To not feed fussy DS anything for dinner?

[CroccyWoccy]

He’s 8 and a very fussy eater. Dinner was sausage mash and peas. He used to eat all of these things but has gone off mash and peas in the last year or so. I thought he would at least eat the sausage but he has refused that too. He doesn’t care about food and would happily go to bed with no dinner.

Honestly I am at a loss for how to handle this. I’ve always subscribed to the “it’s my job to present the food, it is his job to decide what to eat” school of thought but if that ends up with him eating literally nothing, then what?

I have ND step sons, the youngest is literally restricted to toast and frozen chicken nuggets and chips (won’t even eat homemade) and will literally not eat anything else, he would rather starve, I feed them separately to my toddler so that she doesn’t feel like there’s some kind of injustice, then when she’s older I can then explain why he eats differently.

We do eat a LOT of pasta (he won’t eat rice or any kind of potato except oven chips). But yes we do also have the problem that youngest demands plain pasta too when I am confident he would have eaten the sauce if that was all that was on offer.

Homemade pizza used to be a good option too that we could vary toppings and healthier sides like veg sticks but DS has started refusing that too.

Are you plating up the food OP

I'd be tempted to put the food on the table for everyone to serve themselves.

As well as the actual meal, sausages, mash peas - in different dishes / plates and then some bits you can put out each meal? Maybe bread a nd butter or some crackers and fruit.