Toddlers still won't eat "normal" food

[UdderFixation]

I have 22-month old twin boys. They have always been reasonable eaters, and they eat mostly home-cooked food, plus jars once or twice a week. The problem is that everything they eat (apart from snacks and toast) is mushy. Not quite pureed, but very mashed at the least! any lumps are spat out.

My dr told me that if they don't use their teeth as much as they should now, there's a risk that their adult teeth will be crowded. Also I really want to get them onto normal food, so we can go on holiday or to restaurants without taking food for them.

I have tried pasta with cheese sauce, pasta with tomato sauce, soft carrot sticks, chips, peas, fishfingers, meatballs....one of my boys will have a smidge of the meatballs, but that's it. Any ideas?

keep trying - they will NOT starve themselves.

DO NOT panic if they literally don't eat anything for a couple of days (make sure they drink something). Be calm, if they don't eat the meal, clear it away without fuss and wait for the next meal.

Throw away the jars of baby food!!

make it fun - get some new plates/cutlery, place mats.

did I mention to throw away the baby food??

eat as a family, as much as possible - they will soon want to eat what you (and DP?) eat.

Good luck - and don't worry! they will be eating normal food in no time

The fact they eat snacks and toast shows it's not because they can't. You could try increasing tge lumps slowly or giving them pieces of food along side the mushed version eg pieces of banana with a little mushed banana.

What are their favourites? Try those first.

Also have twin boys, one who sounds just like yours (and at 2.9 is re-entering an "interesting" phase food wise).

Agree with the gradual introduction of bigger food. Cous cous and mashed potatoes are pretty mushy, but feel quite substantial in the mouth (does that make sense?). Have you tried babybel type cheese, solid yet quite soft? (but never let them see the wrapping if you want them to eat cheese not wrapped in wax).

Scrambled eggs? Plain rice?

Strangely my boys go mad for beans - just plain kidney beans! And bizarrely big flavours - accidently gave him my chilli rather than theirs (after discovering kidney bean fixation) and discovered a love of the (very) spicy.

How are they with cutlery? Mushy is easier to stay on a spoon. My son doesn't like touching wet things with his hands - so anything difficult to get to his mouth easily on a spoon he naturally shoves in with his fingers then gets upset.

Hope something helps, you have my sympathy dealing with 2 of them being difficult. I was only kept going at times knowing that at least half that I made would be eaten.

(on that note, just thought, are they copying each other? Do they go to nursery and see other children eating? Have you tried separating them to see if one or both might be tempted without the other around.)