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Advice/ideas needed for extremely fussy toddler

3 replies

PinkRamekin · 07/12/2025 20:40

My little boy is almost 2 and ever since we started weaning at 6 months he has been very difficult with food. He loves all fruit but other than that it’s a struggle to get him to eat well and at home he has a pretty limited diet (although he eats ok at nursery for some reason). We can’t get him to eat any meat, fish or eggs, he won’t touch most vegetables, and he won’t eat rice or pasta. But at nursery they say he eats things like fish curry and chicken korma?! When I was on mat leave I used to spend a lot of time cooking meals for him from books like What Mummy Makes, but I got really disheartened because 9 times out of 10 he would refuse to eat any of it so it would all be a huge waste of time. We’re now stuck in a rut where generally he just has things like porridge, yoghurt, rice cakes spread with peanut butter, weetabix and fruit because we know he will accept them. I do try to offer other foods but generally they get rejected, so I don’t want to spend loads of time cooking complicated meals for him (I work full time and so does DH, his job is very demanding so he’s never around in the evenings to help). My son is at nursery 4 days a week so he gets proper meals there and he is healthy and not underweight or nutrient deficient. However, I feel guilty and like a bad mother because I know other children are eating a much better diet at home than my little boy and it’s weighing on me. Does anyone have any advice or ideas of simple, low effort things I could offer him to try to broaden the range of foods he’s having at home and help get me out of this rut? Kind responses only please as this has all been very stressful and it’s not for lack of trying that my son is like this!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
SleafordSods · 07/12/2025 21:32

I had a fussy eater. The first 2 thibgs is consider is:

What happens if he refuses a food? Does he get an alternative?

And how much milk is he on and which kind?

PinkRamekin · 07/12/2025 22:01

SleafordSods · 07/12/2025 21:32

I had a fussy eater. The first 2 thibgs is consider is:

What happens if he refuses a food? Does he get an alternative?

And how much milk is he on and which kind?

He has whole cow’s milk in the morning and evening but not much. Maybe 200ml across the whole day in total. I always put some things on his plate that I know he will eat (was advised to do this by a dietician), I never just give him a new food on its own and that’s it as then he would likely go hungry. If he’s not eating much I am guilty of offering different things though as I worry about him not getting enough food otherwise.

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SleafordSods · 08/12/2025 08:07

Ok so unless he has ARFID, I would absolutely stop offering alternatives. He may whinge, he may cry but stay firm. After 2 or 3 days he will understand that it’s this or nothing and his favourites aren’t going to magically appear.

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