One child eats everything - the other, not so much

[DeliveredByKiki]

DS is 7 and bar usual toddler fussiness is and has always been a great water, he tries everything even if he's tried it before and not liked it, loves to test combos of food etc and now I pretty much order adult menu items to share with him when we go out

DD is 4.5 and the opposite - she has some staple meals she loves and claims to like chicken, fish, carbs and dairy in any form, most fruit but no vegetables at all. I think though it's a control issue because often she'll just look at a plate and say she doesn't like it, even if it's something she's had before.

Tearing my hair it somewhat because I obviously have DS to compare her with. I'm trying to stick to the plan in Getting The Little Blighters To Eat but just wanted to her any tales or advice from other parents?

FFS

Great eater
Tearing hair out

I had that with dd1 and dd2.
Aged about 8yo they swapped. And the brilliant eater from first weaning eats about 6 things out of choice.
The one who wouldn't eat more than a nibble (except tinned sweetcorn) of anything now eats like a horse.

I have the same. DD1 is 11 now and has always eaten everything and liked most things. DD2 is now 8 and has always been fussy. She has improved a bit though...when she was 4 I remember her going days on nothing but cucumber and milk!

She doesn't like sauces unless I strain them...which I do...she won't eat any veg bar peas and raw carrots but I cope with that because that's something.

Will yours eat fruit? Salad? Having DD help me cook did work somewhat. I let her make pizzas with me...she then ate them even though there was red pepper on them.

I cook with both of them a lot, they have their own cookbooks and I involve them in shopping and choosing. And DD ate everything while weaning - fussiness kicked in around 18months and she's never had any sensory issues with food

I don't have it as bad as a lot of people for sure (milk and cucumber? That must have been tough!), she won't eat any vegetables except chopped frozen spinach stirred into pasta pesto. I don't like cheating vegetables into thjng because I'd like her to know what she's eating and to be actively choosing it, but I do now make pasta sauces with veg blended together, add broccoli and spinach to home made pesto, and make them green ice lollies in which the strong flavours of banana and mango hide a multitude of green veggies (and hemp and chia seeds to boost protein and omega 3!)

It's the battling that's getting me down. I make sure a few meals a week at the least are easy food I know she loves but the whole family can't eat pasta pesto every goddamn day! Just wondered if folks persevered with getting them to at least try other foods (particularly ones they used to like ) and if it made the blindest bit of difference

I really don't want food to be a battle ground and to store up issues for later on (history of disordered eating so I'm sensitive to this)

Well she's doing ok if she's eating spinach regularly....especially with those lollies and sauces added to the mix!

With regards to battling. Just don't.

I don't persevere. I leave it to my DD. What I do is cook what I want but make sure there's at least 2 elements to a meal that she will eat. I know she'll eat pasta, rice or potatoes...so there's usually one thing she will definitely eat. Then if she doesn't like the rest of what's on offer...ie fish or red meat or something like stew, then I just leave her to her potatoes and peas or whatever.

She will later ask me for a peanut butter sandwich and I give her one. That's that.

Why stress?

Probably stressing because I usually do the same and yet the last few days she's even refused to try her usual side of carbs (literally steamed rice or spaghetti E etc etc