. his farts are terrible!@@

OP posts:
DandyHighwayman · 01/02/2015 14:37

Ah well I was going to offer my experience with a severely self limited diet child but I see this is not the case really

Goodluck and sorry to hear your child is poorly

FightOrFlight · 01/02/2015 14:46

I think you may win the award for Most Misleading Thread Title!

He will only eat beans .... and pasta, tuna, sandwiches, ham, fruit, cheese, jacket potatoes, shepherds pie and fish pie

Sounds like a fairly healthy diet to me, heard a lot worse!

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