This is the 3rd day of a complete food strike! Help!

[fastasleep]

DS is clinically underweight (he's lingering just below the very bottom of the dreaded centiles) he has been from about 2 months of age, I expressed milk for him because he could never latch on, which was a constant battle with my HV because 'it was making him so thin'...

I tried really hard to wean him onto food that is good for you, he barely ever has 'cake' a piece of sponge-cake once a week if that, he doesn't eat chocolate or crisps or any pre-made stuff... (he's 2 btw!) he loves his veggies so much that he'll often ignore his pasta or whatever's with it, and I was really proud of him.... but he keeps having these phases of refusing to eat antyhing... this one's got to the third day now and he just can't afford to lose the weight..

All we've managed to get down him since well Saturday really (that's the 4th day, poo!) is 250 mls of cows/breastmilk (I'm currently expressing for DD lol) and that's it! He'll put things in his mouth and look as if he's eating them but then they get spat out... what am I to do??

Wonderful GP says 'just add butter to all his food and he'll be right as rain', yeh thanks mate great, but he won't EAT it you numbskull!

I find the sluglet is more inclined to eat when she has some input into the cooking process. That could mean something as simple as standing him next to you while you chop vegetables for an omlette then getting him to sprinkle (or more commonly chuck as hard as possible) them on top. My experience has been that she sees this as 'mummy and me' time, feels very important ('I'm cooking for you daddy!') and 'tastes' everything, bar the raw egg, before it goes in the pan.

Some things I have found you can do with a 2 year old:
Getting them to 'hold' the grater for you while you grate cheese.
Deciding what vegetables are going to be used in the meal.
Putting toppings on pizza.
Breaking up a peeled banana for the milkshake.
Rubbing butter into flour for scones. This one's a real winner, there's nothing your average toddler likes more than the feel of butter and flour squishing between their grubby little fingers.
Attacking a cooked potato with a fork. (I mash cheese into potato for the sluglet, then let her 'finish' it)
Making food cakes or balls e.g. fish cakes, meat balls, left-over-cheesy-potato cakes, anything that requires a bit of a squish together and a pat.
Eggy bread. He can push the bread into the mixture, let you turn it over then give it a pat with a fork to make sure it's soaked up the mixture. If you have biscuit cutters you could try cutting out shapes from the bread first (get him to be a big boy and push down hard on the cutters), then making eggy bread out of them. I only do this when there's a lot of bread going stale.

Failing all that, if he won't eat what you've lovingly prepared for him, go with the doormat method of no comment, no dessert.

Thanks slug, I think even if he magiaclly starts eating I might let him 'help' me cook his food, it sounds adorable!

What did DH do? He brought home Chinese didn't he - men! What did Theo do? Ate the damned fried rice and then a banana and then an orange and then drank two cups of milk and toddled of to bed repeating 'lub oo lub oo' (love you)...

I felt no joy... just an intense 'I beat you Mummy hahaha' vibe pouring out of Theo's every orrifice!

And we're still not allowed to go out (DH is worried his horrible cough will come back) so we're still stuck in and all they did was moan at me and I can't escaaaape waah!

At least the little........ ate some food

Did he eat his porridge? No! He sat there grinning at me for an hour whilst it went rock hard.... but I gave him a banana which thankfully he ate.... he'd better eat the roasted veggies with cheese on top he's getting for lunch (he loves it I know he does) ...grr...!