Fussy eating 2 and half year old!

[sarahlawrence31]

I am at my wits end with my DS who is 2 and a half. He has always been a fairly good eater up until about 8 weeks ago (which coincided with DS2 being born) and now he turns his nose up at EVERY meal. He will eat snacks like yoghurts, cereal, breadsticks, bananas, but the only two meals he will now eat are boiled eggs (won't eat the soldiers) and spaghetti bolognese. He eats no vegetables at all and no other hot meals.

I am sure it started as attention seeking when the new baby was born and my HV said I should ignore it and it will pass, but now it has become a habit and it is hard to ignore. I am not offering him any alternatives, which means he is going to bed hungry most nights and not eating anything like enough. He is on the skinny side anyway so i am really worried.

Has anyone been through the same? Am hoping it's just a phase!!

Thanks

No real advice, except to say you are not alone, my 2.5 year old dd is a fussy little skinny minnie, and I just tell myself mantra like that toddlers do not starve themselves. I understand it is so hard not to worry.

Breakfast time I lose the will to live, as what she loves one day will be the food of the devil the next . Have you tried getting him involved in preparing it (not always easy, I know), as I find that can help. What about soup? Dd will hoover that up and you can put lots of veg in it and blitz it so it's smooth.

try a star chart, we've just implemented one with my 2,10DS and after no eating veg HIS WHOLE LIFE (besides thoe ones hidden in sauces etc) it seems to be working

DS turned fussy around the same age, just before DD arrived. I get as many blitzed up veg into bolognese as I can. He loves a floor picnic on a rug in the living room or outside if weather good. - has he got a teaset? you could try putting little sandwiches etc. on little plates, making a game of it. DS will have a smoothie now, so I always stock up when they're on offer in tesco (I get innocent kids ones, which are expensive, but every few weeks they're on a good offer, and the dates are usually pretty good). I read once that toddlers need around 1000 calories a day, and when I started adding up what DS eats, it does come in around that most days, so I try not to worry. I keep offering him whatever we have and give him toast or cereal before bed if I don't think he's eaten enough.

DS has started eating a bit more variety, but I've had to be inventive with how I serve things - e.g. we lvoe rice, but he'd never eat it, so I've started doing bolognese with beans and rice and now he'll wolf it up. am hoping when I start giving rice with other things now, he'll just tuck in. also, he loves sausages, so I now do a spicy veg cous-cous with chopped up sausage dish, and he's started eatign the cous-cous. - It's not what we'd normally eat, but it doesn't taste that weird and it's gettign him eating more. - can you try e.g. chicken or turkey mince in the bolognese? or sausages in a tomato-ey sauce with spaghetti? - then progress to having the same dish with mash or rice? and get him to help with cooking so he's familiar with the ingredients? get him to crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them himself and show him how you can make scrambled egg?

I too am hoping this one will pass! good luck.

My ds1 is similar age and also a terrible eater. If it isn't fish fingers, he doesn't want it.
I have always been a fussy, poor eater so kind of know what meal times are like for all involved.
My parents used to make me sit at the table until bedtimke and would put an awful amount of pressure on me to eat.
The rule in my house is, I decide what's for dinner, they (ds's) decide how much they will eat.
We all sit at the table together, all have the same meal and I try to keep conversation going and not talk about food. I will every now and then say "eat your dinner please" and that's it.
I don't give snacks within 2 hours of meal times either.
Part of me (from own experience) is of the thought that the phase will only pass and with the desired result if we remove pressure. I say that because my diet is still terrible, I am still a very poor and fussy eater and have only starting eating properly and forcing foods I don't like down because i don't want my children be like me.
I'm sure it will pass though, you just have to ride it out and hope for the best I think.

My 2.5 yr old used to love peas and carrots, but refuses completely now, will only eat mash and gravy. Loves yoghurts and jelly but won't eat any fruit at all. He will only eat homemade bolognase. He will not eat cereal or breakfast at all. Is it true that 2 yr old taste buds change because it is genetically implanted in them to stop them eating poisonous berries and leaves. He has never been greedy but eats a lot less now.