To only feed DS beans on toast or pasta

[NoNarnas]

19 month old DS will only eat beans on toast or pasta. Unless it’s a Sunday when he will sit nicely at my parents house and eat a Sunday dinner.

Last nights pork, potatoes and carrots were untouched while he asked over and over for a banana. He had a snack at the childminders mid afternoon so I didn’t give him pudding and he just had milk before bed.

Tonight is beef casserole. He tried one piece of carrot and one piece of potato and then again just asked for banana. I’ve not done any pudding again and have taken him from the table. He hasn’t eaten since lunch at the childminders at 12.

The only things I can present at tea time that he will touch are beans or pasta! How do I encourage him to eat better? At this age am I right in not doing anything else if he doesn’t eat his tea?

With this method my Ds3 will now eat cheese
chicken
meatballs
beef
turkey
sasuages
bacon
Any type of chip/potato things
wraps
pitta
pizzas

So what you are saying is that by pandering to the child, letting him eat biscuits instead if dinner etc he now only eats junk food? Only on MN would anyone think this was a good thing

What about making the beans sauce from scratch. Onions and garlic fried. Tinned tomatoes, tomato paste. Pinch or two of sugar. Purée. I sometimes add chopped up bacon also, sometimes a little cream. Takes about 30 mins in all. Add tin of cannelloni beans and you are done. (No way can I be armed to cook beans from fried!!) sneak in some cheese? If needed maybe more sugar at the start to mimic tinned beans and phase it out.
What about hard boiled eggs? They can be fun.
My stepdaughter is super with really bland homemade soup. All the veg. A good glug of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Whizzed up. Cup served before many meals. She’s 4 and still hasn’t twigged it’s vegetables :-)

But he won't only eat pasta or beans because he eats quite a variety for lunch time. Maybe it's just the time of the day and he's to tired for a big meal come dinner time?
He doesn't sound like a fussy eater with lunches like that.

DS had a fussy stage around 18 months that lasted 6 months. It felt like a lifetime!

Honestly? I’d give him the pasta. Does he realise different shapes of pasta are still pasta?

Would he eat spaghetti/tagliatelle and then perhaps noodles

Orzo and then rice/cous cous

I know it’s a right PITA now but you don’t see many 20 year olds that just eat pasta and beans, it is just a phase!

he would simply eat the portion of beans or pasta and leave the rest!

he will start trying new stuff on the plate in the end dont put too much of the other stuff on the plate to minimise waste i honestly didnt think It would work but it does.

Also what helped was getting my boy to come and "help" cooking as in giving the sauce a stir with me holding it too (obv taken off the hob first) and then trying what weve cooked. Or I would shout him saying come try this its yummy and I would have some first and be dramatic how good it was.

Just feed him what he'll eat. No big deal.

I would give him a banana in porridge

I can give you recipes for Indian pastas if you want - they use chickpea flour, rice flour, millet etc and can be dressed up or down in sauces but have much more protein and calcium.

could you change the time you eat to earlier or is it restricted because of your work? He could be overtored.

I would keeo presenting him with foods to try and maybe some kind of reward for trying like a sticker? He is a bit young for that but its worth a try. Maybe worth just making a small portion of beans or pasta with each new thing so he at least eats that and hope its just a phase.

Because Zibbidoo he would simply eat the portion of beans or pasta and leave the rest! The whole point is that I don’t really want him only eating these things.

Take it from a child fussy eater. This is what you need to do. Or ignore. Your choice. I know what works.

could you do a roast dinner again during the week not a full on one but potatoes, veg and maybe a chicken breast instead of roast but similar ingredients and see what he does the other option would be make the tea and portion his up for the child minder so he has his hot main meal at lunch you could just portion it up for the next day and give him a light tea e.g. beans on toast maybe moving to egg o toast ECT if he will try it

If he eats well at breakfast and lunch (sounds like he does) then I would guess it's a combination of not that hungry and a bit tired at tea time. In which case I'd be quite happy giving him a rotation of beans/pasta/banana porridge for teatime. As long as he's eating more widely at lunch.

Whatshallidonowpeople

With this method my Ds3 will now eat cheese
chicken
meatballs
beef
turkey
sasuages
bacon
Any type of chip/potato things
wraps
pitta
pizzas

So what you are saying is that by pandering to the child, letting him eat biscuits instead if dinner etc he now only eats junk food? Only on MN would anyone think this was a good thinggrin

Yes because Homemade lamb meatballs in a scratchcooked ragu sauce and pastais junk food

Homemade pitta pizzas are junk food

Chicken with rice is junk food

Bacon in Homemade lentil and bacon soup is junk food!

Homemade turkey bagel burgers is junk food

Yes the potatoe bits are a bit rubbish but in all he eats a great diet I cook from scratch almost every night thats just a small idea of the stuff we eat.

Get a plate like the one he uses at his grandparents.
I sympathise, one of mine was really fussy.

will he eat off your plate? when ds1 was a toddler and fussy i used to say this is mummys food you cant have it , he was guaranteed to eat all my tea 🙄

When serving a meal, give him a cut up banana on his plate & nothing else, don't offer the meal you are eating. It not been offered should make it more interesting & he should hopefully then ask for it. Act reluctant if he does & say, oh, but that's big boy food, I didn't think you were a big enough boy for that yet & let him complain for a bit before giving in & giving him your food

Massively digressing here, but this is the storyline of the most lovely children's book ever, "Bread and Jam for Frances". Frances is a little bear who eats only....you guessed it, bread and jam.

Unless it’s a Sunday when he will sit nicely at my parents house and eat a Sunday dinner.

Does he eat less during the day on a Sunday, so is hungrier for "proper" food? Sounds like he's had quite a lot during the day in the week, so maybe just fancies something smaller/snackier ?

You could try switching meals around so he has 'proper' meal at lunchtime and sandwich etc at tea?

Breakfast today was a bowl of shreddies, a slice of toast, a banana. Then an hour later at the childminders a bowl of porridge. Then everything in his pack up plus he usually has a biscuit or fruit as s morning snack too. She says during the day she just doesn’t seem to be able to fill him! But if I send vegetables or healthier things like egg for lunch he won’t eat it.

We have the same plate as at my parents, I’m always there with him too and he just sits and eats it! Will even eat a second helping of carrots but won’t touch them at home!

DH just got home so DS is back at the table with him eating a pear and a yogurt while DH has dinner. He isn’t at all interested by the dinner!

hes eating a lot more than my two did at that age if hes eating two meals a day i wouldn't worry to much

Is it the time of day as pp suggested? Is the Sunday lunch at lunch time and not dinner? Does he sleep better on a Sunday compared to at the childminders?

I really see that my kids desire to eat is greatly affected if they're over tired or ironically over hungry.

If it were me I'd be trying to look at the overall diet and accept that the evening meal was going to be something light. For example like beans on toast followed by yoghurt and fruit.

If he's having an afternoon snack at childminder he might not be hungry later and only tempted by something he fancies.
My daughter has a nursery tea (toast, fruit, cheese cubes etc) at about 3.30.
I used to do her a dinner when she got home around 6.30 but she rarely ate it so now i give her something snacky - often a banana - and surprisingly she doesn't seem to need anything else before bed.
At weekends when she doesn't have afternoon tea she will eat a proper dinner (hungrily!)

My eldest is like this, and has been since he was around 18 months. He eats really well before 3pm after that he will not eat very much at all. I still give him the same as us but i don't stress if he doesn't eat it. I've also given him left overs for lunch the next day to ensure he's getting enough variety in his meals.

This really does remind me so much of my own DDs games at this sort of age & as above it did turn out not to be the actual food, but power play. She was asserting herself as they keep doing as they grow.

I had hell with her at mealtimes as I never got to sit & eat a meal myself without stress. She was more verbal than your DS, so it was more obvious, especially as she insisted on my counting out how many spoonfuls of the "yukky" food she had to eat, which she would then argue down to less . It didn't matter what I gave her,or how much it escalated to a full on power game which she clearly enjoyed. But it started like this at this age

About the time I realised this was going on & it wasn't about the food at all, we went on holiday & I'd decided that for a week, she could eat crap all day if she chose too as I was having a week off & DH would deal with her.

First hint of the usual "so mummy, how many spoonfuls this time" I replied along the lines of "sweetheart I'm on holiday this week so eat what you like, daddy will help you if you need it" cue shocked angry face & "but that's your job" you have to feed me & so on. Ending with a full on tantrum & her then barely 3 yo self standing up on her chair & announcing to the restaurant that I was a "rubbish mummy that let her eat rubbish food & wouldn't feed her" I stood my ground. She gave in & took DH to fill her plate & without his help came back with a plateful of healthy stuff, which she then scoffed the lot