My daughter won't eat meat

[MidgeW]

Hi all,
I am relatively new to mumsnet so apologies if this message looks very boring. Am not yet coherant on all the smilies shorthand!

My daughter is 19 months and has been a funny one with her food since I started weaning her at 5 months. She had to go to food early as she was guzzling far too much milk - 8-10oz milk feeds and she has a strong will. She refused food off a spoon at 7 months when I introduced finger foods, because she wanted to feed herself and ended up refusing anything that came via a spoon for over a month.

She finally got hungry and I had to attack jar food as I did not have enough flavours and textures in my freezer. Since this day she has always loved jar food and I guess has developed a dislike to home cooked food. Texture is her thing and now after 8 months of trying new things I can get her to eat more adult food.

She will love meals with mashed potato, rice and particularly pasta but its the flavour of the sauce and texture that will stop her eating. If she can detect any grain of meat or strand of chicken then she will hunt them out with her tongue and spit them out. I have some luck with very finely ground mince on spaghetti as she will pick it with her fingers and the meat grains get in but its only a tiny amount. I can also get mince into her if its mixed with rice, or very finely diced chicken but the sauce consistency has to be right - it has to be quite wet and liquidy otherwise she won't eat it if its too dry.

I have had some break throughs as we have just been in the Cape verde islands at the riu hotel in boa vista for 2 weeks and i decided to try and give her just adult food. she was very good and was happy to have diced meatballs hidden in mashed potato and had beef ccasserole that I mashed down and hid in rice and she would eat most of it. At tea there were all the naughty things for kids - hamburgers, chips and cheese and ham toasties and she devoured these.

Since we have got home she will eat ham and cheese sandwiches and croissants, cheese on toast is now a hit and i can get fish and tuna in her if its hidden with mashed potato. She loves food if the sauce is made with a huge dollop of cream cheese and then tomato puree mixed in. Its a very rich creamy and tomato sauce that is quite sour in flavour but she seems to love it.

I am still however very frustrated as she is by far from one of those kids who will just eat anything that is put in front of her. When it comes to fruit and veg though i can't stop her - she will devour anything. All fruits are a YES please and all veg as long as its cooked and then cold she will devour (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, mange tout, sugar snap peas, carrots etc). So should I be worried?

My mum tells me several mums would kill for a child to eat fruit and veg like my little one, but all I wish i could do is get her to eat some meat as i am concerned she does not get enough protein. She goes to nursery and has chicken and fish pies and moroccan lamb that is all slow cooked and then hidden so some stuff does get in her but I just don't know how to get her to enjoy eating lumps of fish and meat. All my other friends kiddies of the same age seem to happily plough through and don't bat an eye lid.

Should I just keep offering it to her and hope that one day she will get it? We got her to bite on a chicken drumstick and eat the chicken the other day - one mouthful was progress - she spat out the 2nd mouthful! On holiday she had a few chicken nuggets but they were very garlicky. Maybe she just finds it all too bland??

Any ideas? I think I just need to cook a few meals and keep giving these to her and hope that in a few weeks she will get used to these before I move onto other menu's. I cook with a slow cooker a lot and i just find it really frustrating that I can't just take a portion for her out and know she will eat it. Usually she will refuse it if she has never eaten it before.

Tips and ideas of recipes that have worked for you would be gratefully received. I am sure i can't be alone but most people seem to have problems with their monkeys not eating fruit or veg. Am yet to find someone having trouble with their monkey not eating meat?

Hope you can help/reassure me!
Michelle

FWIW my dad never ate meat all his life. He spat it out as a baby and toddler and as he had a huge family that indulged him they just let him get on with it. He still grew up well built and over 6ft.

As long as she has protein in other foods she'll be fine.

Lots of kids don't like the taste and texture of meat. Offer it sometimes but don't worry about it.

Seriously if my kids ate every type and veg I put in front of them I would do a little dance of joy.

Kids come and go with what they like food wise when they are young. Soon she may love meat and hate all veg.

She will be getting everything she needs nutrition wise without meat so chill!

I think you are worrying too much. Mine doesnt eat veg or meat! In fact he eats not much except fruit and bread Sounds like she is getting some meat? How is she with pulses, egg cheese and other stuff with protein?
My ds is the same with meat btw. V hard to get him to eat it hidden even. Though occasionally he does surprise me and eat roast chicken or sausage as finger food.
I think you just need to keep offering.

Mine won't eat meat either. Don't worry, you need to rethink some of your meals a bit, or persevere with meat until she maybe acquires a taste for it.
My DD likes beans and lentils (but not baked beans) and I make a tomato sauce with extra veg in it that goes with pasta or pretty much any carb. She also eats some fish and likes veggie sausages. My DD also now understands where meat comes from and is literally horrified that we eat it! (She's not quite 4...)
She is fit and healthy, a good weight, and is rarely ill.
Batch cook and freeze small portions.

Oh we have had limited success with tuna Mayo sandwiches and fish pate (firmly rejected currently though!). You could also try meat pate?

DS (2.5) is not keen on meat (great with fruit and veg), but loves dipping things, so we give him strips or chunks of chicken and occasionally beef to dip in things like soy sauce / stir-fry type marinades, houmous, even cream cheese... slightly strange but he eats meat much better this way than he does if I try to hide it in things. If I have made a family meal for us, e.g. a stir-fry, curry, or something in the slow cooker, I will separate out the meat from DS's give him it with a bit of the sauce to dip in (we use the plates with a few "sections" so that he can have veg in one bit, carbs in another, meat in one, and a section for "dip"). Before we discovered this though I just filled him with lentils!

Thanks so much for all your input and responses. It's nice to know my little one is not the only meat refuser!

Had not tried the idea of dips so will definitely try that one and will keep persevering and offering but not get too stressed if she refuses it.

Today she totally took me by surprise. I thought I would try her with her last portion of an Annabel Karmel recipe of salmon and broccoli pasta. I added some extra milk, cream cheese and a bit of tomato puree and never thought she would eat it as it smelt so fishy. I gave it to her, ignored her (well unpacked the shopping) and before I knew it she was asking for more and her plate was clean! She devoured the meal so maybe her taste buds are changing. She then came home from swimming and devoured a ham sandwich tonight which she has never done before. Guess its just a case of "keep trying"

Am going to try and make 6 key meals and get her used to these before introducing new ones. It's taken her nearly 6 months before she started eating her nursery food and now she eats almost all of everything so I also recognise that maybe I am trying too many different flavours too often.

They are such monkeys, but feel really quite jubilant about her eating today.

Thanks again for all your posts.....very helpful and so reassuring its not just me having these troubles!

Michelle xx

Don't worry about her protein intake, if she is still taking milk then she will be getting plenty. We all eat far to much protein and not enough fruit and veg!

My DD is similar (3.10y) - in fact my facebook status today is cedlebrating that fact she's eaten beef mince two days running!

She will eat sausages, nuggets, fish fingers, ham etc. but won't touch a roast or "lumpy" meat. She chews and chews the meat until it is a horrid solid mass and then spits it out. A slow cooked casserole will sometimes go ok, and minced meat occasionally, but only if well broken down / mashed.

She eats loads of fruit and veg, and drinks her (lactose free) milk so I don't worry too much. She's on 99th percentile for height!

Just keep on trying.

actually she doesn't sound too bad at all op, from what you said she does eat meat like you said the fine mince, the things she is having in nursery, so that is protein. she does not have to be wolfing down huge chunk of meat if that's not what she likes.
also protein in other things like eggs, lentils, milk, cheese...
my 2 yr old will not eat visible meat either, on the rare occasion he might go for a chicken nugget type thing but normally if he can see the meat he just doesn't like it. it may be psychological, if we put it inside a sandwich so he cant see the meat when biting in, then he is okay.
but also what i do sometimes is liquidise the cooked meat with some water it becomes like a sauce, and i just put it on the rice and mix it, then he eats it fine, so obviously not an issue with the meat "flavour" but just gets put off by seeing big peices of meat.

Hi- dd2 was like this she was a late teether she has just got her molars and now she can chew the meat with her teeth she loves it, mustn't be that much fun chewing meat with gums so maybe that was the problem with my one! hope this helps

my 3yr old daughter has never enjoyed eating meat and will spit and pick out meat that has been hidden in her meal. The only meat i can get her to eat is mince (only in spag bol) and a very small amount. She turns her nose up at the smell of meat cooking and wont try fish fingers, chicken nuggets or burgers (as suggested by my health visitor). I find it difficult to think of alternatives as her meals can end up dull when i remove the meat. Although i have stopped putting meat on her plate i still offer it. I keep hoping she will eventually eat meat as i hate having to make alternatives!

My DD didn't eat meat or fish until she was nearly 3 years old but we made sure she got protein from pulses, beans etc. She started eating it when she went to school and seemed happy enough.

Then last year (10 at the time) she decided she wanted to be vegetarian. I think it's mainly a texture thing with her and since i was veggie when i was younger i'm doing my best to support her. This means we now mostly eat vegetarian food at home with DH and i are both happy with (DS has taken a little convincing).

So long as your DD is eating healthily (and it sounds like she is) and you're making sure she's getting protein in other forms, she'll be fine.

Lentils are full of protein - could you try those, mixed with tomato, carrot etc? My DD before her latest phase (see my thread on not eating anything - from here you look very lucky!) loved those. And sausage rolls and fishfingers. And micey / stewy things with lots of mash, but it seems you're trying those!

DS doesn't really like the texture of meat, but really likes 'fake' meat - Quorn type stuff. You could try that?

second what oldbeanbagz said aslong as she is getting some form of protein she willl be fine, how do you think veggies survive. by what your post says your dd's diet is healthy, i wouldnt worry.

Sorry, this won't help but I was exactly like your daughter and didn't eat any meat/chicken/fish until my twenties when I slowly introduced chicken and fish into my diet.

There was no explanation and it drove my parents mad but in the end they just had to give in.

I am still relatively fussy e.g. I will eat a chicken curry or chicken fajitas but not a Sunday roast. I will have battered fish or scampi with tartar sauce but wouldn't eat tuna or sea bass etc.

Hopefully she will grow out of it. Good luck.

PS I was a very healthy child and didn't have any time off school until I was a teenager and even then it was only due to horrible cramping during my periods.

Hi Midge I puree weaned DD1 whereas I gave 'normal (!)' food and did BLW for DD2 and DD3.

DD1 was not keen on chewing meat and we found that the weaning styles had had a significant impact on causing this to happen. From lack of early chewing and her jaw position, DD1's jaw strength had not developed in the same way as DD's 2 & 3 and we have had to address it with cranial chiropractic treatment and orthodontic work (not the out-dated tooth-pulling-out style of orthodontics!).

I highly recommend a visit to an experienced cranial chiropractor (not osteopath, but a cranial chiropractor). Talk to them about the food aversions and the weaning process, jaw and muscle tone and strength etc. They will look at everything, part of which would be looking at the jaw structure and seeing if anything they can do to help things.

On the protein side of things, this list is quite useful:
www.marksdailyapple.com/top-ten-protein-sources/#axzz2HZPQyJgX

Whilst you're working on the meat intake, can you make sure she's getting cheese, butter, yogurt (not those kids yogurts with sugar in, but a natural yogurt)?

Best wishes.

just dont give her meat?

P.S. If jaw is a bit weak it is good to address it early and then it doesn't cause any other probs

zombie thread alert

The op's daughter is probably devouring cows whole by now.

Oh yes, good spot Cheddars !!!