3yr old still a fussy eater

[tillyfernackerpants]

I don't know whether to be worried or not! He will eat breakfast (weetabix/shreddies), lunch is usually beans on toast or a houmous sandwich, tea generally he wants beans on toast or pasta & meatballs.

The only vegetable he will eat is carrots (unless I hide some in the pasta sauce) and fruit very rarely. With fruit he tends to start it, then put it down & say he doesn't like it, can he have something else?

I don't know what to do. He turns his nose up at anything new, I've tried not making a deal of it & just taking it away but it hasn't made a difference! If I offer him anything its 'no, I don't like that, I want a snack'. Snacks are raisins, fruit bars, yogurt-coated fruit etc which we say are a treat, not to be had everyday.

Any ideas? His behaviour is becoming terrible because of it, simply because he's hungry!

Do you eat with him? We've found this to be the best way with out kids. We have the same thing as them and don't make a fuss but then we all have the same and eat at the same time as much as possible.

Would it be possible to make a fun game like having lots of things to taste and pretending to be a taste panel and saying what it's like. Decorating pizzas with lots of stuff?
How about cooking easy things with him. I do with DS (3) and he loves tasting things.

Also my DH use to play a game with the DC's where he puts some food on a fork and asks them to look after it as it's too hot for him. Then he says oh i'll just look this way, make sure no one eats it as I'm looking forward to it. My DC's would then eat it all up.

Ahh Tilly,

DD is a fussy little madam when it comes to her food. She still has a limited repetoire of what she will eat, but its just about workable for us. Her only 'veg' is brocoli and the odd cherry tomato.

We found that DD was 'snacking' too much in the morning/afternoon and consequently wasn't really eating much at set meal times. So we have tried to reduce her snack intake, and she does tend to eat better at mealtimes as a result. Although many a day she simply refuses to eat. This does mean tantrums as she stamps her feet demanding what she wants but I just try to ignore it. If she is still hungry at bedtime I do usually offer her some cereal or toast (I can't cope with both her and DS waking up)

I also find that if DD gets lots of fresh air she eats better Probably why she's not eating too well at the moment as it seems to be always raining!

I find that if we are tying her with something new just put it in front of her and say nothing. If she says I don't like it, leave it there and eventually she starts to nibble on it. Probably not all of it but she'll try it if she thinks I'm not looking.

Sorry probably not much help there, but at least you know he's not on his own!

Please don't worry about your DS - no toddler ever willingly starved themselves if food is readily available. You say he won't eat vegetables ,but you also mention that he eats pasta sauce - that's tomatoes isn't it? beans and houmous also sounds pretty healthy to me!

Our DD is also very particular about her food (she is 3.5). Nothing mixed up or in sauce, all things separate on the plate, and anything new/new-ish is rejected immediately with an "I don't like it" - usually veg. We have started to tell her she can't say she doesn't like it unless she has at least one mouthful - she has since discovered that she actually does like cauliflower and beansprouts in this way!

Don't give up trying your DS with new foods - it can take up to 10 "tries" before a child will accept a new food (an instinct useful to protect themselves from eating potentially dangerous/poisonous stuff)

another thought, DD is also allowed fruit whenever she wants it, so eats loads of grapes, apples, bananas and berries (some days nothing but!) - maybe something to try if you haven't already?

Thanks for all the replies, sorry I haven't been back, lost our internet!

We do eat together & eat the same things but that doesn't seem to make a difference. I do try cooking with him as well but he's not that interested in it, & if he does help he still insists he doesn't like it! But I will try the games

Amiable, yes he will eat tomato pasta sauce & I hide vegetables in that. I guess I just thought that by his age, I really shouldn't be needing to hide them anymore!

I do let him have fruit if he wants it but he generally wants snacky things instead. Maybe I'll try getting him his own fruit bowl & leaving it where he can get it himself!

Thanks again, I'll keep at it!

Every sympathy. My son will eat fruit during the day and will always eat yogurt and fruit at meal times but we're having an awful time trying to get him to eat anything at all as a main course unless it's plain bread. All I can do is hang in there and hope it's just a phase ... and believe that he will still survive!

I also have a 3 yr old that eats really, really badly...I've tried absolutley everything - buying the food together, getting him to help me prepare it, eating together, pretending broccoli are little trees..the lot! Nothing works. At the moment he's fine for breakfast and fruit/toast type snacks in the morning but come the afternoon he just wont eat/try anything.(hence why he's so good in the morning, he's starving) He actually bursts into tears and sobs at the sight of dinner (not all the time but quite often) and then just runs off and hides in his bedroom.

really trying not to make a big deal of food but it's soooo frustrating to make wholesome, tasty food everyday for him not to try anything.

So, sorry, no constructive advice, just to let you know you are not alone and I for one would kill if ds would eat hummous!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've tried some of the ideas but he's stubborn, doesn't matter if he picks it, helps me cook it, how I present it, if he doesn't want it that's that!

Cyradis, looking at your list it doesn't seem that bad, but I think its just the sameness of it all isn't it?!

I guess though its in perspective that he does actually have some good elements in his diet. And as a friend said to me recently, they've got the rest of their life to try new things so stick with what they like for now!