Come and talk about fussy eaters and what strategies have worked (or not) for you.

[ladyandthechocolate]

So, i'm just curious to find out what your DC are like with eating and how you deal with it. DD is 2.11 and is pretty good overall. Likes fruit, bread, cheese, yoghurt, pasta, rice, spuds and some veg and meat.
Triplet boys are 15 months and have all of a sudden turned very fussy which I know is normal for their age. They won't eat most savoury main courses but are keen on breakfast and sandwiches, yoghurt and puddings. They don't like being spoon fed and they won't feed themselves reliably. They are currently going through a big food throwing phase which is driving me MAD as it takes such a long time to clear up after all of them.
So my approach is:
Small portions
Keep serving normal family food even if they don't like it
DD has to try everything on her plate and eat the majority of it to have pudding.
No snacks between meals if poss and no juice between meals.
Not to stand and watch, add pressure or generally fuss over them when they eat although this is a bit necessary to prevent the boys dumping entire plates of food on the floor.

But, i'm finding it hard with the boys. If they don't eat their main course they are grumpy and hungry without pudding. But my daughter notices if they get pudding and she hasn't. They don't understand completely about the food throwing etc.
So do share your tips and advice please!

Sounds like you are doing everything right to me! I've gone through lots of 'fussy' periods with my 2 now 7 and 4 and it's still the case that they don't always like the same foods which can be annoying & I still sometimes have to spoon food into DD (grr). If we have pasta I do sometimes do different sauces & let them choose to avoid arguments. i.e one will have bolognese & the other pesto and in a way it's nice to let them have some control over what they eat occasionally - yours are a bit young but your DD might like to be asked what she would like or to 'help' you to prepare food.

Keep trying lots of different savoury foods - if the twins aren't being great about family meals try putting lots of different 'bits' on their plates at lunch for instance & introduce some new flavours to keep them interested. Different sandwich fillings, bits of cucumber/carrot/tomato/cheese/pasta/satsuma/apple on the same plate. I used to have a nanny who did this with DD and it worked a treat as she'd go back and forward between sweet and savoury and end up eating more.

Either that or depending on your schedule you could try giving the main cooked meal at lunch and the sandwiches/bits for the evening meal just so that they've eaten a good amount by the end of the day?

I would still give a morning and afternoon snack and drink, but I'd keep it small and not necessarily sweet otherwise they can sometimes get overtired and over-hungry and misbehave more at meals times ime. (so if dinner is at 5 give them a snack at 3 so it's not too close but just enough to keep them going - maybe an oat biscuit & small piece of cheese if they'll eat that)

Sharing food may be worth trying - I got DS eating raw carrots and hummous as well as fruits like blueberries which he would not touch by himself by sitting on the floor with him and putting a big plate of it between us & literally showing him what to do! He wanted to join in and be like mummy so he started to try things & after a few goes was eating them.

Phew - that's a bit long sorry! They will get better - and as to the mess with 2 boys I think you will just have to live with it for a bit longer & if you haven't got one consider a dustbuster or similar!!

I'd keep offering healthy snacks between meals - the WHO guidance on feeding solids to chilrden recommends 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks a day. Lots of toddlers eat better when they can 'graze' rather than just have sit-down meals. (As do many adults - I'm 32 and can't manage without a snack between meals, or I have a strop and cry. )

My DS started understanding about not throwing food when he was about 17 m.o. - we told him to give to us anything he didn't want to eat, and it worked, whereas before it didn't work.

DS had a really fussy phase from 12-15/16 months, and he wouldn't eat any veg or potatoes, as well as refusing loads of other stuff. I just kept offering him the same as what we were eating, and if he didn't want anything much of that, offered his favourite, cream cheese & crackers instead. We don't have puddings so that wasn't a problem.

He suddenly started eating veg again completely randomly, then branched out in other ways. He's 19 m.o. now and it must be a month or two since we've had to offer crackers as an alternative to a meal, although he still doesn't eat everything and certainly not all of the time.

I take my hat off to you though with triplets!

sorry misread bizarrely triplets for twins. Mess - with 3 boys you definitely need a dustbuster and possibly a dog to hoover up the food