Oh for christ's sake just try it!

[Dawnybabe]

...is what I shouted at my 16 mo dd2 today.

I am sick to the back teeth of wasting time cooking and making stuff up that she refuses to eat. Everybody (anybody) else that tries it says it's tasty and absolutely fine and yet she won't eat it.

So far she has rejected

my lovely fish pie
my chicken/veggie casserole
my roast beef
my sausage & mash
any mashed veg
my apple crumble
my roasted peppers
risotto
noodles
roast turkey
anything made with eggs

The list is probably a hell of a lot longer but those are some things that spring to mind. I freeze it if she doesn't eat it and then bring it out again another time and she rejects it all over again.

All she seems to want to eat is

pasta with cheese and tomato puree
porridge with milk and pureed fruit
bread and butter
cereal
the occasional yoghurt
the occasional cheese on toast

Not exactly a wide and varied diet. I seem to end up giving her the same stuff over and over again.

I have read that it's perfectly ok to keep feeding your toddler the same meals. It will just be a phase, they'll get bored and want to try something else, and you mustn't let it become a battle, etc.

Does it actually work? Can you keep feeding them the same old stuff? How long for? I'm getting worried about her diet.

Gosh, how frustrated you must feel! Well done for perservering with it, and still making things from scratch, it's more than a lot of people do!

My mum had this trouble with my little sister, she made so many meals from scratch, all which were absolutely lovely but my sister would just not eat any of it! She would have dairylea triangles, toast, bread and butter, new potatoes and fish fingers, the occasional chicken product, and strawberry yoghurt. And when she got a bit older, plain noodles - seriously, just on there own sometimes with a bit of raw carrot.

It drove my mum insane with worry, but a health visitor said to her 'She doesn't care how long you've spent preparing a lovely meal, she doesn't care if it's organic or homemade, all she cares about is that when she gets that hungry feeling in her belly, you make it go away.'

All of the things you've said she will eat are fine, they are good proper foods. They might not be exotic or interesting, but they will fill her up. You are doing the absolute best you can, and like I said, it's more than a lot of people would do. There are lots of carbs there, and protein and calcium in cheese. No harm will come to her, and as she gets older she will be more open to experimenting. Just remember, these things are good food, it's not like she is living off crisps and chocolate! Just remember what that health visitor said to my mum - its true!

Ignore it, its a phase...

When she is hungry ( and not full of snacks) she will eat.

I'm sure I read or heard somewhere that you should keep offering the food even if she won't try it, - it sometimes takes ten or more times of being offered before they will try. So worth persevering with different foods. But I wouldn't worry too much, - she's very little and their tastes can change a lot as they grow, and she's not going hungry.

Thanks everyone. It's so frustrating and worrying when you're going through it isn't it? She would happily live on crap if I let her, she's had a taste of crisps and chocolate and doesn't seem to have any trouble in wolfing them down.

I blame myself. I had awful eating habits when I was pregnant with her, after I ate so well through my first pregnancy, so I'm sure it's morphed itself into her subconscious!

I will keep offering her different stuff in case she decides to try it, but at least I can keep resorting to pasta etc so Mandy I will remember your advice!

I'm going through it myself at the moment with my 3 year old! It's soul destroying and you worry about their lack of variety and nutrition! But we have to believe that what the experts tell us is right, keep offering and accept it's a phase! But it's not easy!

Don't blame yourself, it's just all a part of her learning about the world.

Definitely persevere though - there are things that DD now loves (raspberries, eggs, risotto, chicken, sandwiches) which she hated initially. I just kept giving her little bits to taste and if she didn't eat it would give her the 'proper' meal later. Think a lot of it is down to unfamiliar tastes and textures where the default response is to spit it out.

This is what I would do. (nb I am bad)

Pick the tastiest, most delicious & fragrant interesting colourful meal in your list. I would personally choose your fish pie + roast peppers.

Leave lunch till you are both starving

Avoid snacks all morning.

Then fire up a lovely big yummy helping for Mum and any other small persons in the house.

And a cold plate of Weetbix for DD2.

Dig in.
Wait for "waaaah want some".
Say " But this is only for bigger people"

'Give in', and shovel yummy fish pie down DD2.

Tell her that since she's eaten so much adult food you will consider promoting her to grown up meals if she doesn't want to be bothered with baby food in future.

(At 16 months mine could understand rather a lot, and despised being treated like a baby.)

catinthehat2 you are an evil genius!

I think it works if you suspect your children are evil geniuses as well . I don't think most children are a million miles away from one or both of their parents' characters.

I don't have children that age any more, but I was always thinking about why they were being blighters, and what would have stopped me being a blighter if I was in their position IYSWIM.

I can see the signs already and DD is only 7mo!!!

!

Fill her cheese and tomato pasta with pureed veg

Fill her breakfast with pureed fruit.

Breathe.

:)

I notice that you put 'my' a lot in your post. It's very hard not to take it personally, isn't it.

Have you tried more solid food? My DS loved salmon in breadcrumbs/oats and cooked in the oven for a few mins. At about 18mo he totally went off all the mixed foods (fish pie/shepards pie etc) and wanted separate things (so sausages, mash and peas, or breaded fish, potatoes and mixed veg etc)

Just read catinthehats post. Genius :)

Going through the same thing, except my boy is 13mths old. He ate really well from 9/10mths and now we battle every meal. I am exhausted. Sandwiches and pears used to be his favourite foods but I can't seem to get those down him now either. Any type of cereal goes down, yoghurts, bananas, raspberries, pureed fruit, cheesy pasta and toast with butter on it. Not a varied diet. I feel encouraged by Mandy's advice and will just keep trying.

KURRIKURRI, that advice was given to me. DD is 9.4 and still has an extrememly limited diet. the stuff which is acceptable is miniscule but odd. She will happily eat octopus, squid and prawns but offer her some fish or a fishfinger and we get the face. She will tip plain pasta down her throat and lasagne, but won't even try bolognasie or anything else.