he won't eat much

[sidey]

My 2yr old son only eats sausage, chick nuggetts and pot smiles. What can I try that includes hidden veg. Also he only eats things he can pick up with fingers. What a nightmare!!!Recipes please would be grateful

pasta and tomato sauce
tin of tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, carrots etc etc

blitz in a blender and freeze - the old ice cube trays etc - i make cheese sauce and occasionally heat that up and add it too.

Will he eat raw carrot or apple sticks etc

dd very fussy but getting better loves anything with bread

also try oven roasted spuds in olive oil - at least you know whats in them

HTH

put the sausage in the veg sauce rrh mentions and make him think its red sauce.
do the pot smiles come with a sauce on them? i dont know never heard of them , if they do wash it off and replace with the RRH sauce and at least part of the dinner is familiar to him.

starve him if he wont eat, he'll give in eventually moight take 2 / 3 wks, offer him fruit as a snack (and that can be tinned)
take away all yummys til after he eats a good lunch or dinner.
offer him pieces of cheeese as a snack too. with some crackers.
its a sllllooooowwwww proceesss getting them to eat more

He won't eat any tom sauce such as spag bol, spaghetti hoops etc, Will occasionally eat pasta and cheese sauce except when i try to hide veg in it. No he won't eat carrot or apple sticks. I despair sometimes and just end up giving him sausages on the trot

the pot smiles are just smiley potato faces u buy.

sidey take the sausages away, and let him go without, listen my dd was atrocious and she came round, its all about distrraction at feeding time - ie the food is not the main thing - and use something else to distract from the food so he is occupied thinking about that.
and if all he eats is bread,,he'll be fine.

start off with teaspoon amts of sauce, thats what i did.

and a treat if he even "tries" a bit - and that could be a markers / colouring book cheapo out of woolies or somewhere.

It's difficult at the moment as he is a bit young to understand if i say you can have a treat if you eat a bit of dinner. I spend ages trawling through recipe books and then its disheartening after you have cooked something and then he refuses it, but hey all part of it I suppose

i really know how you feel - tried a few days of offering food and if she didnt take it took it away then offered bread and butter instead
what about pizza - maybe offer home made with a touch of sauce and maybe cut up sausage on top?

I brought some sweet pot today what shall i do with it? How do I cook wedges?

par boil for 5 mins or so
put olive or sunflower oil in tin and stick in 200 degree oven for 5 mins
drain potatoes
put in hot oil and baste - season with pepper
cook for about 30 mins
stir half way through to get an even colour
maybe try carrots and other veg this way if he likes this

i kind of came to the conclusion that eventually she would eat more if i relaxed and it does work but it is so hard to sit back and relax when you have spent bloody ages cooking specially and they don't eat it

will he eat bananas or raisins also i give dd those fruit puree pots (cow and gate) or whatever to get stuff down her

yeah he will eat raisins, he used to eat bananas but he has stopped. he goes through fads like i don't know what. I'll try the sweet pot tomorrow and see how that goes down

I find blending almost everything up makes them less scary.
I just cook whatever we have in freezer veggie-wise with onions, garlic and tomatoes and a veggie stock cube (+ 2 tsp basil). Then serve with pasta. Ds then hand-feeds himself (actually not too messy), though he does have the option of using cutlery.
Did this for ds yesterday with parsnip, sweetcorn, carrots, peas and peppers (blended just before served). Was yummy.
Have also done with brocolli and pine-nuts in the past.
You could also try chucking in some grated cheese.
A friend's ds loves brocolli cheese. You could also try cauliflower cheese. (Cheese makes my ds throw up.)
Ds also now enjoys tuna pasta. Tomato sauce, again (onions, garlic and tomatoes), with a tin of tuna and sweetcorn (+ 1/2 sp chilli powder). (Don't have to blend this.)
Also try spagetti-bolognese. (Don't have to blend this either.)
Today ds had the tomato sauce with chicken, sultanas and prunes (+ 2 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cumin and 2 tsp turmeric).
I always serve them up in the same way too to make the foods less frightening, but ds is a nightmare to feed and has been for a year now.
If yours eats chicken nuggets and potato smiles how about making some hash browns with onion and mushrooms, or making veggie rissoles (any veg you have plus potato). Annabel Carmel has some good recipes. Or turkey balls. Or fishcakes? (On a roll.)

good luck - it does get better but its not easy i'm afraid - they will eat if they are hungry.

dd has now had 3 days when she ate all her tea - mind you still wont eat cooked carrots but has raw ones while i cook tea and wont eat green veg - apart from lettuce with lots of mayo on - buts its progress

I have got that recipe book and used to try a lot of different things but gave up cause whatever i did he didn't eat

Sidey.

Take away the sausages, nuggets and potato smiles, and never give them again.

I say this because I firmly believe once kids realise food like this is around, they won't eat anything else. They want their junk! My ds is 3, has had smiles once in his life, when he was 2.5, and still goes on about them!!!

Sounds like your ds likes plain, dry food, which you can do! the egg cup trick is good, puree up some carrots and mix with cheese, and serve like a sauce in an egg cup on his plate. Give him a spoon, and some pasta and toast fingers to dip. Show him what to do, then sit and read a book while he plays with it. Some of it might go in!

I know i should take them away but a bit scared that he won't eat anything and i know that won't happen either. I think you like to see your child eat and not go hungry

it is difficult - i din't go the full hog - dd still gets sausages and pizza but i try to introduce something new and get her used to it before the next new thing - apparently they need to eat something about a dozen times before accepting it properly - so my hv says

my hv told me to give him what he wanted.if i did that then it would be choc choc every time

Your HV is talking crap. Is your ds clinically underweight or something? Unless he is very very very thin, lethargic etc, I would not listen to your HV on this one.

No he has always been above average in his weight

hi all, thought i would update you. I tried the sweet pot and veg rissoles but the problem i have got is he won't try anything new. How do i get him to try new things? HV came today and said to hide veg in food which is ok if i can just get him to try diff things