Food averse

[Nannydoesntknowbest]

Some advice please. My granddaughter is developing the same food aversion as her mother. Some background, my son and partner split around 18 months ago, prior to that little one would eat a whole variety of foods because daddy cooked. Mummy though has a very limited diet, she will only eat burgers, nuggets, saveloys and sausage as far as ‘protein’ is concerned and veg is potato either baked chipped or mashed. She will not eat anything else and now unfortunately neither will little one. My sons access has been limited to seeing his daughter every other weekend so his ability to influence her diet is now a losing battle. He’s attempted to speak to his ex about varying their daughters diet but has no idea whether she makes any attempt to do this or not as she doesn’t communicate with him unless necessary. He’s trying his best to reintroduce things he knows she’s eaten in the past but is running low on willpower now and needs some ideas.

Could he go for 50/50 custody?

I am sorry. You don't how old she is, because kids are actually good at differentiating what you eat with whom, so for example at home, mega fussy but eating everything at nursery and asking for second.

I think the attitude and expectation is often the hurdle. You present a plate with the tone of the voice and body language that expect a refusal , and the child picks it. Plus the child knows perfectly well that an alternative will be offered.

Your son could try telling your granddaughter, we don't eat that food here, but we will cook together and make something similar.

At the same time, pick your battles. In 4 days, you can't fix 27 of crappy food so he could try the " no alternatives " approach for two weekends, and if it doesn't work, accept that this is not something he will be able to change. With such limited access, he needs to focus on building a bond, and if food becomes a source of conflict, he can make compromise, so snacks will be fruits, and one meals she picks, the other picks.

Separation is tough on everyone, sorry