My 6 year old wont eat anything but pizza and chicken nuggets, HELP!!

[moimoog]

Since his little brother was born, 4 and a half years ago my 6 year olds eating habits have gotten worst. He wont eat any veg or meat, he will sometimes eat fruit like grapes, apples and oranges, he does drink alot of milk, but he wont even try to eat the same food as the rest of the family, what can I do to make him eat a little healthier/ or varied diet?

Who is giving him the nuggets and pizza?
You?
In this case,you must stop it. Give him what you're all eating,and if he won't eat it,take it away and do not offer an alternative.
He'll eat when he's hungry. I guarantee it.

Don't stress. DS1 hasn't eaten a single vegetable or piece for fruit for as long as I can remember. He was eating appleas about 18 months ago, but stopped. He didn;t eat meat or fish for 4 years, and has only just started eating the occasioanl gluten free fish finger. He lives on gluten free pizzas and buckwheat pancakes (with cheese in them).

I hide things in his food. linseed in his bread and I uised to add hemp flour. the cheese in the pancakes etc.

Blood tests (for iron) etc have always bveen normal. I give him a good multivitamin supplement every day. (used to give oil as well but buggered if I can get it into him now). I just keep offering new foods and occaisonally one is accepted (often another is dropped at the same time).

ds1 won't!

Second that. Just don't buy the stuff then you can't be nagged into giving it to him. He might have to go to bed hungry a couple of times if he's as stubborn as my dd but you really do have to be stern and give no choice (or a choice b/w two healthy things)

with ds2 I don't buy stuff I know he will go on about. And I say things like "banana or nothihg".

Doesn't work with ds1 (he just doesn't eat, then starts producing ketones then spends 3 days throwing up). My point was just that children can survive on seemingly dreadful diets (although aving said that ds1's is very limited, and has far too much carb and not enough of anything else- but is additive free as he goes loop on additives), and still be healthy.

You could make homemade versions if you are really worried. Chicken nuggets are easy, get chicken breasts and chop into nugget sized chunks, beat and egg in a bowl and dip chicken in it, crush up a few handfuls of cornflakes into another bowl, and roll egg dipped chicken in cornflakes. Put onto nonstick or oiled baking tray and bake for approx 20 mins takes about 5 mins longer than oening freezer and putting on oven try.

Pizza could be made healthier, I am sure Jamie Oliver did a tomato sauce with 7 hidden veg that you could use to top a shop bought base.

Don't buy foods that you don't want him to eat. Remember that you are the adult, not him.

Yes jimjams. Thought it was interesting what Charlotte Moore said about her boys Sam and George and what they ate.

ds1 ate a gluten free chicken nugget for the first time in 4 years a few months ago - I was very excited as I thought I could get him back onto the chicken and cornflakes (used to love them when he was little). He was having none of it- and now he won't eat the gluten free chicken nuggets again either.

Wish my DS would eat pizza. It's so easy to make them healthy. But he won't eat cheese or tomato.

oh god and I do exactly the same as her moondog (tell myself that crisps are really vegetables). At least he won;t eat parma violets

What she was saying about casein....is it a milk protein or what exactly?

Casein is a milk protein

It is the milk protein. We trialed ds1 casein free twice (3 weeks each time)- no difference (except he then would no longer drink milk gah). But gluten, oh yes, big difference with gluten.

moondog, sorry to disagree, but mine won't ... Are you Supernanny incognito

It's been said before but would he be more likely to eat if he was involved in preparing the food and drawing up a shopping list? Perhaps you could get one of the cookbooks aimed at kids - I think Anabell Karmel has one out - for good ideas. Obviously you'd have to start with easy stuff but you could try things like roasted vegetables including potatoes cut up in chip-like shapes, but also do carrots and parsnips? Someone told me over the weekend that she got her daughter to try new fruits by melting chocolate in a bowl (in the microwave) and then letting her dd dip fruit into it. The deal was she had to at least try two new things each week, on top of the things she already ate. Don't think it would work with vegetables though!

Oh Carla!

I am a ruthless cow!

ha - bet you couldn't get ds1 to expand his diet!

A good book on some very limited diets in "can't eat won't eat". GOSH has an unit to deal with these sorts of problems- they let children play with the food to begin with- no pressure to eat at all- so big bowls of spaghetti with toys in them etc.

ds1's teacher works hard on expanding his diet- got him eating chips last term (still is) . Hoping he will establish meat this term....

of course thee is the exception but i am with the school of thought that runs - if there is nothing wrong with them physically or mentally then kids won't starve themselves.

only this evening my lad came home frm work experience and didnt want tea - so he didnt eat, i dont cook twice it takes me all my time to do it once.

latley i have had " i dont like this"

this means
"i would prefer something else less healthy wheres the bleedin chips gone "

I'm with crunchie, nothing wrong with nuggets or pizza if you can make then yourself - get him involved?

If he is eating that and some fruit, and drinking milk, really you have nothing to worry about.

I'm never that sure why pizze is classed as 'junk food' anyway , we buy the ready prepared bases and then put stuff on them - then the ds's can have what they want - bacon, and beans and cheese is a favourite!

Eskimo children eat nothing but caribou (deer meat) and they are apparently okay...
I think there is too much anxiety about getting fruit and veg into children. And as other posters have pointed out, chicken and pizza are not so bad.
My own dd refuses all vegatables except for the ones out of jars designed for four month old babies (she is two and a half). I was amazed the other day when she happily ate two bowls of vegetable soup at my friend's place. So I thought I would give that recipe a try myself. You roast potatoes, pumpkin, eggplant or whatever you like, boil the crap out of it and then puree it in the blender with a bit of salt...
who knows? something MIGHT come of it.

I've tried everything, he wont eat pureed soup, or any sort of soup, he wont eat anything he doesn't recognise eg cheese, ham, pepperoni, certain chips and beans, he is the fussiest little person that i've ever known. I am really at a loss of what to do, hopefully the school will be able to help ween him onto other foods, his dad thinks pier pressure will work once he starts going to school dinners.

moimoog-my DS is 6 and has AS. He has a very limited diet like your DS. Very few foods he will eat and these definitely do not include any fruit or vegetables! He will not even eat chips or baked beans! He also hates soups of any description, or any kind of "meat and 2 veg type" dinner.
Like Jimjams DS, he would also quite happily go without food-for days-rather tnan eat something new. There is no way he can be bribed to eat. Luckily he does drink a lot of milk (with milkshake in it) which is his main source of calories I think. Sorry, not much advice for you in this post-just wanted to let you know you are not alone.

tiggiwinkle - I;d recommend can;t eat won't eat- its about AS/ASD. It didn't actually help me expand his diet, but iut did make me feel better as most of the case histories were worse than ds1 (diet of white chocolate buttons anyone?)