Toddler Won't Eat...

[ClarasMummy]

My 2 year old daughter has always been a bit funny about food, weaning was difficult and now that she's weaned she is possibly the pickiest eater alive. Currently she will only eat toast with peanut butter and very occasionally, pasta. Of course she eats sweets and treats with ease though we give her very little of these.

I am at my wits end, I'm worried she will make herself ill and I feel like a terrible mother as she really isn't getting the nutrients that she needs but short of force feeding her I have no idea what I can do to get her to eat a variety of healthy meals, cutting them into funny faces and such just hasn't worked, I can't seem to trick her.

She's driving me mad!

Help would be appreciated :)

Big hugs, my son (2 in ten days) is similar and it does my head in.

When he fancies eating he will eat anything pretty much. When he doesn't he might eat some toast and drink some milk about once a day. Or he might not eat anything at all. The lonmgest he has held out without any solid food (ie taking only water and a bit of milk) is 3 weeks!

My approach is not to make it a big deal. I offer him food at normal meal times and snack times. Small portiosn so as not to worry him. I sit down with him and have something (the same) myslef. At weekends DH joins us too. I try to keep to the same meal times as nursery. He seesm to prefer "seperate" food - like fish fingers and peas and spuds, rather than "all in one" meals like stew.

I try to ignore anyone who says "he'll eat when he is hungry"; try not to get too stressed about it in his presence and remind myslef that he is healthy and growing (actually very tall) so soemthing must be going right! I sometimes resort to giving him biscuits just to get some calories into him. He'll usually eat a rich tea - so nothing too fancy and sugary.

Eventually he will eat, but it can be a few weeks. When he starst eating again, he will eat laods for a couple of days, so I try and tell myself that he's getting everything he needs in one hit!

It does worry me, but it does not seem to be doing him any harm.