help!! toddler will only eat from pouch whilst watching farm animal videos!!

[enidlowrij]

I dont know what to do with my son and his feeding habits, i created them i know and i dont know how to undo them. basically hes restless 100 mph throughout the day, so sitting in a chair is a huge struggle hes fine in the chair if im reading him books or doing puzzles with him but otherwise he hates sitting down, he might sit on my knee for a few seconds through the day. i have to push him 30 mins to get him to sleep hes exhausting so for a easier life and to stop my worrying about not eating and waking a billion times a night to bf i decided one day to read a book and feed him at the same time.... it worked so its what i was doing for such a long time. i had previous to this try baby led for a month but he threw everything on the floor so gave up and went on to puree with spoon whilst reading books....a month later he stopped eating because of the heat and only just started to eat again two months ago,but again only with something to look at or keep him from kicking and hitting the spoon and wanting to go down to play. then a month ago my mum showed him cows on youtube and he became obsessed and again out of exhaustion and just fed up of reading books and the struggle of feeding and reading together i just put cows on but then refused spoons and only wanted the pouch now im stuck with a toddler that only eats with cow videos and pouches :( the food is homemade and put in wee sprout he didnt get a glimps of any video or tv before that bloody cow video im so fed up of hearing cows moo. he will feed himself fruit and hell eat two or three spoons of food but then refuses and i then puree it. he can self feed really well he picks up foodwith the spoon nd puts it in his mouth with no problem but he wants to throw the food and doesnt care that he likes the food he just wants to play and throw it. today i said enough was enough brekfast he has green smoothies so he drinks that but for lunch he had sweet potato and carrot mash an egg and beans things i know he loves served it at 12:30 his usual everyday lunch time he wouldnt eat it until half two and took 40 minutes to finish 80% of it he went from 9 to half 2 and it was still a battle then to feed with spoon and gave in and put on video otherwise im pretty sure hed just go to sleep hungry. usualy at half two he has his snack before sleep. so at night he had chicken and rice he maby ate like 6 grains of rice lol and a good chunk of chicken then a small piece of chicken then that was it he was bored and everything was going to get chucked and was point blank refusing spoon after 2 hours and wanting to cry i puree it and he took it. i hate that i gave in with books and videos and pouches i should have just continued baby led and he would probably end up eating but exclusively bf a big boy its not so fun and wanted a break badly. sorry that this is so damn long im just venting and also at the same time really wanting good advice.

this is so long im sorry. im also just blurting out everything because ive spent around 5 hours feeding him today and want to cry.

How old is your son? My two both went through phases of eating very little when they were babies/toddlers. Then they would suddenly start eating again. A child won’t starve themselves. I would stop puréeing it as he knows that if he doesn’t eat you will do that, I would just lay his meal out and let him eat it, if he doesn’t then he doesn’t, don’t react to him. Have you got one of those highchair mats you put under it so all the food will land on that?

Pack a lunch box: cool bag at the beginning of the day with lots of little pots ( systema have great ones) or wrap foid in little packages could deal with stickers to Mahdi it fun?
In them put a small
Serving of food 1 to 2 teaspoons full
eg in each something different
1 or 2 small chunks chicken
Half a hard boiled egg
Grated cheese
Chopped green beans
Broccoli florets
Chopped fruit
Potato
Rice cakes
Selection of toddler friendly snacks/ pouches.

Then get out and about allow him to
Be active and just offer the food when he is in the pushchair enroute/ while you sit in the park and read a story or in a cafe while you have a restorative coffee!..
spin the food out in small portions and don’t worry about when what how much or in what order it is eaten. Just take the pressure off eating /meal times at this age it is about simple nutrition. A pattern of mealtimes will gradually emerge when you both relax and he begins to enjoy food more. At the end of the day look at what has been eaten over the course of the day and audit at the end of the week.
You will most likely be amazed at how much he has eaten.
Don’t get hung up on portion Toddlers need surprisingly little to sustain them. Do consider his milk intake though as this will need to reduce -if heavy- for the food to increase.

How old is your son OP?

Exactly what Hannah said. Put his food out on the table for him to take it or leave it. No TV. If he does come and it it, lots of positive praise, if he doesn't then just ignore him. He's not going to starve.

Are you still breastfeeding him? I've recently stopped as my toddler has turned 2. I've found his eating has massively improved. He will still have moments, he won't eat something he usually loves but I just ignore it.

I would say on average he sits to eat for about 8 minutes.

Following as my son is very similar. His hands are like little windmills if I don't let him tinker with something while he eats, and the spoon gets hit. If I put food in front of him for self feeding, he'll sweep it on the floor. Unless I give him one piece at a time! It's very hard for him to sit still and he'll throw food and fuss even if he likes the food and is still hungry. He's 13 months.

My DD eats while watching TV it's the only way I can get her to sit still!

I would agree with put out the food and he will eat when he's hungry but don't beg or bribe him to eat as the behaviour continues if he gets such a big reaction from you. When I reduced my DDs milk intake (she was on bottles after 6 months so a bit easier) she suddenly found an appetite and hasn't skipped a meal since.

sorry for late reply had interviews and didnt want to stress. hes 14 months in a few days. im just stressing because ill be goingg back to work and i really dont want him stressing my mum and not eating at creche. my food are mainly stuff like chickpea stew and lasagnia, shephers pie ect so there not the beat for him to eat with hands. i half blended his meal tonight so it was still with chunks and he ate it took an hour because hes the slowest eater but didnt mind. he has ate fish pie and cottage pie for me too but then next day refuses until its in the pouch i really think its just because sometimes he just cba to chew lol. im just going to keep offering and keep trying slowly and if its not at least 40% better by time hes 15 months then ill just ban the nursery rhyme videos and puree all together and let him do his own thing atleast then he will have had a month+ of knowing that he needs to eat non puree food and to strengthen his mouth a little. lesson learnt with next kid. baby led weaning all the way next time. also sorry for the dramatic essay i was so stressed with interviews and read on a thread that there two year old will only eat from pouch and i freaked out haha.

their two year olds *

Surely you don't need to purée a sheppards pie. Lasagne you could cut the pasta into pick up size.

Fish fingers or chunks of salmon etc can be picked up. Soft vegetables like boiled / steamed carrot etc.

If you don't use the pouch then he will learn.

Just let him get messy and get his hands in stuff. Appetites vary on different days.

my 14 month old can eat most of the things you mentioned with his hands. He does a bit with his spoon and then cracks on.

But babies drop and throw food, it's normal. It is part of how they learn about the world.

They're also very good at self regulating, so if they don't need to eat they won't but if you spoon feed them, they might take far more than they need.

Stop pureeing, stop the nursery rhymes, sit with him and eat your meal and talk about it. Don't stress.

Don't worry too much. They won't starve. I've got three 4,2 and 1. Try one meal pureed and watch TV and sit together, and one meal a selection of bits in a lunch box to pick at.
All mine have had a phase around 18 months where I swear they only eat crisps and yoghurt but it doesn't last last long if you go with it.
Sitting down all together for a roast with everything in separate bowls to chose from so he can pick and try things whilst watching you eat also works a treat.
My 1 yr old mostly refuses to let me feed him now so I've just had to look the other way whilst he eats pasta and stews with his hands. Its such a mess but he eats loads.
They soon get the hang of it x