Is my child a picky eater?

[Katiope]

Based on one meal alone...light hearted disagreement between family.
My two year old had dinner on a segmented place which contained:
Chinese sticky chicken skewers
Baby corn, sugar snap peas and carrots stir fried in garlic ginger and soy sauce
Homemade egg fried rice with spring onions

She chewed the chicken skewers but then spat out the meat
Spat out the corn after chewing, didn't eat carrots, squeezed all the peas out of the pods and ate those
Ate a few spoonfuls of rice but around the spring onion

Would you say this toddler is a picky eater?

YABU: Of course not
YANBU: Yes she is a picky eater

She's just a toddler. On a different day she'd probably eat the lot.

nope... not a picky eater. try having a child who will only eat custard creams for 6 months and then come back and ask the question 😂

You literally can’t say based on one example.
Chinese flavouring on chicken and a garlic and soy sauce could all easily be too spicy and salty for an average 2 year old.

But they turned down a lot of things on one meal imo. If they usually refuse even half that then they’re definitely fussy.

One of my DC takes the peas of of their skins, it takes ages.

No idea if your child is a picky eater. It depends what they are like overall, if they were particularly hungry or not and if it was 'new' foods they were trying.

It depends if she’s used to those flavours or not, if not, it might be a bit startling all at once

It's not possible to say based on one meal.

She's trying lots of things which is great. There were a wide range of textured and flavours there.

Toddlers are supposed to be picky, they're learning all the time.

So yes IMO she is picky in an age-appropriate and good way.

She's doing what toddlers do and playing and exploring both the taste and texture of food. It's literally what they are built for.

Toddler taste buds do change around 2.5 and it's an evolutionary thing as they would be mobile enough to hunt and gather and eat whatever berries they found so their taste buds often find things quite bitter and unappetising. A bit like a built in safety precaution like the add the bitter taste to soap pods and similar.

I wouldn't say she's a picky eater based on that, but I'd say the meal was poorly planned/a bit ambitious.

Sounds like a toddler being a toddler to me.

This!

Just sounds like a toddler to me 🤣

My child has eaten (various cooked versions of) chicken and plain pasta (some fruit: apples, oranges, strawberries and pears and carrots but no other veg) for 16 years! Now THAT’S picky.

In the last year he’s discovered pork, steak, scamp and garlic bread! A whole new world of restaurants has opened for us as a family.

So long as you put healthy food in a decent variety (not mixed together!) in front of him, and he's growing healthily, then youve no call to worry. IF Grest Aunt Mergatroyd dispproves, so be it. IMO the post'-rationing genetation have a healthy body shape but bad food habits.

Mine ate rhe square root of fuck all at 2 years old. I just couldnt face the dinner table battles which had been a major.thing in my childhood, so went with the "heres dinner!" with a "eat it or dont. Theres more if you like" approach, but tried to make sure there was a protein, plant, and carb theyd actually eat in each day, just so they didnt expire. So if theyd not eaten last nights chicken, then maybe have egg at breakfast. No veg yesterday? Fine, have carrots tofay. Its more important that rhey have a healthy attitude to food than they worry about which vegetables have nore sugar.

Now, at 14. the only things he wont eat are oysters, tripe, and broad beans. There are probably others, but that's the list so far.

at the age of 2, who knows. Come back and ask the same question when they are 18!

No I wouldn't say that's a picky eater! 2 year olds are still exploring and experimenting with food, it's fine and I wouldn't worry or make a fuss about what they have or haven't eaten. Keep serving up a varied diet and making mealtimes positive, sitting down to eat with them and chatting 😊

At that age more food usually ends up on the floor than in their mouths.

Yes.