Toddler fussy with textures

[sharkstale]

My toddler has become fussy with food, and I've recently realised it's down the texture.
He seems to mostly only like 'dry' foods and no longer touches anything with a wet/squishy type of texture. E.g. he used to eat pasta and omelette, but will pick them up now, squish them and turn his nose up at them. He'll bite the corners of breaded chicken/fish, but won't touch the inside of it, whereas he used to love fish. The way he reacts to the 'squishing' indicates to me it's a texture thing.
He's fine with things like croissants etc, but it makes it hard to feed him proper meals.
Strangely, he'll eat yogurts, fruit, and some veg.
I'm at a loss as to what to do. I've posted about this before but received no responses and have only just realised it's a texture thing.
What can I do to get proper food into him?

Posting here as I've posted numerous times in the parenting board but receive no responses. So, to make it an AIBU:

Aibu to keep feeding him the types of foods he'll eat, despite them not being very nutritious/unsubstantial.
I'll keep trying with other things but I'm literally throwing money down the drain and put so much effort into cooking etc for it to end up in the bin. He's 16 months and it's been going on months.

Load a fork so he doesn't need to touch the food with his hands? X

@Elisabeth3468he won't let me feed him, he wants to do it himself.

How old is he? 'Toddler' could mean different ages to different people and the advice will differ a lot based on age.

A GP told a family member whose son for absolutely ages, would only eat breadsticks with a dip of tomato sauce, “just let him eat what he will eat.”

He’s grown up tall and healthy. Still a bit iffy about textures but eats a reasonable diet now.

Your LO is eating a variety of nourishment so don’t worry Mum.

He's 16 months

Thank you, that's what I keep telling myself, it's just been going on a while now and I don't want to make him unhealthy and for these habits to stick. He still breastfeeds so that's my only saving grace atm.

What helped with my son was undercooking or overcooking. He wouldn’t eat cooked veg but would eat raw, even things like broccoli or cauliflower. I would just do him a plate of whatever veg we were having but left raw. Pasta or rice was cooked so it still had a bit of crunch to it. Eggs were only hard boiled, no scrambled or poached. He was ok with unprocessed meat but crumbed or battered I would cook fot longer to dry it out a bit. No soups or stews.
He’s late 20s now and still doesn’t like the soft texture of cooked veg but will eat most everything else.

I would probably just feed him what he will eat then, only introducing new foods one at a time. Use divided plates so that things don't have to touch. With the breaded chicken/fish, that could be why - because the coating is touching the fish, and they are two different textures?

It sometimes helped my fussy DC to let her see me eating new things without any pressure to her, so e.g. "ooh I've never had this before, I'm excited to try," and then just a mild positive response - no OTT reactions, and no asking if she wanted to try too. Just modelling being open to try things.

But yoghurt, pastry, fruit and veg sounds like a good start - it could be worse! Good luck

So yoghurts, fruit and veg that is not a bad thing at all. Plus you are breast feeding - this is not nearly as bad as many kids can get.

So at meal time, put stuff on his plate you know he will probably eat, and couple of things you think he may, and one or 2 things he probably won't! Sit and eat your lunch with him, discuss the latest episode of Balamory, and apply no pressure. If he touches or tries stuff, acknowledge if it doesn't put him off.

And to save you feeling like you are wasting money etc, you can just offer him what you have. Cook a chicken breast with sauce and veg for you - chop a bit off and give a small amount to him with his safe foods. He doesn't need a separate meal cooked while hes not eating! And if he does eat it - give him the rest of yours, be very grateful, and grab yourself a sarnie!

My DD (3.5) became a fussy eater just before turning 3 and it drove me nuts. My solution is ‘snack plate (dinner/breakfast/lunch)’ I get a plate and put on it a range of foods including fruit, cooked and uncooked veg, a little portion of meat (e.g hot dog, ham, chicken, steak), maybe some squares of cheese, pickles, olives, a boiled egg or bits of omelette, crackers, pasta without (or sometimes with) sauce, sometimes rice or bread - basically a plate with just a little mix of stuff she will eat and other healthy ish food, plus always a treat like a fairy cake or choc biscuit. I says ‘let’s have a snack plate dinner’ and she gets to eat whatever she wants off the plate and then sometimes goes back to pick at other bits. I just leave her to it and when she says she is done clear away what’s left without a word. Sometimes it will take her 2 hours but she’ll eat the whole plate. It has massively helped with the amount and types of food she will eat. She knows she doesn’t have to eat anything other than what she fancies so seems to eat more than when I was trying to force it. She now quite often says ‘can I have a snack plate lunch mummy?’ and asks for certain things on the plate (raw bell peppers are a current fave) but knows she will also get extra stuff she can try or leave and a little treat. We still have normal meals, but if I feel she is really not eating enough we revert to snack plate for a bit and it seems to make her a bit better at eating at other meals too. Try it. It’s working for us!