ARFD in a 2 year old ?

[Firstimemum24]

Please little help here
My 24 months old is absolutely amazing . Already putting together three /four sentences , does all the gestures and gets her needs and point across really well . Great imagination and imitation . Food wise she eats a good variety IF i feed her . ( lasagna , egg fried rice , pasta with all the sauces homemade , try new cakes that I bake ) She can self feed like breakfast and curry with rice , pasta but prefers me ( I know it is not great ) . She loves playing outside with the leafs , grass doesn’t matter if wet and the sand . No other sensory issues other than the fact that she doesn’t like touching food especially if it is oily and slimy like sweet potatoes etc but likes them if hidden in food . She doesn’t mind eating fruits and getting messy or eating her lemony mousse . She keeps jamming her two fingers in her mouth and gnaw on them .
How do you know if a fussy eater is something more medical like ARFD?

It doesn't sound like ARFID if she'll eat a good variety if you feed her

That really doesn't sound like arfid from the variety she eats. It could easily be sensory based which a lot of toddlers go through. Most grow out of it. If you are really concerned do go to a health visitor or gp to get her weight checked and discuss further.

From what you have told us I don’t think
you have anything to worry about so relax.

She’s eating a good variety (including foods with quite strong flavours and a range of textures) and doesn’t seem to have any particular sensory issues.
Lots of children go through a picky phase (or phases) at some point between 18 months and 4years old. They also quite often go through a ‘yuck’ phase at some point between 12 months and 3 years where they don’t like the feeling of messy hands or face. She probably doesn’t like the feeling of messy hands but doesn’t have the skills to feed herself without getting messy, so she prefers you to do it or to eat foods like biscuits which aren’t oily/sticky.
She’ll probably grow out of it, and as long as all her nutritional needs are met it’s not a massive issue if she is a bit fussy, just keep offering but not forcing it.

My DS is a good eater but doesn’t particularly like crunchy foods, I think it’s quite normal for toddlers to have strong preferences. He’s also been through a few ‘beige phases’.
She’ll probably become more independent with eating as she gets older and it’s easier for her, I’ve also noticed that the peer pressure of nursery got DS to become much more independent with cutlery.

If you notice other developmental or anxiety type issues or it doesn’t improve/gets worse then I’d mention it to the Health Visitor or GP. But honestly she just sounds like a pretty normal toddler.

Thanks all .. I have been to the GP and hv and they don’t have any concerns as she is of healthy weight and tall . She tries new food and is not fixed on a particular brand but she doesn’t eat a big amount . She still has 400 ml of milk per day .

Can she manage the cutlery? Any chance she is hypermobile?

so she is started walking right on her first birthday , can take her sock off and stack things and screw the top of bottles but cutlery still a bit iffy . I thought about hypermobility and voiced my concern but I was told there have to be other stuff that she can’t do

My oldest could do that too. Meet all her mile stones early. Wouldn’t pick up a pen or pencil when 5 and was diagnosed as hypermobile at 8 when she started having issues with her ankles. She has always found cutlery tricky and when she was 2 and 3 would ask for ‘big girl feeding’ essentially me feeding her.

She also has great coordination . She has always been capable of kicking a ball since she was 15 months so I don’t think it is hyper mobility but I might be wrong 😀

My DC has ARFID and it started to become noticeable about 9 months and foods just got rejected whether it was us feeding them or them feeding themselves. The variety is so narrow and there is a common theme particularly in terms of texture - DC would never touch a sauce of any description (no pesto, no tomato sauce, no soup, no ice cream) but also colour and won't eat anything that had touched anything else. I didn't get taken seriously with it until age 5 as it was really tricky to distinguish from fussy/picky eating and I kept getting they will grow out if it advice. The difference for me was that it was clearly sensory and fear based - it wasn't just being picky and genuine aversion/horror at being asked to try something considered to be not a safe food and no amount of bribery would have any effect

If she’s still having quite a lot of milk then she might just be less hungry than other kids of a similar age. There’s nothing wrong with it but it will fill her up and mean she’s less interested in other foods.
The fact she’s growing well and a normal weight means there’s unlikely to be an issue. Especially because her diet isn’t overly restrictive and she’s willing to try new things.

She sounds absolutely fine. That's a varied diet and certainly doesn't sound like she has any issues at all. I hated having sticky fingers as a kid. When i was growing up you went from being spoon fed to learning to use a spoon yourself then knife and fork. No shovelling food into your mouth with your hands.

Absolutely no way ARFID. Any family grappling with ARFID would be over the moon to have a child who eats like your daughter. The fear and phobia is what sets it apart. She sounds a typical toddler to me!

Not sure why you've linked it to ARFID as she eats a good range of foods.

If you're bothered that she doesn't like touching certain foods you could introduce some messy play with similar textures to help her to get used to them and don't link it to eating even if what she's playing with is food.

Not AFRID. She's either too hungry or not hungry enough which may be why she wants you to feed her.

Why do you assume ARFID?

Sounds like she eats a good variety of food, she just has a small appetite. The milk could be filling her up too.

She sounds perfectly normal in all respects. The way you write about her is full of love and care - she's got a great mum 😊
How are you doing? Do you feel like you might be more anxious than usual? Do you have a partner, mum or gp you could have a chat with?