Fussy toddler

[stainesmassif]

Ds1, 3.5 has one sensible 'meal' that he finds acceptable. Cheese sandwich. He will 'try' any kind of cake, biscuit, sweet, ice cream etc etc but show him a plate of real food and he goes into meltdown.
I've tried insisting he has the same as us - he'd rather go to bed hungry and wake up at 4.30 for breakfast. I've tried reward charts but suspect he may still be too young. He was the same at nursery, so am fairly certain peer pressure won't work ATM.
Do I just wait it out and he'll grow out of it? Isn't there a magic book out there I can buy? Help!

Ps bloody iPhone looked like I'd done paragraphs before posting!

He will grow out of it but you have to persevere in the meantime. Offer the old favourite and small amounts of new foods alternately. All eat at the same table and get on with your own meals, chatting normally so that it's all relaxed and unfussy. Don't try to persuade, cajole, feed, ask about the food, insist, threaten .... just leave him to it & ignore him completely. If he turns up his nose quietly remove the plate and say nothing. Big praise if he eats the new food. Try inviting similar-aged children round for a picnic-style meal and presenting different things to eat. Small children will copy peers. Good luck

Thanks - your advice is so reassuring as its what I've been doing, but sometimes i just wish he'd eat a bloody happy meal or greggs sausage roll!

My son was similar at about 2. Houmous sandwiches and pesto pasta were his repertoire. He now eats most meat, fish, chips, egg (whites only sigh, weirdo), cheese sandwiches and as of a week ago his first vegetable, sweetcorn. He's still a fussy bugger but he has added all these things gradually and usually quietly while we were not making a fuss.

Oh contrary to popular advice on here I do persuade him to try things but don't pressure after he's tasted it. (often can't persuade him to even try in which case I don't push it)

If it's any consolation, DS (now 12) was rather like you describe as a toddler. (Chicken nuggets and Jaffa Cakes are not a balanced diet sadly) 10 years of perserverence and here's the skinny.... Yesterday's supper was a stir-fry with sugar-snap peas. My own creation. I got the third degree on what exactly a sugar-snap pea would taste like, there was a bit of suspicious sniffing and he poked at it like an unexploded bomb. We had the 'don't get annoyed with me if I don't like it' speech. Then he ate it and quite enjoyed it. It's work in progress.

Oh Crikey, 9 more years of 'I don't like iiiiiiit! At least ds2 eats hummus. I have one mc child.

Hi staines, if its any consolation you're not alone.. my DD 2.8 is the most fussy eater. I was cheered somewhat by the fact that her one constant 'good' meal was pasta and pesto plus tuna and peas! Alas she has turned her nose up at it all this week, so we are now down to fishfingers and beans or tonight - breadsticks and hummous! I could cry... . DH keeps telling me to chill out but i do struggle. Doing everything suggested above and praying it'll pass.

mine lives on peanut butter and brown toast, ready brek and some stage 1 ella's kitchen veg things. (oh and any sort of chocolate) there was an amazing thread to support mums like us on here a few months back

I am reassured that DD is growing OK and that by the time she's 18 she'll have grown out of it (or will have moved out and I won't notice any more!)

Today i sat DD on my knee for supper - something i wouldn't normally agree to. She then played with her food before feeding me - and then trying fish pie (a new taste for her) and eating 2 tiny mouthfuls!! and then 2 mouthfuls of beans!! This is huge progress for her. Also gave her her main meal at lunchtime (2 fishfingers ) and she ate them with no problem. Feeling more positive .