My 21 month old won't eat anything fancy i cook!

[Milfandonesugar]

Was living on a budget diet of mainly eggs, cheese and pasta for a while, and the odd bolognese. I've always given my son apples and pears too, and fresh oranges squeezed, i never gave him tins and cans but instead pureed my own dinner. Believe me, i've tried my hardest, evenm though i didn't even have a cooker for the first year of his life! I breastfed til a month ago.

Now recently, I've moved house and decided to get organised and start budgeting properly for the week, and have been making an Annabel Karmel recipe every night of the week and the leftovers for lunch. He will not touch any of it - oh, except the macaroni cheese and the cheese on toast of course. I'm getting rather disheartened as every night i spend an hour cooking a seriously delicious meal and he spits out any lumps, vegetables, even potato. He just doesn't seem to even like being in his highchair, he gets all wriggly within a few mins. I have a child seat at the table too but he just tries to wriggle out and cries - and i am not showing my stress myself, i just sing to him and stuff to bribe him. He won't even eat chips?! or a carrot stick, or pepper stick? I have always eaten healthily myself and offered it to him and to be honest he's usually just pushed it away and i had to give him eggs/hoops instead.
Am really at my wit's end, do i keep offering it? Or add sugar to everything? I don't want him to go hungry. All my friend's children his age eat happily. Also he will NOT feed himself! It's got worse as he's got older!
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated, as i am determined not to give in and just give him cheerios and chocolate buttons!

I would cook it and place it in front of him.

if he wants to eat, great. if not then he just doesn't eat.

no point trying to bribe them to eat or getting strssed about it. He'll get there eventually

are you expecting him to feed himself with cutlery? will he do it with his hands? have you always fed him?

are these meals all pureed? or are they as you would eat them?

Hey!
Thisisyesterday: will he really eat it eventually? is it too late at his age of 21 months? he at the moment seems more inclined to go hungry rather than sit in that chair or eat

ruddynorah:
i make a variety of things, but on the whole there are things he can eat with his hands nearly every night and if not i just feed him myself but i know loads of kids his age who eat with cutlery, or at least a spoon. I very rarely puree anything now but i thought you weren't meant to?

He is sleeping atm but i have just put a cottage pie in the oven. I have been cooking it for an hour. I know he will sit at his highchair, i will spoonfeed him a bit and he will turn his face away and start crying dreading it

I am sure he will. it soemtimes just takes them a few goes to get used to new tastes and flavours,

Don't cook anything fancy - keep it really basic some nights otherwise its soul destroying. Experts say that many toddlers need to taste a food 15-20 times to like it, although my DD is more like 100 times. DD was great feeding herself at 12 months, now at 2 she wants me to feed her alot of the time - no need to stress, most adults seem to use cutlery in those cultures where its the norm.

Kids have simple taste.

just coming back to this to add another approach which may be easier for you.

when you're making a meal make sure you have maybe half what you know he will eat (ie, macaroni cheese) and then half something new, ie some veg or whatever it is he won't eat atm.

encourage him to try some of the new stuff, but don't fret if he only wants to eat the stuff he knows.

hopefully after a little while he will begin to eat more and more of the "new" stuff and you can start to decrease the old comfort food

Wow thanks for all your advice, good to know he's not the only toddler who doesn't always want to feed himself!
This is yesterday - that is such a great idea. it is so easy for me to freeze tiny portions of mac cheese or even just stick lumps of cheese and bread and butter on his plate... thanks for the tip! The worst thing is thinking he's hungry!
PS unbelievably, he ate three quarters of his cottage pie tonight! even though it had courgettes, tomatoes, and grated carrot in! maybe i was more relaxed after sharing my problem..!?

oh he still was wriggly though.
i reckon those plush highchairs that recline and have toys are worth the extra money! wish i'd bought one!

My 22 month old could eat with a spoon really well at ooo, cant remember exactly, perhaps 14 months.

She now picks it up, and gives it to me for me to feed her. Or granny. Or daddy.

So it is not just your toddler, and it is a pain in the arse.

My 22 month old could eat with a spoon really well at ooo, cant remember exactly, perhaps 14 months.

She now picks it up, and gives it to me for me to feed her. Or granny. Or daddy.

So it is not just your toddler, and it is a pain in the arse.