Why won't they eat 'good' food?

[WishYouACrappyChristmas]

It's really getting me hacked off now. DS1 (4 in Jan) has always been a picky eater but until recently I've just about managed to get most of the food groups in him everyday and have been giving him vitamin supplements to make up for anything lacking in his diet. But now he barely eats at all! Yesterday all he ate was a boiled egg and half a slice of buttered bread. Is normal for a kid his age?

Now DS2 (15months) is at it. He'll stuff fruit and peas into himself as if there's no tomorrow but as for anything else? Not a hope in hell.

I don't pander to them with regular sweets and crisps etc. These are kept as treats once a week if everyone's been good.

I just find it a bit upsetting to spend ages making things out of my feeding babies and toddlers book for them to turn their noses up at it and shove it away from them. If DS1 doesn't eat it he doesn't get anything else but that doesn't appear to have any effect, is DS2 too young to do this to? I think he still is.

Any ideas?

Eaney, yeah, my tastebuds are fried from too many spicy foods. I will eat anything - ok, I draw the line at a dead cat. RudolphMabel, you mentioned junk food - yup, I believe in controlled access to junk, why sometimes I even offer it even though dd did not ask, just because I fancied some myself and she was right there . As a serial snacker, I find it hard to confine my consumption of food to mealtimes. Although, Dd is fussy, I still allow her to be pretty free range in her eating. To her credit, she often refuses junk, likes veg, hates fruit and is not ready to eat what we eat yet. What can I say, I lurve food. I find it hard to make an issue out of it.

Issymum, really interesting post - and makes sense to me. DD at 2 isn't particularly fussy, eats a wide variety of food, seems to know what she needs (demands for chocolate aside) on a daily basis and is average weight, but as a French/Jewish mother I STILL have to bite my tongue daily not to fuss! Most of the time, I offer then bin if not eaten after decent amount of time, but its good to have my thinking reinforced - needed to hear that.

blueshoes - both my DD's are asleep - this hasn't happened before EVER! DD1 doen't nap anymore so must be really tired - anyway I've scoffed my way through about 2/3's of a bag of Maoam (sp) fruity stix yummy - though jaw now aches a lot

I never knew my Dad to eat cat. It was mainly Hare. My brother thought he had gone up in the world found himself a nice posh girlfriend who he brought home for the weekend, Anyway off they went to the nearest pub, about 3 miles away through coutry lanes, for a few drinks. On the way home my Dad stopped the car and, you guessed it. slung a freshly killed Hare into the boot.

My brother was mortified and his girlfriend (now wife) was speechless. I can tell you that when he brought home the Hare my Mum refused to cook it so my Da,d not being the best cook, boiled it for hours and the whole house stunk.

Eaney - I once did that with a pheasant, to shock a prissy university acquaintance.
It tasted perfectly good though

Ah, memories....when I was 17, I had a boyfriend who came to stay with me at my Mum's for the weekend, and brought a road-killed rabbit he happened to spot en route; he hung it up in front of the back door overnight (he arrived very late, and there were handy hooks there in the porch). The next morning, we were all woken by the ghastly shrieks of the milkman's boy who had brought the bottles to the back doorstep in the dark and bumped noses with a large, staring rabbit corpse...
We ditched it before my Mum could find out...

Hurrah!!!! I cooked roast Chuck tonight and DS1 ate quite a lot and asked for bread and butter to make a chicken sandwich (didn't eat his veggies but you can't expect miracles) and DS2 ate a huge splodge of cheesey mash, loads of peas and licked a piece of broc. then ate a fromage fais and a box of raisens!! WaaaHoooo!

Nearly wet myself about the stories of roadkill . Not quite along the lines of roadkill but I might mention that whatever food dd doesn't eat (a lot), I will eat it up or force dh to eat it - dislike waste. RudolphMabel, success (with your naps and food)!

So did the milkboy...

This reminds me of a guy I worked with who employed an interesting tactic with his kids and eating.

If they complained about the Veg or anything for that matter he would give them an additional spoonful. They could not leave the table until they had finished. Apparently his Mum had done this to him and 'it didn't do me any harm'. Funnily enough he was about 2 stone overweight.

Eaney, I think that when people say "it didn't do me any harm" they are kidding themselves. If they can remember it so well and are so convinced it's right then it's likely to be wrong.

My dickhead Ex used to get the strap when he misbehaved but it didn't do him any harm - yet he can remember every single time and everything he did wrong to get it - and he's grown up to be a sh*thead.

I used to know a different guy who like your ex got a good hiding as a youngster and yeah 'didn't do menay harm'.

Thi same guy was found one night picking a fight with a bus stop. I kid you not. He was jumping and kicking and hitting a bus stop.