Toddler turned into a REALLY fussy eater!! Please HELP!

[Ettylou]

Hi all, My 17 month old DS has never been a very good eater but he would eat what were his favourites which we sticked too & everyone was happy but recently we have moved to Spain & he now wont eat anything! Or at least it feels like that! :(
Here's what he used to eat when we lived in the Czech Republic (we are British BTW) -

Breakfast - Porridge & a sucky cup with whole milk
Lunch - Half a jar of baby food 10 - 36 months his favourite was beef & veg & Chicken & veg. Then half a jar of baby fruit (any flavour)
Tea - The rest of his lunch time jar & a yoghurt

He would also eat as snacks - crackers, bread rolls, sponge fingers, carrots, sometimes apples etc and occasionally chocolate buttons :) And have a bottle of whole milk before bed. Also he has a sucky cup with diluted squash in available all day.

When we moved we brought 7 days worth of his fav jars with us (we have since found that the make we were buying in the CR which were called 'Hami' are made by 'Cow & Gate' and we can get them from the Iceland here although slightly different flavours) and for the 1st few days we mixed and matched his favs with the jars his Nana & Granddad had got from the Spanish supermarkets & all seemed to be going ok! He wouldn't eat as much as before & would make a fuss at the beginning, i think because they smelled different,but once the 1st mouthful was in he would eat pretty much the whole lot. But over the last few days he has been flat refusing any of the veg & meat jars whether they are the 'Hami', 'Cow & Gate' or any of the Spanish ones! So he has been living on -

Breakfast - Porridge, a yoghurt & a sucky cup of Whole Milk
Lunch - maybe 1 spoonful of veg & meat jar if we're luckily! Sometimes a jar of fruit but he's going of that now too so last resort is a Yoghurt!
Tea - pretty much the same as lunch & then he runs around outside with cracker or 2 and a ice-cream cone with out the ice-cream!

He has the same amount of milk but probably drinks more squash cause its so hot here!

So I'm pulling my hair out! I try to stay calm but half of me feels like i should force him to eat so at least he gets something inside him but i know this will just make him worse! I try to stick to offer him the spoon a couple of times and then take it away!

If he doesn't eat his veg & meat should i not offer him pudding? My OH thinks this is the best way but i think he is too young for that & at least if he eats a yoghurt or some fruit he's eating something.

The same with the crackers too, i wonder if we shouldn't be giving him these just as a means to filling him up? But these seem to almost be the last 'favourite' that he hasn't gone off (along with Yoghurt!)

I know i shouldn't be getting stressed about it & he is happy & appears healthy & i know he wouldn't starve him self. I just don't know how long he can live on crackers & yoghurt! :(

Oh one more note he is teething his canines at the mo but his teeth don't really bother him, he's a little grumpy but nothing a teething powder doesn't sort out.

Anyway before i verge on writing a book!
All help will be gratefully appreciated & thanks for your time xxx

you can try with some fruits which are good in proteins and calories. you may start making promised like if you finish this I will give you something which he likes (start with lesser amt of food -- don't force). try giving some popular brand ready to eat ( good for growing kids can mix in a milk or water) . so should not face problem when you move from home. I hope this will be useful.....

Would he eat the same food as you? DD has been eating our food since she was just over a year. Maybe if he sees you eating the same (try to eat with him) he will eat better?

I agree with galena. My DD (now 27 months) was the same, very fussy but would go through phases of only wanting the same favourite food, then sooner or later that would change. She still does it now, has a new favourite every few months. It's only natural for their tastes to change.

I would try introducing other foods, more grown up things maybe. He may take an interest in eating the same as you. Or maybe give him a choice of 2 different foods and let him choose (if he's able to do that at his stage). In a few months he will be able to tell you what he wants more clearly, but in the meantime try experimenting with new things, rather than trying to push his old favourites - he may have simply gone off them or got bored of them.

Also, I am a believer that any food (within reason) is better than no food, not everyone's opinion, but I would rather DD ate something than have a hungry tummy.

Mine went off food a bit when he was teething, so it might be that.

Although I second the suggestion of ditching the jars and trying whatever you're having. He's got to do it at some point and might be best to try now rather than trying really hard to keep him on them. It's so much easier when you don't need to carry around special food for them!

Oh I feel your anguish! My DS 2.5 won't eat anything. Used to eat everything up until maybe 1.5 now is just so blooming fussy! Will only eat pasta, fruit, baked beans, bread cheese, milk, yougart and errrm chicken nuggets (not very often have to say!) but show him a roast dinner/shepheard pie etc he just won't even put it in his mouth! He gets no snacks other than fruit and gets nothing if he eats no lunch/dinner but nothing works, tried naughty step, ignoring it ... he is such a skinny thing but I won't cook him separate food! I despair with him!

My daughter aged 3.9 is also very fussy and has been since going onto proper food - I think because she has several severe food allergies. She will have favourite foods, which suddenly change and she won't touch them, only to go onto a new favourite... I feel she has a limited repertoire of foods, and took this up with the paediatrician. He just told me that if she is thriving and growing then there is no real problem, not to worry and she'll grow out of it. I had trouble with this advice at first, but now I'm just going with it. We do try to introduce new foods, and sometimes she'll have them, sometimes not.

Yoghurt, porridge and fruit don't sound too bad to be honest, and crackers aren't the end of the world! I would just keep trying different things, perhaps a bit of whatever you're having, and see what he likes the look of. I did also hear that children can have a weird phase round 18 months where they start to fear food, and want to eat what their mother has (??) so maybe there is a link?

I would not force it, and try not to stress, though easier said than done.

Good luck x

Thank you thank you all :) I think you're right I need to drop the jars whilst he is off them & just offer him new things along with his favourites. He is prob using my frustration as a trigger to be fussy, so today I am going to try to put things in front of him & let him decide! I guess he'll eat when he is hungry and may try things if I'm not sat in front of him nearly in tears!
Thanks again all you're advise was really helpful xxx

Yeah, sitting in front of him showing you're stressed is not a good thing. If someone stood over you making you eat you wouldn't like it and would feel pressured - especially if it was someone close to you. So, take a step back, chill out and put some bits on his plate while you are eating the same thing and see what he does. Point out to him that 'Look, mummy's got some egg/toast/cucumber/whatever and so have you! Mmmm, I like ' and then talk about something completely different. Don't talk food the whole mealtime - talk about what you've done in the morning/going to do in the afternoon or what happens in his favourite book/film/story or something.

Let us know how you get on!