HELP 22 MONTH OLD BOY WILL ONLY EAT JARS AND TODDLER TRAY MEALS

[squirtlesmum]

please can someone help me as i am desperate my son is 22 months old and will not eat anything but jars or toddler tray meals I have tried to give him normal home cooked meals but he just cries and gets very worked up I have lots of childrens recipe books but everytime i try to feed him he just spits the food out and has a paddy can anyone advise me on what to do, he will eat sandwiches and pitta bread for lunch but will not eat my food. please please help

Mix it together - give him more of your food and less of the jar food over the course of a week or so, all mixed together.

you could try doing it gradually and mixing the two.

ie, if you have a jar of chicken casserole then make your own, and mix half the jar with some of your own... then gradually reduce the amount of jar food and increase the home cooked stuff

have you tried putting your food into an empty jar?

Put your home cooked food into some clean jars?

thanks will try this tommorrow and see if it works

great minds!

wish mine was working i work nights so its a bit hard to think in the day but i will see if he will take the food

Dont you get to sleep in the day at all?

finish at 3am and up again 7am maybe get a couple from 12 to 2 in afternoon when he has his nap

To be honest, I would just completely stop the jars and toddler ready meals and offer him other things instead and tough out the tantrums. I'd start with simple things. Is there any chance that you no longer expect him to eat your cooking and he picks up on this?

Oh my goodness, you must be shattered. I couldn't cope with tantrums in that state.

no i dont think so my husband feed him as i have to start work at 5pm but every time i have tried and my husband has tried he gets really worked up

most go as dinner break is over thankyou all for your advice will speak soon

God. nightmare.
i do it myself, im on nights this week, start at 8.30pm, finish at 8am and cant go to bed if its in the week........ZOMBIE
(luckily im working Friday night and Sunday night BUT that means i cant go to bed at all Monday.

Oh good effort.

Oh I'm sorry squirtles, I thought this was another Moondog bait thread. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Have you tried adding quite a bit of water to your home cooked meals? The jars have a v. high water content and although my DS eats his home cooked food, he will eat a jar in half the time with no fussing.

Also, read in a weaning book once about maaking similiar meals to the jars and adding you own bit by bit to 'wean'him off them.

Good luck!

good suggestions from everyone else
have you tried all the tricks of making mealtime fun like letting him have a "picnic" on the carpet or in the garden or whatever, getting him to help you make things (pancakes? bread? soup? chopping up vegetables etc), taking him shopping with you to choose things to eat.
I would give him loads of "finger food" as an interim - leave him in his highchair (if he still has one) with a tray full of chunks of cheese, cubes of bread etc etc and see how he gets on

My ds is a v. picky eater and is still on baby food jars. HV told me for 2 meals a day give him the jars or other food he will eat and then for the other give him food you want him to eat. He'll still be getting 2 meals and snacks a day. On the one meal give him food and ignore him. No games or trying to get him to eat. If he doesn't eat for 10 minutes take food and throw it away (let them see you do this) and then they get nothing else. Being dong this with mine for 2 weeks and although he hasn't eaten any yet, he's tried some (which I wouldn't do b4).

Good luck with whatever you try. Also read a link to NHS report on children with eating probs. Over 90% grow out of them (which is why they don't offer professional support apparently) and most of these do so b4 they go to school. this knowledge has helped me hope it will help you.