MY CHILD IS THE WORST EATER! Competition!

[morningpaper]

Roll up, roll up.

Who's child has eaten the worst today?

My three year old has eaten the same today as yesterday:

• 2 bowls of cornflakes without milk
• 1 piece of toast
• 1 sesame snap
• mouthful of chicken
• glass of grape juice

Only water to drink. And this is when she is perfectly HEALTHY! (Although I've noticed that she's fallen off the bottom of the height charts again, ah well, at least she will never have to worry about towering over her boyfriends.)

DS (nearly 5)
A few pieces of dried mango
1 boiled egg and wholemeal toast
1 chocolate buttons dessert
tuna sandwich
pasta with tuna and cheese
4 pieces of mango

He gags on anything he doesn't like. He is so painfully slow that I feed him which is ridiculous.
I HATE MEALTIMES

neither of my ds's will eat 'food mixed together' which means, no spag bol, no sheps pie, no pasta and sauce , nmo 'normal' family meals. With toddlers this is 'normal' I believe. Trouble is mine are 8 and 5 However, the 8-yr-old has in the last fortnight tried red thai curry (a hit) lasagne (a miss), chicken korma (a miss) and home made cheesecake (hit!). So I am praying that his has been a very very lenghty and tedious stage. Ds2 however, will only eat meat, fish, cheese, eggs, bread and fruit. He will not touch potatoes in any form, rice, pasta noodles etc or any veg other than carrot. However, he is very tall, muscular and full of energy.

Glad to hear there are so many families that have similiar concerns. What do you do when you have accepted how you things are, but every time you dine with others (grandparents in particular) they make endless comments and imply it's your fault.

What a lovely, cheering thread
DS2 (4.5) eats rice krispies (or similar), porridge, toast, pasta & pesto, fish fingers/chips/peas, peanut butter & jam sandwiches and scotch eggs. That's pretty much it.

I've tried:

grumpy mummy "this isn't a cafe, eat ot or don't but no alternatives" routine - quite frequently he goes to bed with no supper

you must have 1 bite before you can leave the table - awful and exhausting

catering to the Approved List - easy but I rather despise myself

Glad i am not the only one. My 18 month had today

Dry cornflakes jam and bread and a few dairylea cheese sticks. half a bottle of milk.

my d/d 2.5 eats well for them at nursery goes 3 days per week. will eat nothing for me except sweety stuff. They say no pudding and it works in group enviroment. I say that but usually end up giving in so she eats something. Reading my thread I am a total pushover. Great to hear others have fussy eater too. Don't feel so bad.

Okay this is my DD's diet today -

*Bowl of dried cereal with a cup of milk (P was doing Breakfast this morning and she always asks for this so that she can watch telly
*Stick of cheese and top of French bread when shopping in Sainsburys
*2 bites of Sausage at Lunchtime
*Chocolate Mousse
3 Cups of Milk and a Bottle of Water
Refused tea!

dd (4):

Breakfast
3 slices of apple
3 glasses watered down juice

Lunch
1 slice of bacon and ketchup
1 bite of bread
1 glass water watered down juice

Party
2 choc cornflake cakes
2 glasses orange squash
1 juice box

Tea
6 of her 'handfuls' of grated cheese
quarter piece of muffin
2 jammie dodgers
1 glass of watered down juice

I guess she's not dehydrated, anyway... >sigh

My ds is 5.7 and today he has had:-

2 slices toast with marmite.
1/2 tumbler watered-down apple juice.
1 apple
1 chocolate chip cookie
4 Roast potatoes.
1 roast parsnip
1 fruit shoot

That's roughly the amount he lives on every day yet he is only 7lb lighter than dd who is 4.3 yrs older than him. I'm trying to make myself stop worrying about his eating habits as he is obviously thriving but really it drives me mad, especially when we go out and there is nothing on the menu he will eat.

Actually make that 1.1/2 slices of toast. I've just remembered that he left some so I ate it

Yes this thread has really cheered me up as I thought that I had the worst eater (all his friends seem to eat proper food and I am so jealous).

DS has been really poorly today (vomitted all day) but his usual diet consists of:

Breadsticks (sometimes I think he's going to look like one)
2 x small yogs
Occasionally toast (but he doesn't like getting butter on his fingers)

Crackers
Cheese
Chocolate buttons
Perhaps a jar of baby fruit (won't eat any sort of fruit whole so we see this as a good thing)

For tea will have smiley faces, fishfingers, daddy's sausagemeat in breadcrumbs (although won't eat sausages when they look like sausages)

He drinks loads of milk and diluted pure juice and he is a big lad for his age (he's 2 and a half but people think he's 3).

My mum stresses me out because she says that we should starve him into submission. Part of me agrees with her but the other part knows that he would just go on a total hunger strike.

FTR he was BF for 9 months and would eat anything when he was being weaned. The turning point seemed to come at about 14 months.

He goes to nursery one day a week and will quite often eat nothing at all.

Hi,
Interesting thread as one of my trplets had to see a paediatrician yesterday as he is anaemic. Siscovered after a routine blood test because he turns blue when he is cold. He has been put on an iron supplement, goes for another test next week to do a ful blood count, during the routine examination they discovered a heart murmer, and now has to be referred to a cardiologist as his older brother died suddenly and unexpectedly. So I am just a little bit worried to say the least! He doesnt eat well, his typical day would be, a glass of water, wont have any hot drinks, juices or milk, a bowl of dry cereal, sometimes a crumpet, sandwich for packed lunch, usually ham, eats half, a chhesestringer, and a ceral bar. He wont eat fresh fruit at all. For supper he likes a roast type meal, but invariably leaves the meat. They all three are a nightmare to feed, but I have decided I am cutting down their choices and am going to try the "youll eat it if you are hungry" method for a few days. Tried just about everything else. They are 8 tomorrow, and all weigh around 4st 4lbs, very under weight I was told yesterday.

I am at my wits end!! I'm so worried my 16mth is going to starve!! all he has eaten every day for the last 3 days is:

5oz milk
2 x yoghurts
one mouthful of a small cheese sandwich
loads of raisins!!!
water
and thats it... all he seems to want to eat is raisins!! his teeth are all going to fall out!!

Hes not small for his age but he always seems tired lately

Its so great to read a thread that echoes exactly how I feel. My DD is 3 next week and I have spent so much time and energy worrying about her diet, but finally beginning to realise that she does get enough and a lot of the whole food issue is more my problem than hers (me being a three meals a day and snacks girl and expecting everyone else to be the same!)
She went through a phase where all she ate was rice cakes, peas and yoghurts. She is much better now. She will eat quite a lot of home cooked food eg mince n tatties, chicken korma, spag bol etc. But her ideal day would be:

Large cup of milk
Handful of dried branflakes
or
Half slice of dry toast
yoghurt

chocolate buttons (if she can get them!)

Soup and bread (dips bread in soup, when bread is done, leaves the soup)
yoghurt
water

beans
custard
water (only drinks water)

warm milk (won't drink cold milk)

used to eat fruit, but now takes major negotiations to get her to eat half a banana

Last night she cried for an hour because she refused her cauliflower cheese (which she normally eats) and wanted beans and we decided to stop giving in to her (new policy!)she went to bed with her milk and no tea and it was very depressing and sad .........but she is thriving in general and she does at least one poo every day and I think that has to be a good thing?

You have all made me feel much better and I am going to make a determined effort to chill out about it all!!

my ds2 who is 18months eats like a sparrow at home which is driving me crazy,but eats like a horse at nursery.Why do they do that?
I ve even got the recipes from nursery cooked it for him at home but he refuses to eat it,i know i shouldn t let it bother me but it still really winds me up!

Don't despair! To all you mums who struggle with children who exist on air, it does get better. From the age of 15 months till 12 years my son existed on dry cereal, milk (NEVER on cereal!), cheese,biscuits, crisps; and chips from 10 years, but only if they were perfectly cooked thin fries. I eventually learnt to not transfer my anxiety about it to him, as eating could cause extreme distress and anxiety. Read the Great Ormond Street book on children and eating disorders, it will make you feel better and help you understand it. I at last found out that my son was what was called a 'restrictive eater', but there are many variants.
At age 12 he suddenly started eating fishfingers and pizza and is beginning to dare to try a few new things every now and then - I am led by him, it always succeeds better that way. Last week was a real breakthrough as for the first time in his life he was able to accept an invitation out for a meal with friends to a pizza restaurant. No one would have known he was any different, it was a real cause for celebration.
So hang on in there - it is tough and draining - try not to worry, there will be an end to it!

My dd (18m) is also tiny (although I prefer "dainty") and barely eats anything other than oatcakes and fruit, which is healthy I guess. I try not to freak out about it and have not had her weighed since she was 9 months or so. I reason with myself that kids can't starve themselves and as long as she has plenty of energy and is not ill or upset all the time then she must be fine.

The thing that really bugs me is when the little so-and-so will eat up all his dinner one night, but when given EXACTLY THE SAME MEAL a few days later refuses it point blank as if to spite you! And what makes it even worse is that you've spent three hours constructing a chicken caterpillar with carrot feelers from Annabel bloody Karmel's book! I'm sure she's a very nice woman but I can't tell you the amount of times I've felt like drawing a moustache and black teeth on that lovely face of hers...

Ronnie - my dd is highly restrictive - I have ordered the book! My dd is outside of the realms of a poor/fussy eater - she is very extreme. Am keen to find out more about restrictive eaters - I am constantly wondering if I should consult a paediatrician about her

DS is nearly 5 and for at least 8 months refused point blank to eat anything other than sausage rolls as a hot meal, drove me nuts, seriously questioned my sanity and his. I raised concerns at his 3 year check and was just told to give him what he wanted, looking back I think this was the wrong advice. I should have pursued my concerns at that time. We saw a paediatrician as DS suffered extreme peanut allergy, had to go for a check up before starting school, raised it all with him, he was fab, referred me to a dietician who is now working on a plan with the clinical psychologist that we can use to encourage the chinks that are slowly appearing in DS armour. I just want him to be happy and confident around food - new foods instill what I can only describe as utter terror, but I have hope, with help, we'll make headway. Hold out for proper advice, yes all toddlers are fussy to a degree but trust your instincts, if you think it's extreme it probably is!!!!

My son is a selective eater.

Found this particular link to be interesting:-

www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/gaskell/samplechaps/86_2.pdf

my dd will happily eat crap but wont touch any other kind of meal. i have no idea why as i always cooked her meals from the annabel karmel book and with all fresh ingedients etc. she only ever had about 2 jars (when out and about) of the tomatoey stuff. i dont know how she grows at all. i tend to do cooked dinners, or maybe pasta meals, casseroles etc. (quick and easy!) now but no, she wont touch them (strangely she eats very well at nursery).

she will eat:

toast.
meatballs in tomato sauce.
baked beans.
mashed potato, sometimes with gravy.
spaghetti hoops.

she likes grapes and apples, raisins and kiwi fruit.
choc buttons (any choc in fact) and biscuits.

in a day she probably eats half a slice of toast, will pick the meat from a sandwich and leave the bread.
one of the above for dinner, if i actually cook then she just refuses it.

cup of milk, several cups of juice.

couple of biscuits and maybe an apple.

she would eat chips, she loves them but we very rarely have chips here so its tough luck.

i was happy to see this thread though, i wouldnt have believed a child could eat less than my dd!

meerkats that is a good linki - thank you. My dd falls into the selective eater category. How old is your ds, and are you having any success in dealing with the problem? If so, any tips?!