2.5 DS - At my wits end how to get him to eat.

[wools]

I'm not sure whether I'm really in the right area for posting this but here goes. My eldest ds 2.5 has never got on with food at all. When I was weaning him it wasn't too bad but once he got to 8 months things got worse.
He doesn't really eat anything at all apart from yoghurts/fromage frais. He will occasionally eat little sausages, a dry cracker or piece of toast with butter...but he just picks and doesn't eat anything with enjoyment.
Even the things that other children love, like ice-cream, chips, chicken nuggets, fish fingers - he will not touch so you can imagine what he does with things like mashed potatoes, vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, roast dinners etc. He goes to nursery 1 day a week and he doesn't touch the food there either. So watching other children does not encourage him in the slightest. I am amazed that he is still thriving although he has not put on any weight in well over 12 months. I have tried all the usual suggestions like cutting down on milk and juice. I have tried starving him into eating decent food....i.e not offering anything other than what's on the table. He doesn't seem to care and is very happy to starve. The reason I'm posting this is that I feel I have tried everything, sticker charts, buying new bowls and cutlery, feeding him at he table with the family and on his own in a relaxed envirnoment, denying him things he enjoys e.g tv, toy cars. I've come to accept that he eats like a bird and wonder if anyone has ever had a similar situation and been able to turn it round. I think if I don't act now - it will be too late. Please, please somebody help.

Oh wools it is such a hard situation when you feel your child isn't eating. DS is a PITA when it comes to food and will do anything rather than eat (he's 2.9yrs) at home.

Have you tried making a food diary of just how much he does eat over a day?

A couple of other things that I have picked up (but not sure how accurate they are though) that have helped me a bit are that DS's tummy is no bigger than his fist so they don't need much to fill it, and that over the course of a day 8 tablespoons of food is about enough - when you put that much on a plate it's actually quite a bit.

I think he will do it when he wants to. I'm just sticking to regular meals and maybe a snack either mid morning or mid afternoon so he doesn't go ages between meals - no sweets and choc and treats just the same food as the rest of us and fruit/yogurts for pud then making a huge fuss when he eats just a little bit and trying very hard to ignore the rest.

Thanks MAMB. It's awful to say it but I'm glad I'm not the only one with a picky eater...I look at other children and none of them are nearly as bad. I think you're right, he'll get round to it in his own time.

It's not awful at all, I remember feeling fairly relevied that it wasn't just me when I read some of the threads on here :)