Very fussy eater 18 month old - help!!

[Tarynb]

My DD is 18 months old, and i have so much trouble trying to get her to eat, when i could feed her myself, i pureed hoem cooked foods for her and she ate them, then she refused all of that so i resorted to jars, she ate them for a while, but for the last 3 or 4 months it has been a complete battle at every meal time to get her to eat anything, she is my second child, and my first ate very well, ad was quite happy to let me feed him until this age, but she will not let me feed her at all now, she has cow's milk for breakfast and one bottle before bed, and sometimes if she wakes, one in the night, but i battle with breakfast, she will occasionally eat dry cheerios or buttered toast but most of it ends up in the bin, lunch is usually a round of sandwich, which she might eat a third of, and tea time is usually a small portion of whatever we eat, but most of it end up being thrown on the floor or smeared across the table cloth. i have read some other posts and read about not letting mealtimes become a battle ground, and i have tried, but as each meal time approaches i get so tense, my first born who is 6 i feel for, as every meal time is always about her and how much she is or isnt eating. i give her pureed apple pouches and raisins as snacks but just generally really worried that she is not getting enough nutritious food into her. any advise would be very welcome!

I would try cutting up a variety of foods and putting them on her highchair tray. Let her play with them, lick them and taste them if she will.

Dont give her alot but try lots of mini meals through the day. Keep a diary of what she eats, by the end of a week you might be surprised at how much variety she has had.

My HV told me to do a weekly diary instead of a daily one as it gives a wider picture of what they are eating.

She is highly unlikely to starve herself, my Dd3 used to eat single foods at different meals sometimes so just cheese or just tiny squares of bread and marmite but by the end of the week she had eaten something from all food groups.

Good luck

Oh and meant to say, when you have given her the bits of food, sit with your other Dd and praise her for eating so nicely, chat with your little one but dont talk about what she is eating or not eating.

Stay strong you will get through this

Hi,
thanks for that, i will definitely try the diary, as hopefully i will be surprised how much she is eating with the little and often approach, she is waking at 3am every night and i am wondering whether giving her a bottle at night is making her less hungry in the day. as we have an older school aged child we tried the controlled crying in the half term so as not to have him woken and then having to go to school, as his bedroom is so close he wakes, she cried every night, it lasted about 3 weeks before my husband decided he could not cope with the crying anymore and gave her a bottle, so she is back to having one, is this why she might be less hungry during the day? really want to stop the night feeds but dont want the crying for hours it brings and for my older child to be too tired for school! sorry to transgress to a slightly different subject but just thought they might be linked. she is only just started to take a few steps aswell, am thinking that with the increased activity with walking she might eat more?

Tbh, I doubt if 1 bottle in the night is making that much difference and she wont sleep if she is hungry.

It is a shame you are worried because you cant relax and go with the flow if you are stressed.

I would definitely try the little and often approach.

I suppose what you could do is either give her less in the night or the same quantity but gradually water it down so that she is eventually just having water. Then you might be able to stop it. You will have to do it slowly though and she will need to learn to self settle at some point but she is still little so you can tackle that later.

Good luck

trying your idea of watering down the milk gradually, fingers crossed!! thanks for your help x