Currently crying over fussy toddler

[Syra]

Please tell me stories of how your fussy eaters got better.

18months old and has a very very limited diet. It was bad but it’s gotten drastically worse recently. I make everything from scratch and I’m breaking my back trying new things which are immediately screamed at and thrown in my face. Literally. I’m so so fed up. Older child was amazing with weaning so this stress is new to me.

Any stories of how other people got through this phase would really help right now!

Firstly, I completely sympathise. DD started weaning really well then became more and more fussy.

Can I just ask how much milk he's on a day and what type? This can often have a massive affect on appetite

He has about 5 ounces of cows milk in the morning when he wakes up. Maybe 6:30/7am. Then normally another 5 ounces after his afternoon nap around 2pm. Then about 7 ounces at bedtime at 7:30pm. He sleeps really well and normally sleeps through now.

What does your LO eat? A child will never starve themselves. My brother was fussy and my mum would plate up what she knew he would eat plus a small thing he would not. There was no drama at the table and no comments were made about not eating other than nothing else until the next meal. I know this does not help

Just an idea could you leave picky items out for your LO to graze/try new things

You will probably find that if you reduce the milk that he eats more. 17oz is a lot for an 18mo. I would cut it right down to just a small cup of bedtime milk and maybe initially a small cup in the morning too but give it after breakfast and not before.

NHS guidelines are that children that age need 2-3 portions of dairy and that can come from cheese yoghurt and/or milk. So he is already having over that as 7oz is much more than 1 portion.

Thank you for the advice. I’ll take note about the milk and drop it down. I stopped breastfeeding when he was 12 months so I think I just offered him milk a lot at first to compensate and didn’t really cut down quick enough.

I always put out a little bit of what we’re having alongside what I know he’ll eat but he reacts to it so badly. He throws it on the floor instantly and any other food that’s touching it.

I always put out a little bit of what we’re having alongside what I know he’ll eat but he reacts to it so badly. He throws it on the floor instantly and any other food that’s touching it.

I'd just ignore this, just like you would any bad behaviour from a toddler.

I think once you get him to the recommended 10floz a day his appetite will improve.

You could offer him breakfast first thing, maybe with some milk in cereal? Both of mine liked Ready Brek with chopped banana or berries at this age.

After his afternoon nap offer a snack and some diluted fruit juice.

Keep the bottle before bed

How are things going today @Syra?

Honestly not great. I can’t pretty much only get him to eat roast sweet potato, bread and cream cheese and white rice. He will eat watermelon and biscuits as well.

It’s like he’s phobic of anything he thinks he won’t like.

I’ll make the white rice with chilli and with a lamb mince curry type dish. He’ll eat those. Today I tried mushroom risotto and it all went on the floor. He screwed up his face as soon as he saw it.

A very mild not remotely spiced chilli and curry I should say!

Ok so two things that might help are firstly the book My Child Won't Eat and secondly maybe doing the MChat test just to see what his risk of ASD is. Sometimes a sign of ASD can be very limited foods that the child will accept.

Have you consulted your health visitor?

My DD has ASD and she has always been a very fussy eater. If it’s wrong colour, or texture she won’t eat it. Foods that she will eat can be spoiled if they touch other foods on the plate. Or even if say water from steamed veg on her plate gets into her rice- she can’t eat any of it.

She had other symptoms too, I remember full on tantrums with her wailing about bumps in her socks for example. She will only drink water, nothing else.

It took a long time to find foods she will eat and to engineer a balanced diet. Basically, always have something she will eat prepared and introduce anything new with no pressure.

My LO was hell at that age.
Anything you know he will eat add to the plate with something new. Over time reduce what he likes and up the new.

Thank you that’s so helpful! I’ve just ordered that book.

Also I had a bit of a fear I was avoiding the ASD because I had heard it was one of the symptoms. I did that test though and he scored a 1 so very low risk. That’s hugely reassuring. Thank you. That’s not to say he definitely doesn’t have issues but it forced me to assess his other skills more rationally.

My 15mo has been refusing most food over the last few days - bit of a cold, so I think just not feeling it.
This evening, after still refusing to eat, I busted out a SPECIAL spoon for him to feed with - it's got a train on it. Ate the lot.

I have a very fussy 2 year old so I feel your pain, it's so tough some days :(

I follow a page on Facebook called kids eat in colour, she's a nutritionist, and I find some of her tips quite helpful, some don't work for my little one at all but some have. So could be worth a look for you.

My little one also sees a dietitian and she's advised me to try and cut down his milk to try and get his food intake up, it has helped a little but not drastically like I'd hoped.

Things have got ever so slightly better since I last posted.

I’ve cut down his daytime milk which definitely helped. I bought that book ‘help my child won’t eat’ and it’s great. It’s definitely helped calm me down about the whole issue.

We even got him to eat a couple of new things. We’ve worked out he likes to feed us first.. then he’ll try it himself. It’s helped him trust the food and have fun with it a bit.

Last night he ate more food at dinner than he has in weeks. He’s still really fussy but I’m not as worried.

Following with interest as I have a very fussy 3yo.

@stephn88 thank you for the Kids Eat in Colour recommendation... I've had a quick look on their website and already feel inspired.