2 yr old always been fussy eater- this is what she will eat- pls make some recommendations

[krisskross]

Hi
my DD has just turned 2 has always been a reasonably fussy eater. weaning was quite difficult as she did not want to try much and she was about a year before she was eating three small meals a day. With huge perserverance she will now eat these meals

chilli
chicken saag aloo
chicken korma
salmon fillets
cod fillets
baked beans
tomato sauce
sausage casserole
lamb chops
cheese
any fruit at all

all of this is home made stuff- not ready meals!!- and she will eat pasta and rice with it.

On paper- this looks good (actually made me feel better to read it!), but as we all eat together ( we also have DS nearly 4)- i am running out of things to try as she is very conservative and knows if she hasnt eaten something before.

She will only eat veg in sauce- like in sausage casserole or chicken curry. But, she wont eat any on their own and she wont eat any kind of potato. As i said, it doesnt look too bad- but spontaneous dinners eg baked potatoes and chicken and veg are out and she rarely tries anything new.

Can you give me any advice on getting her to try new things and eat potatoes and other dinners!! thanks

That doesn't look fussy! presumably the saag aloo, chilli, casserole and tomato sauce have got veg in them>

Introduce potato into the sauce of things (isn't saag aloo spinach and potato anyway?) to get her used to the texture. Does she eat mash at all? You could try root vegetable mash to see if she's eat that, and include potato.

To put things into perspective, at that age DS would eat fish, sausages, mash, no fruit or veg whatsoever (unless it was hidden). He's the opposite and won't eat anything that IS in a sauce.

Frustrating, isn't it

Sorry if that sounded a bit arsey, I've just had to type a stroppy email to somebody

No! it didnt sound arsey at all! she wont eat mash and my son hates it . but pasta and rice pasta and rice is driving me bonkers. and when we go away on hols i need to make sauces which is a pain. to be fair my son was/ is a great eater and i think we were a bit spoiled.

she kind of eats the potatoes in saag aloo as long as they are mashed up. root veg mash is a great idea though. was thinking of roasting some veg like carrots with honey (she loves sweet things and has antennae for them- and will try anything she knows is sweet!!).

My DS is about to turn 2. Though he will eat a more varied diet at nursery, at home he will eat:

Chicken korma and rice
Roast chicken, veg but no potato
Garlic bread
Toast
Cream crackers + philadelphia
Diced peeled apple
Organix cereal bars
Humzingers
Yogurts
Occasionally chicken nuggets.

I feel your pain and will watch this with interest!

That does sound like a reasonably good mix. What I have done with DS to get him to try new things is basically alternate, or have one or two days a week where I cook something new (to him). You can make sure she has a substantial lunch on that day as well (beans on toast?) so it doesn't matter so much if she won't eat all of it.

Ketchup has been a big revelation, it started with gravy at a roast dinner, DP (who was fairly new to DS then) got him to "dip dip" things into it, and he ate loads of new things, I was amazed. So then I used to make up a little eggcup full of instant gravy for him with a meal, and he'd dip anything and everything into that. I found I could make into a paste with hot water, then add cold and it would go runny enough to dip into (and not be salt overload) but cool enough not to burn his mouth. Then he progressed onto ketchup and we've managed to get him to try things by saying "Try dip dipping it!"

I've also found that he's just become more receptive to things as his language and understanding has improved. For example he now eats things like chicken curry and chicken supreme and chicken in a tomato pasta sauce, whereas before if I tried to serve him chicken like this he'd look at me as if to say "That is not chicken! Where is the nugget part, you madwoman?" And I can also lie and say that bacon or sausage in a sauce is chicken.

The other thing is to make her something plain if you are all having something else, and one day she will completely surprise you by saying "Can I have that?" because yours looks more interesting (this was how I discovered DS liked pasta)

Forgot to add this: Quite often (most of the time) DS has refused all of a new dinner, so I have standbys - fruit and yoghurt, perhaps some bread and butter - for him to have after dinner in the evening before bed. I don't put pressure on him to try things though, just offer it, make sure it's not too hot (he's been put off things because the first time he tried them he burnt his mouth) and offer tomato sauce etc, to give it all the best chance of working out. Also if you ever eat with friends and they have DCs her age it can help to see other DCs trying things, although possibly not as helpful for your DD if she has her brother to copy already.

Ive had problems with DS2 who has just gone 2. But no way were we going to let a 2 year old dictate likes/dislikes at such a young age. Apart from raw tomatos/salads/stong veg/strong foods we have never accepted like or dislike and I think parents accepting this shows a point of control to their children. Going back to my childhood there was absolutely no room for fussiness. There were no alternatives and there was no money to offer alternatives either.

I wonder if this is the new thing for young children to test their parents - how can a child not eat potatoes? I had to sit next to DS2 and go back to spoon feeding and not accepting his 'No' or head shaking. Its taken a few weeks but its paid off.

I cook one meal which is child friendly and we dont offer any alternative.

she doesnt eat them because she completely refuses and I am not going to force her- i saw a thread here a few weeks ago where some parents said they did force their toddlers to eat things??? i do not give her other things instead, so its clear, she has her dinner or nothing. its been that way for approx a year- i dont feel as if i am being manipulated by her, just want her to eat some more things.

my dd is a total nightmare and will be 2 next week

she eats
Readybrek
shreddies (dry never with milk)
rice crispies (dry)
brown toast with crunchy peanut butter (sometimes)
quavers
organix carrot crisps
marmite rice cakes
nairns oatcakes (sometimes, they are favourite this week but last week were "yuk")
fromage frais (sometimes)
4 flavours of stage 1 ella's kitchen purees (the slightly savoury ones)
most forms of chocolate

That is it. Literally it. she will scream, cry, clamp mouth shut and make herself vomit if things she doesn't like the look of are put anywhere near her. Otherwise she is a total delight, happy confident articulate little thing

I have given up trying and accept that once she is a little older star charts/bribery may be more effective. for now we go with the flow a bit. nursery offer new stuff every day none of which gets eaten but at least she will now sit at the table whilst other people eat "normal" stuff which for us is huge progress

I feel your pain. (BTW DD was BLW'd and was mega adventurous til 9 months when we had solid strike for a month and she has been really fussy ever since)