Fussy Eater - ok nutrition?

[MissWooWoo]

dd 2.8 has become a very fussy eater since turning 2 - fail safes have gone by the wayside and she now has a very limited (I feel) diet. I have tried all sorts - coaxing/bribing/pleading/ignoring/involvement with cooking/shopping/meal planning/stuctured meals/picnics and so on.

This is what she will eat:

Dairy ... milk, natural yog, butter, ice-cream, boiled egg (a very recent addtion)
Fruit & Veg ... Most fruit, the inside of tomatoes, overcooked carrot/swede (!), will eat tomato sauce with hidden veg when the mood takes her which isn't often
Meat ....chicken, meatballs (but not mince as in shep pie or lasagne or spag bol)
fish .... white fish, tin tuna
grains ....ready brek, cornflakes, bread, breadsticks
pulses ... baked beans when the mood takes her
Crap ... organix crisps/white choc buttons/cake/biscuits - has something from this list everyday usually a biscuit

Too many things to list what she doesn't eat but these are the things that concern me:

Pasta/potato (used to)
Rice (never has)
Green veg (used to eat peas and spinach soup)

As you can imagine meals are difficult ... no shep pie, fish pie, lasagne, spag bol, no jacket potatoes, no cheese on toast, no vegetarian meals, no stir fries.

Today she has had:

cup of milk first thing, ready brek made with milk, grapes, 2 slices toast and jam, 1/2 chicken breast, slice of brown bread and butter, fruit smoothie, 2 bread sticks, v small bowl of homemade veg soup (pureed and she wasn't keen but gave it a go), handful strawberries, 1/2 pot nat yog. Before bed she will have a biscuit and a hefty cup of warm milk.

I'm sure her diet will improve as she gets older (I do keep trying with the things she says she doesn't like/new things).

What do you think?

My ds (now 19 and skinny but never ever ill) was very fussy too. I didn't realise he had a very small appetite and can quite literally live on thin air, so I gave him lots of stuff he liked as I assumed he would starve to death if he didn't eat as much as all his little friends. He learned that refusing what I wanted him to eat resulted in him getting what he wanted (mostly fromage frais and chicken nuggetts).

What your dd ate above would have been an exceptionally good day for him!

With the benefit of hindsight I would have

• not worried so much about how much he ate
• eaten with him at all meals, and given him what we were eating (and not just McD )

But chill - and do your own thing. Pander to her if you like, or don't if you have the energy to take a firm view and can put up with a few tears and tantrums. She is who she is. Enjoy.

Hmmmm ds doesnt have that much variety (3.1) + I dont consider him to be that fussy.

At the end of the day if thats what she'll eat then that's it isnt it? Over thinking it and owrrying wont make her eat.

My son, now 9, ate anything you gave him as a baby but went through a very fussy phase from about the age of 2. However, he was always in exceptionally good health and, as time has gone on, he's gradually reintroduced a lot more foods into his diet. I don't stress him about it or force him to eat anything but we have an agreement that he has to taste a little bit of everything on the plate even if he doesn't like it straight away. Sometimes it's taken lots of tries before he decided he likes it so it pays not to give up.

Another tip I can give you. I've noticed that when other kids are involved he's a lot more adventurous with food. When he goes around to a friend's house he'll often come back saying so-and-so's mum made XYZ to eat and he didn't think he'd like it but it was great!! And if friends come to play at our house I take the opportunity to offer all kinds of foods... If he sees them enjoying it, he's more likely to try it.

good idea re other kids. thinking about it now I got her to eat baked beans by saying that they were number 4's favourite food (he of Numberjacks fame), tried it with other things "oooh number 3 likes that/that's dirtgirls favourite" but think she got wise to it!

She's very healthy, fit and active - just want her to stay that way!

Don't worry too much. Kids are a lot less delicate than we give them credit for but they are quick to catch on if being fussy & difficult means they get all their favourites. As parents we have a responsibility to keep getting them to try new foods and broaden their palate (i.e not end up with a 20 year-old Freaky Eater living on crisps and marshmallows) but they really won't die of malnutrition in the interim.