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Is anyone up for a parents of fussy eaters support thread?

156 replies

DevonFolk · 04/01/2014 11:26

My three year old is very picky. I've made a promise to myself not to get too worried about it just yet because I was exactly the same and now I'll eat pretty much anything.

But it just gets so boring! If I do a roast I'm lucky if she picks at the chicken and I have to make sure I do brocolli or cauliflower (the only cooked vegetables she'll eat) and keep out raw carrots for her. There's pretty much no meal that I would want to cook for myself that I know she will eat too.

I'm not going to push it with her because I just don't see the point. She's encouraged to try new things and we talk about it a lot. If she tries something I praise her but if she doesn't like it, fine. To me it's the willingness to try at this stage that's important.

I'm sure I can't be the only one who experiences this. Like I say, I'm not going to get hung up on it or try to find an instant magic solution, it would just be nice to know I'm not alone!

OP posts:
JungleHumps · 04/01/2014 21:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Spottybra · 04/01/2014 21:12

I will join. DH has had 2 weeks off work and is blowing his top at the amount of lovely meals they waste. He doesn't understand how I can do this day after day and just clear their plates away after an hour.

I can give them healthy home cooked food but I can't make them eat.

maillotjaune · 04/01/2014 21:15

When DS2 started turning foods down I didn't cope well. Couldn't understand how something he had loved could suddenly be disgusting 4 days after it was fine. We spent a few weeks having terrible meal time arguments before I stopped engaging.

I now feed him modified family meals so he eats. I have been told off for that in MN and in RL but it works and meals aren't spoiled by rows. As others have said, I think it is very hard to understand just how fussy some children are unless you live with it.

DS2 does not have ASD but he is dyspraxic and there are some sensory problems associated with that. I don't know if that's part of the reason for his fussy eating, but he definitely has textures he hates and he gags sometimes so it might be connected.

Lagoonablue · 04/01/2014 21:27

I too am joining. 2 fussy eaters who seldom like the same thing. DS is 3 and won't eat any veg or fruit at all. I believe he eats reasonably ok at nursery but at home he only likes pizza, garlic bread, pesto, plain pasta, mash and spag hoops. DD likes a bit more and will eat raw carrots and tomatoes. It is hard to find something they agree on. Am fed up of binning food.

Weelady77 · 04/01/2014 21:34

What is BLW??

backwardpossom · 04/01/2014 21:45

Hi, my DS is 4.5 and a nightmare with fussiness. There is not one single vegetable I can get him to eat. All he'll eat is pasta and pesto, macaroni cheese, spaghetti bolognese or carbonara, lasagne, pizza (cheese and tomato, the cheaper and nastier the better), bread and butter, toast and butter, porridge, weetabix, yoghurt, grapes, strawberries and blueberries. I think that's about it. Can you see the theme? Sad And it's not like he eats junk food either - he doesn't like chocolate or most sweets. I've been on MN threads where I've been told it's all my fault he's like this, that I pander to him (I don't - he gets what he's given and no alternatives offered) and that basically I am to blame.

When he was a baby, he ate like a horse and ate absolutely everything that was put down to him, then he got a sickness bug when he was 15 months and ever since then he's been fussy, with the list of foods he'll eat getting shorter and shorter. As he's got a bit older, he's been slightly more willing to try things, but will spit it out straight away. He tries a piece of carrot now and again - swallows it, gags, then brings up his whole dinner. This happens every single time he 'tries' a vegetable. That's got to be a psychological thing, right?!

I'm worried now that his sister might end up the same - she's 10 months and eats everything in sight (including the fluff off the rug... Hmm ). So, thanks for starting the thread OP and while I sympathise with all of you on this thread and I'm sorry you're here too, I'm so bloody glad I'm not the only one! Grin Wine

Lesshastemorespeed · 04/01/2014 21:56

Great thread idea! my 10 yr old dd is fussy beyond belief. I'm well over worrying about it as my 8 yr old will try anything, so I know it's not me and I learned long ago that the more fuss I make, the less she will eat.

I usually give her a deconstructed and as raw as possible version of what we are eating as she will eat lots of things, but not with sauces, not mushy, nothing of indiscernible origin, with bits in or with too much 'taste'.

She also has the appetite of a gnat, so snacks are out. even a bit of fruit between meals can make her too 'full' to eat later on, especially it's not on her list.

we had a development today, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. She decided that as she didn't like what we were having for lunch, she would cook her own. I agreed as I didn't really think she's do it (she doesn't like cooking). but she made herself some pasta and cheese. Do I let this happen again??

I also regularly grit my teeth at the 'advice' dished out by mums of food-loving children and Annabel Karmel , so it's good to listen to others in the same boat. Smile

maillotjaune · 04/01/2014 22:07

weelady - baby led weaning

SharonCurley · 04/01/2014 22:27

Great thread.Its very stressful isn't it.My dd4 is a fussy eater and used to eat everything as a baby.I used to blame myself and feel that U had done something wrong but her grandad told me he was the exact same as a child as was her dad.She will eat yogurt,cheese,fruit,bread,porridge,potatoes,pasta,broccoli, salmon,steak so I tend to stick with these.Any vegetables have to be hidden in a soup or sauce or they will be picked out.

Cheesypasta · 04/01/2014 23:05

Like some other posters, my DS (just 5) used to be much more open to different foods but is now a fusspot. He used to like spicy food but now 'it's too spicy' is a common complaint, not applied to say curry but to sausages with herbs in, for instance! There are some better points. He mainly eats:

sausage, chips/potato waffles/SOMETIMES mash and beans

pasta in: cheese sauce, possibly with peas in, though he always pesters to have just plain cheese sauce / tomato sauce with grated cheese (but no noticeable veg / bolognese sauce (same applies)

Fish fingers chips and beans, or in a sandwich

Ham or cheese sandwich

Beans or spaghetti hoops and toast

Chicken wings (bit of a wild card!)

Looking at the list it doesn't seem the worst ever, but as someone else said, I wish he would eat more homecooked food. He will eat pretty much any fruit which is a saving grace, but vegetable consumption has narrowed to raw carrots and cucumber, and sometimes peas. It just feels like a massive rut and also the suspicion of other foods gets me down. He really liked scrambled egg as a baby and now won't touch it.

Lesshastemorespeed · 04/01/2014 23:14

I recently read about supertasters on another thread.

www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/22941835

I'm going to try this on my dc, might to myself and dh too. Anyone tried this already?

MrsBobHale · 04/01/2014 23:22

Can I join? I have a 12 yo and she's been a total fuss-pot since the age of about 3. Before that she'd eat anything and everything (except tomatoes)

She is better than she used to be but she will not try anything new. If she hasn't had it before she'll refuse to even try it. This could be true of anything - sweets / cake / veg / fruit / any combination of things. It makes eating out a real problem. Plus she has a long list of things she knows she doesn't like so won't try.

For example round at a friend's recently we were having paella. She normally likes this because I make it at home with chicken and chorizo and she loves them. She was tucking in quite happily, until friend's DD mentioned that she hadn't got many prawns. Well DD downed her fork and wouldn't eat another morsel. She's never tried prawns so wouldn't eat it, even though I'd silently watched her happily eating quite a few before she realised.

I also have lots of smug friends who insist that their DC will eat anything they put in front of them. I've observed that this is often bollocks. They think that because they only put things in front of them that they'll eat.

Mum2Fergus · 04/01/2014 23:25

Marking place for later Smile

ianleeder · 04/01/2014 23:39

Great thread! Glad it's not only me. I often blame myself for my 2 fussy eaters (3,5). I really envy kids who will eat anything that is put in front of them. My kids would eat meat and carbs but no veg. They like pizza (my own sauce) but not spag bolg. Nothing wet and mixed up too. I should be stricter with meal time but I'm too soft and my little one is on the small side so I worry she is not eating enough and I cook her food I know she will eat. Hmm

Wingdingdong · 05/01/2014 00:06

Also joining you Sad.

2 DC (4 & 2). Both severe reflux (DC1 came off meds last year but still has some reflux). Both BLW (due to reflux, figured it was safer to let them put stuff in their own mouths).

DC1 eats very little - bread, rice, some kinds of potatoes, couscous, peanut butter, cheddar, Parmesan, houmous, raw carrots, cucumber, broccoli sometimes, apples, pear, cream cheese, ham, grilled chicken sometimes, smoked salmon, poached salmon sometimes. Never sauce of any kind. Never tomato of any kind. Never egg of any kind. She would live on peanut butter sandwiches and pasta with Parmesan if I let her.

She has eczema and known food (skin rather than gut) allergies to cheese, houmous and peanut butter. The dietitian thinks she is gluten-intolerant, maybe celiac and we're awaiting tests. If she is indeed celiac then we are totally stuffed without bread and pasta. As it is we need to apply a barrier cream to her face and hands before giving her cheese, peanut butter and houmous. I don't think I can cope much longer, it is truly that stressful.

DC2, OTOH, eats most stuff. His favourite food is edamame pea and soy bean salad and he drinks the little pot of vinaigrette that comes with it. It is so hard not to show favouritism at meal times Sad. It's also really hard trying to ensure he is exposed to different foods; most nights I cook three different meals and I am shattered (she has food issues, he has sleep issues - it evens out with the favouritism!).

The biggest problem is that according to the dietitian, DD eats healthily - she does indeed have a balanced meal every mealtime according to the food diaries. It's just the same fucking meal every fucking day and I am totally fucked off. In fact I am close to walking out over this. I've been sitting here trying to do a meal plan for the next week or so and it's a joke.

Right now I'm thinking sod it, casserole every day because that's what works for us, why should I let a 4yo dictate so much? Unfortunately none of the doctors or dietitians so far seem to agree with that course of action - but they're not the ones doing all the bloody planning, shopping, cooking and throwing in the bin.

The alternative is that I cook a decent meal for the rest of us and give her a peanut butter sandwich or cream cheese pasta every meal, every day until she is totally bored of it. But that might backfire.

At the moment she is reducing the foods she eats by about one food item a week. This is nothing to do with like or texture any more, surely. It's about some kind of control. I am not prepared to play games.

BrownPaint · 05/01/2014 08:10

DD also loves a particular meal and then hates it maybe a week later. She also makes herself vomit if she doesn't want to eat her meal...

BrownPaint · 05/01/2014 08:19

Lesshaste I'll have to try the super taster experiment on DD.

I've had to restrain myself from picking up her plate of refused food and throwing it across the room before...I never let her see how stressed I am about it...I guess she picks up on it though...

Mum2Fergus · 05/01/2014 09:28

Newbie to thread, and what a relief to know its not just me! DS is 4, and like so many before him ate so well as a baby, but now...

I'm told he eats well at nursery however at home its-

  • crackers and pate
  • bread and pate
  • toast
  • pasta
  • spaghetti hoops
  • sausages
  • Frosties snack bars
  • that's it!

At my wits end!!

DrNick · 05/01/2014 09:28

i would not buy the frosties snack bars!
HI
i have three teenagers - no 1 was very fussy. It does get better - honest!

Snowdown · 05/01/2014 09:29

Wingding would she have pasta broccoli and Parmesan? Add olive oil, garlic and chilli for the adults and you have a fantastic meal. Anchovies too, if that's your thing. The gluten free pasta isn't too bad, the bread isn't great but if you're prepared to make your own you can do a lot better than shop bought. Phil Vickory has a gluten free book for kids - I thought it was brilliant, get it from your library before you invest.

I have one fussy, one adventurous. She's not hugely fussy compared to some but I am an adventurous cook and I have spent many frustrated years cooking to her tastes rather than everyone else's. But, I believe in us all sitting down together eating more or less the same food. We had a big breakthrough last year - she liked broccoli and didn't find Savoy cabbage a torture, she agrees to taste everything but rarely has more than one bite...the journey is slow and painful but we'll get there.

ChickenSuperNoodle · 05/01/2014 11:32

It's really reassuring to hear other people have the same stresses, my DS (3) has a very limited range of foods he will eat and acts like i'm trying to poison him if i try to get him to eat something new. It's really hard to not let meal times turn into a battle ground.
People who say that a child won't let themselves starve are wrong, my DS would rather go hungry than eat something he doesn't want.
He gets the same meals as me and DH but to minimise the stress i a) always put something on his plate that i know he will eat (even if it's raw carrot sticks for the millionth time that week) and b) never spend more than 10 mins preparing anything special for him to eat, as it's really annoying when you've spent ages making something you think they'll like and they reject it in an instant

backwardpossom · 05/01/2014 13:13

Oh wingding you sound so desperate in your post, just wanted to send my support. You're doing a great job, believe me.

NotCitrus · 05/01/2014 14:00

In some ways ds has quite convenient foods he eats - bread of any sort, plain pasta, melted cheese, cake. Means we can have a meal where the adults and dd get sauce and stuff with their pasta, and ds has it plain or with ketchup. Or bread with soup, pizza with garlic bread. And restaurants are the same - every cuisine in the world has bread items - so we can take him anywhere. Though there was a crisis at a dim sum.place once when they ran out of both custard tarts AND custard buns.

And going out for pizza isn't much fun. They often put green things on the garlic bread. Two years of chronic constipation was even less fun - potty training plus smoothies solved that fortunately.

He's getting better at touching 'icky' stuff like paint or water - I only wash his uniform once a week because it usually doesn't need it, but there have been a couple days now when he's got paint or goo on his hands and I've been so proud! He will play with raw carrots and fruit but not if they've been cut open and so are 'wet'. But for the next year or so I'm leaving it - I've had enough of him being nagged into trying a food as he might like it and then him wailing "people keep saying I might like it but I doooon't!"

There must be loads of vitamins in Whole Earth peanut butter and seedy bagels, as he is incredibly healthy, rarely even a sniffle, only ever missed one day of nursery in 4 years from lurgy and one from chicken pox (timed over Easter!), runs around loads. Would be nice to get him other treats that aren't biscuit-type food, but he has 3 miles a day walking to/from school and needs the boost.

storynanny · 05/01/2014 14:07

Have read of last years resistant eaters thread to get some more ideas. My 22 year old is nearly through the difficult years( yes years not months!)

storynanny · 05/01/2014 14:07

Have a read that should be