What do you do with a fussy eater??

[lola0109]

Hi all,

My DD1 turned two last week, she has became, in the last few months, a horrendous eater.

DD2 arrived 5 months ago so this may be part of the upset as she has now taken to be spoon fed again. I have indulged this to an extent to get her to eat something.

She used to be a great eater and would try anything and if she turned her nose up I knew she genuinely didn't like it but now everything is "no like it".

So, any tips on how to deal with this.

I have taken to making sure that I make one meal each day that I know she will like (macaroni, scrambled eggs, fish surprisingly) although I know I will probably even have to sppon feed this to her! Arghhh!!!

She is a terrible sleeper just now and I feel that this is down to her diet.

Is it a phase? How do I encourage better eating? If she refuses dinner do I just let her go hungry or do I make her somethng else???

DP keeps saying oh its just a phase but she is so active and I'm really worried she's not eating enough!

TIA

Small portions and no fuss is the answer.

Don't react to refusals but give lots of praise when she eats well.

A child won't starve themselves, just make sure she is not filling up on unhealthy stuff. If you eliminate junk from her diet, the only option is to eat what is on offer.....but don't make it a battle. Distract at mealtimes of talk of other things.....not the food itself.

She is great with fruit, wouldn't eat her lasagne tonight and then had two oranges then asked for another one. She will eat any fruit given to her.

I try not to make a fuss just now as she is doing a lot of things for reactions, I think she's testing her boundaries.

luckily she doesn't like sweets/chocolate too much (yet) but I need to keep her away from crisps so I've had breadsticks on hand so she can have them if she asks for crisps.

She asked for pizza the other day (no idea where that suggestion came from) so I'm going to buy bases and make the sauce with vegetables blended in and we can make them together, and hopefully if she is involved in the cooking she'll maybe eat more.

You'll try anything won't you! :o

HI
I don't know if it will help but it sounds as if you are doing all the right things and that your DD is not that bad in terms of what she will eat and not eat - at least she is taking food that is good for her, even if it's not much. I was very worried about my DD (21 months) as she went through a phase of eating nothing but wheetabix and fishfingers but I was advised that children actually need very little to survive on and will eat when they want to. I also gave vitamin drops while this phase went on. She now eats a bit more but still pretty rubbish in my book. The sleep problems you mention may just be down to the changes in the household at the moment and should pass.