What does a 2.5 year old eat?

[SLC1972]

I've been dealing with a fussy eater for so long now I've lost track of what I could expect my son to eat at his age. What do you offer your 2 year old? What does your 2 year old happily eat?

My son is 2yrs and 4 months. He will happily eat lots of fresh fruits, dry cheerios, pancakes, toast, garlic bread, potato waffles, vegetarian sausages, sometimes baked beans, sometimes a sandwich (will pull it apart and eat the bread), custard, sometimes yoghurt. Rarely (approx 1 in ten offered)he will eat a regular meal e.g. fish pie, shephards pie, mashed potatoe etc. Has never been happy with pieces of chicken, roast dinners etc (apart frokm the yorkshire pudding). His first reaction to a plate, spoon, bowl etc is to scream and cry 'I don't like that'. He has never been happy with food tho given lots of home cooked foods, veg etc from early age. Is very slightly better at nursery among other kids - sometimes. I'm just about to start an 'eat it or have nothing' approach to try to prevent downward spiral but want to be sure Im offering him things other non fussy toddlers would eat and not expecting too much from him, tho obviously kids vary greatly. Sadly, my busy worklife has obliterated my time to cook as often as I used too, so some quick easy food tips appeciated. Sometimes some new ideas from someone can help us break out of a bad spell with his eating. Thanks in advance, Stephanie

He sounds pretty typical, imho (I have 4 DC). And a healthy enough diet, too. You just keep exposing them to different foods and their curiousity leads to them trying other things eventually.

An exhaustive list of what DS 2yo+3 months eats:

Malties, cornflakes, bran flakes (until they go even slightly soggy)
Milk, juice
Toast/bagels with butter/cream cheese
peanut butter
cream cheese, pieces of cheese
baked beans
Bites of my sandwiches
Ketchup, pasta sauce, a little broccoli/carrots/peas (esp. if mixed with pasta sauce)
Pasta
Lots (and lots and lots) of McVites cheddars
Bread sticks
Biscuits, cakes
Yogurt, ice cream
Mash, chips, pizza, potatoes, pastry Recognisable meat or fowl

Notice no fresh fruit on that list, even though his older siblings will tear each other's eyes out in battles for fresh fruit.

My DD is 2.2. She's a good eater, but we do have stages when she absolutely refuses things I know she likes.

She'll eat:
Weetabix and Oatibix-the mini ones more popular as she can pick them up with her fingers. Cheerios sometimes for a change. Bloke and I often make smoothies at breakfast time with banana, orange juice, milk, oats and frozen berries. She LOVES having a beaker of this with her cereal-might be worth trying?

Eggs are popular here - scrambled, omlettes (excellent for hiding tomatoes/mushrooms etc in) and especially hard boiled.

Have you tried pasta? DD loves it, especially with pesto - she always asks for 'green getti'. Stuff with rice is good too - mild curries and chilli con carne.

And if all else fails, I know I can always rely on cheese on toast...

Mostly she has what Bloke and I are having- in my experience you're not expecting too much from him.

My DD (22 months) loves the Annabel Karmel sweetcorn pancakes with a bit of tommy sauce on the side - my bloke also likes them. They haven't failed yet!

my 2 and a half yr old ds eats what we eat. but he picks out the vegetables mostly and discards them, also will eat meat but it has to be v small or it gets chewed and spat out. i'm trying to tread the the fine line between eat it or nothing but also not getting stressed over it in front of him. my guess is he'll get it eventually if its served up often enough.
he's more likely to eat veg if it comes in a sauce than on its own.
i've read that its better to look over what they eat in a week rather than a day to gauge how healthy they are being as its so hit and miss with appetites etc.
the other thing i'm trying to do is get stuff like good quality fishcakes, fishfingers, quorn burgers etc in the freezer to have at lunch. he still eats with his hands more often than not, including things like mash!

DD is 2.3 and will eat pretty much anything

However she is not keen on cutlery really and would much rather ram the food in her mouth by hand

Breakfast wise she likes malties in milk till they go soggy (as someone else mentioned too )

she also loves pasta * meatballs, sausages but her all time Fav meal is chicken fajitas although she takes the whole thing apart and makes a terrible mess

mine have always eaten what the rest of the family has - like you i work and don't have time for variations - plus i don't see why i should spend my leisure time slaving in the kitchen for hours. But i make sure anything spicy - like chilli or curry or fahitas is very mild. if he'll eat garlic bread he's obviously not afraid of flavour which is great

DS is 2.6 and eats pretty much what we do. He no longer likes bananas but will eat mandarins (satsumas), apples, grapes, melon sometimes, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries (given half a chance)
He eats fish no problem - steamed, baked or pan-fried because that's how we have it. Also tinned tuna.
He eats meat so long as it's tender and cut up for him, he loves sausages in particular.
He's not keen on egg but will eat omelette with lots of other bits in.
He eats green veg but not other colours if he can see them - but will happily eat them if they are mulched down in stews or sandwich spread or coleslaw.
He eats cheese, yoghurt, icecream no problem.
He likes pasta, toast, rice crackers, sandwiches.
He's not keen on potatoes and would rather eat the tartare sauce than the chips, although he is getting better at eating the chips too now.
He likes coleslaw, olives, anchovies, garlic cheese so is happy with strong flavours.
We did have a lovely breakfast cereal that he loved but it has been discontinued - trying to find an acceptable alternative is proving "interesting"
The one thing that irritates me somewhat is that he won't eat salad veg.

HTH.