To hope toddler WILL grow out of picky eating?

[YukoandHiro]

So, Am I?
Background:22 month old has never been amazing with food. Weaned at six months, wanted to do baby led but multiple allergies so ended up doing one thing at a time with purées. She's never had a wide repertoire but it's smaller than ever now. She literally won't even physically touch a piece of fruit (pouches a different story or course - and my big mistake, no excuse but it was so scary weaning with all her reactions and hospital trips and they took some of the stress out of that).
I'm just hoping this gets better with maturation. I'm in an FB group but it freaks me out - lots of older kids and even teens with severe physio logical issues with.
We offer safe and new foods every day but some days she literally only eats carbs.
Any reassuring stories?

My second son ate 6 things until he was 8, then started going on school tours and play dates which pushed him to expand his pallet. He is 21 now, at college & eats everything but fish.

I used to joke that on his wedding day he would have spaghetti hoops and mash.

Enjoy your child, the food will come.

On child no4 I used to leave picker plates around and did a mix of spoon/baby led weaning. No stress, on days she didn’t eat well I gave her toddler milk( not for everyone) it worked for her.

Thank you! We're on slightly more than 6 things, though all veg is snuck in via something that doesn't look like it (veggie burger, say). Glad to hear that you son just started trying new things later!

Totally anecdata, but of me and my sisters, 2 of us were omnivorous and 2 picky eaters.

In adulthood, the omnivores are a generous size 12 and a big size 16.

The pickies are both an 8.

I wish I had been a picky child - I personally think they are less likely to be the type of adult who comfort eats and snacks on sugar!

My dd was exceptionally fussy about her food when she was tiny. I worried about it endlessly.

She is now 14 and eats anything (except meat - she's veggie). She'll try foreign cuisines quite happily, always eats what is put in front of her. Her appetite still isn't huge, but she is a healthy weight and eats a really well balanced, varied diet.

All of this seems to have just happened naturally. I wish I hadn't stressed so much about it in the early years. It wasn't necessary.

The three year old in our life (grandson -who lives with us) went for several months only eating cold pasta (cooked and left to go cold). He's currently on a toast fix. He picks at other things but finishes his day insisting on a slice of toast before bed. Hes growing and not hungry so i'm not prepared to worry about it.

My friend's DS went until about 2.5 years old only eating a few foods all of them white (I think it was crackers, white bread, plain yogurt and maybe potatoes). He's 8 now and totally normal eater. I don't think he's particularly adventurous (no spicy curries) but pretty average for a kid his age.

This thread has given me hope! My 18 month old currently only eats about things and wont taste anything new even things I know she would like. Was worried I was going to be cooking the same meals on rotation for the next 18 years!

DD1 has multiple allergies and if I could get her to eat 4 or 5 cornflakes in a day, I thought I was doing really well. Consultant's suggestion was to admit her, keep me away and force feed her the things she was allergic to 6 weeks after DD2 was due. He didn't take it kindly when I rudely refused.

When I weaned DD2, DD1 suddenly realised that children could also eat food. Before that, she had never eaten with other children her age or younger, because the risk was too high. She began to eat then, but was fussy, understandably, because we had numerous scares, as her allergies developed for most of her childhood. She is okay at eating now, although her diet is necessarily limited because of the allergies and her newly-diagnosed and previously missed! coeliac disease.

I was an exceptionally fussy eater as a child. No allergies but struggled with textures and huge anxiety over trying anything new. I would literally gag over textures sometimes.

I did grow out of it (very) gradually. There are still some textures I don't enjoy but by my teens I was eating normally. I doubt I'll ever be a really adventurous eater but I eat a normal variety.

My DCs are quite fussy - DC1 (5) has ASC so she'll often reject things for the slightest variation and I think DC2 (nearly 2) is picking it up from DC1, although she eats a bigger variety of stuff. To be honest I've found the less attention I draw to her food the more likely she is to try something new, so I serve stuff she doesn't eat alongside stuff she does and hope at some point she'll decide to try the new things.