How to get children to eat please!!!!!!!

[emanspiks]

DD is 2.8 and she wont try nothing new and hardly eats
well all she will eat is
Coco Pops
maybe Weetabix
Toast
Nuggets
Fish cake (only rarely)
Cottage pie (Frozen but she's off that as well now
Bread & butter (white)
apple
yorkshire pudding (aunt bessies frozen ones)

She doesnt like to try nothing new i put in fornt of her she will not attempt to eat any kind of meat she doesnt like gravy or sauces

I try and cook and eat healthy for my kids my ds is quite good he likes his meat

BUT dd is not hardly eating she does go to the toilet once every day so something must be going down lol

she would love to eat crisps buscuits cake as muchas she could but i only give it very little now as im trying to cut out the cr*p (without success)

she wants me to feed her all the time and she's 3 in may i try not too feed her too often but if i know she hasnt eaten much i will feed her

And sometimes if i bride her with a little mashed pototo she tries it then spits if out and heaves

I am at my witts end

Any ideas will be most helpful ive run out!!!

Thanks

sorry to hear you are having this problem

My ds2, 2.4yrs is very similar, much the same as your dd but wihtout the apple. I don't stress about it anymore ( much) although he will feed himself.

Looking at your list, it may be a good idea if you made a batch of your own nuggets - I know there is a MN recipe out there somewhere - then you could make sure she is getting the best possible ingredients.

I can't offer any advice as I have just had a parsnip chip slipped in amongst the homemade potato ones spat in to my hand. Sneaky little critters these 2 year olds.

Good luck

DS went through a stage of this. I did loads of roasted veggies like butternut squash and swwet potato and beetroot for him for a while which he loves cos they're so sweet and then moved to curried/casseroles with them as main feature, gradually reducing it and replacing with whatever (chicken, broccoli etc).

Seems to have worked but we do still have the nights where all he'll eat is eggy bread!

The magazine Delicious has some good recipies that kiddies seem to love.

I always find that if we've been swimming, to the park, for a walk - any exercise generally, prior to a meal, that my kids eat so much better (not always practical I know). But I find that I have a much better success rate with 'new' foods when they are really hungry.

And unless they have had a decent stab at a mela, there is no pudding except fruit.

I also found cutting right down/cutting out snacks inbetween meals helped too.

If you can bear the disruption, it's also a good idea to let them help with dinner. My DDs put the toppings on their own pizzas, and thses always go down well too.

I also make a tomato sauce for pasta and grate cheese over the top which they both love - the pasta sauce has all sorts in it - celery, spinach, whatever's handy really.

If I need to be devious (I have no problem with being devious!) I mash a parsnip (and even cauli, as my kids will not touch cauli) in with potato and this normally goes down undetected.

Good luck, I know how stressful it can be, but the other thing to remember, is that some kids really don't have a huge appetite.

yeah i could try making my own nuggets but time is evrything (wish there was more)

i have to get her out of this stage well i say a stage it has lasted as long as i can remember i know it has been a long time

I keep on saying oh its just a phase and she'll grow out of it like her db did but she just aint growing out of it lol

And i've tried mashing veg in to her pototoes but also she has spat them out as with most food she spits out

i do feel that is my fault in a way

Thanks for your comments and more out there?

She sounds like my dd, i'm trying to cut out the crap but its hard work. I cut her veg in shapes, eg star shaped sweed, heart shaped potato etc.., i hide fruit in jelly (she loves jelly), i try to make her food look as fun as i can and then she eats it. If she does'nt eat it then she goes with out.

festybird i have tried to cut out snacks in between and basically starve her till dinner etc.. and when i put whatever in front of her she'll just say don't like it not that etc..

also i have let her help with meals like put the peas in the saucepan pour the water on them and get things for me and still without success

maybe its just me wanting them to eat loads but it seems as she doesnt eat hardly anything

does half a waffle sound even enough for a growing girl as dinner after 3 hours in nursery?

I feel help less

marne

I have tried if she doesnt eat then she go's without but then as time goes on i give in as she hasnt eaten anything

exactly how long do i let her go without if she doesnt eat whats put in front of her?

i used to give food different names. Beef casserloe never got eaten until it was renamed crocodile stew (ds was in to Peter PAn at the time) worked a treat.

Emanspiks, agree, half a waffle doesn't sound too much does it? What about if you cook the waffle, then say to her, 'eat 2 bits of fishfinger (or whatever) first, then you get the waffle' - would that work?

my ds2 is nearly 4. has always eaten breakfast (weetabix/cornflakes/rice crispies etc) and lunch but never ate dinner. Dinnertime was always battle time with him saying he didn't like it even if he hadn't tried it. Lots of pressure from saying 'come on if you eat this you can have pudding' etc. Then I stopped putting on the pressure. I gave him his dinner when everyone else was sitting up let him get down from the table as often as he wanted and after a reasonable time took his dinner away. For a few night hardly anything got eaten. But now he stays at the table and eats everything thats on his plate with no fuss at all. Perhaps you could try this. Make a dinner you know she likes and let her eat as much as she wants then throw away whats left without any comment do the same meal for a couple of days then change one thing on it and gradually introduce new food but still with no pressure. hope this helps.

I had this with mine. Then I formulated a plan, discussed it with dh and we both resolved to stick with it come what may!

Breakfasts were not usually a problem. If they did not eat their lunch or dinner, we would get them down from the table with no fuss, we would carry on with ours and we would have our dessert, they got none. If they did not eat, they were not allowed any snacks during the rest of the day either and only water to drink, no juice, no milk.

If they did the same at tea-time they got the same treatment. Pretty soon it dawned on them that if they didn't eat they would go hungry. So if they made a reasonable try at their meal, we would let them have a dessert.

We still don't give snacks during the day, unless it is an odd occasion. So far it has worked with mine, they eat much better than before! They still go through periods when they don't eat, but then they know they get nothing, no substitute.

It's easy.

Cook what you think they should eat.
Give it to them.
If they refuse it,take it away.
Repeat as necessary.

That's it.

hi no advice really just empathy. My ds is 2.3yrs and was a fantastic eater until 3/4mths ago. Now he picks at tiny bits or will look at food and completely refuse to eat it. I have tried cutting out treats drinks[will only have milk and water] but to no avail.
just bought the dinner lady cook book in a hope that some of those recipes might entice him!!

feistybird - have tried that lol i bribe her with tiptop's she loves them i say if you eat a little bit or a mouthful or whatever i say you can have a tiptop after but then she just goes without

groat thanks for that i did strat to try no pressure but aas days went on still the same then i just got worried i might be starving her so i just gave in then maybe i should have stuck it out longer i think i will definately try again thanks for that

Rhubarb thats for that how old are yours by the way just wondering?

moondog yeah i was trying that but days went on and i feel like a bad mother with them not eating

Nemo1977 oh you'll have to let me know if the cookbook is any good coz i will try anything at the moment

She has just had dinner well i cooked her 2 waffles and a fish cake and left her alone to watch tv and she ate the majority of it with out pressure but that was a 3 hour stint of nursery so this is obviously a good day for her
DONT KNOW HOW LONG THAT WILL LAST LOL

so i rewarded her witha tiptop (me its way too cold but she loves them)

Thaks for all your help and if there is anymore out there please suggest thanks emanspiks

emans...they will eat when hungry!
If you want to go the 'bad mother' route,what is worse-eating junk or learning that food is a precious commodity not to be wasted,in the same way as the cook's time and energy should not be wasted???
(What the hell are tip tops anyway???)

emanspiks is your dd's growth OK - in terms of weight and height? And does she drink milk or fruit juice?

It is very common for kids to not eat as much as we think they should. A lot of the mums at ds's nursery say that their kids don't eat.

I think the key is to put no pressure on them and not make it an issue. Having two troublesome eaters myself I know how worrying this is but I have noticed that:

After exercise - walking, swimming etc they are hungrier.

They don't want to sit and eat and will eat better if I feed them while they're playing. I know this is not recommended but I don't care as long as they're getting some nutrients.

Ds2, nearly 2, will not eat stuff he doesn't like, no matter how hungry he is so I don't accept the line that all kids will eat when they're hungry. Some won't.

Variety is very important - keep offering new things even if this is rejected.

And eat new things yourself in front of her. If you can, try to get other people to do this as well. Whenever MIL is eating anything my dss go and stand open-mouthed in front of her and will try whatever she's having.

You have to stop the junk food completely. It is empty calories.

Good luck, just keep persevering. As someone once said, it is our job to offer our kids healthy food, we can't always make them eat it though.

my hv has said that as long as they have one meal a day even if it's just weetabix they will be ok and will eat when hungry. don't know at what age this advise given surely must be different if they get more active.

i would back off the pressure and ask her to choose from two things for tea[for eg] that way she feels shes getting a say in eating something she wants plus put something that you want her to eat on the plate...start off a new food very small...a crumb/ a bite. and ask her just to trya small bite and then she can have the other foods or even sif she backs off against this.. leave the new food on the plate for each meal time put it there..[yes food will get wasted but its worth it] and apparently[ great ormond street hospital feeding programme here!!] they will not see this new food as anew food` anymore and will be more relaxed about trying it and praise her big time for trying it but leave her at the table for no more than 20 mins if she doesnt eat and then say she can get down but no snacks etc are offered until next mealtime and dont keep trying to make an issue of her NOT eating instead be very positive about when she DOES eat..

my dd adores food and is a brilliant healthy eater[its my ds that the problem but hes asd] and i can always gurantee that my dd will eat a very healthy balanced diet over a space of a week ..for eg some days she will eat only carbs , others meat and others veggies lus she will ask what she needs,, there are days when all she wants is fruit which i let her then another day she ll say she just wants meat..left to our own bodies our bodies know instinctively what we need so listen to your little one and take time out for her to enjoy it..make lunch time fun..make the meal interesting and appealing to look at.. any more advice that s been given to me by GOSH[hospital just ask..weve been there dont worry

moondog yeah you have a good point as to they'll eat when they are hungry but when is the line drawn im affraid to leave it too long as i think im starving her!! tip tops are frozen juice ( lollipops ) like ice lollies

sadia to be honest i havent kept a check with her height and weight as there are just not enough hours in a day all i know is she's fitting the right size clothes for her age but thanks ver y much for your comments

bambi06 hi and thanks very much for that it was really helpful some days i do try and let her pick what she wants even then it still goes in the bin
i think i put more in thebin than i cook is that possible lol

anyway thatnks for the advice and good luck withyour 2 they say you never have 2 the same

thanks to you all im definately going to put my foot down and not give in and see how it goes

oh yeah sadia she loves her milk but after seeing programmes on tv about troublesome toddlers not eating i cut her milk down i favour for her to eat more but it didnt work

If she's fitting into the right size clothes that's really good she must be growing normally so that takes some of the pressure off.

I think it is a very gradual process for kids to widen their repertoire of what they will eat so don't be disheartened if things go slowly. Just stick to the same plan and be consistent.