Repetitive diet

[pipnchops]

My DD1 has just turned two she such a fussy eater. As I've just had DD2 I've been too tired to fight any battles and have just been giving her what I know she'll eat which means her diet is very repetitive. She seems absolutely fine but I'm worried if she's getting enough variety and nutrients and I don't know what to do about it if it's not OK as she won't try anything new at all.

So every day she'll have wheetabix and a banana for breakfast. Tomatoes, cucumber and toast/crumpets/cheese sandwiches (usually just picks out the cheese and eats a tiny bit of the bread)/crackers and cheese for lunch and dry plain pasta for dinner.

I always give her what we're having for dinner first but she will always refuse to eat it and demand pasta and I don't want to send her to bed hungry so I give in. She doesn't want anything on the pasta and will refuse to eat it unless it's plain. She'll often have a yogurt and sometimes a banana after her pasta. If I make a lasagna or fish pie from scratch she will eat it but as I have a new baby there isn't always time to make this and she won't eat it if it's been frozen then defrosted. Only if it's freshly made!!

I'm sure I'm going wrong here but I don't know what to do. I was an incredibly fussy eater when I was young and I turned out OK so should I just keep with the path of least resistance as I'm doing now or try and break this cycle and if so how??

[pipnchops]

Should have said, she loves fruit and eats a good variety of fruit throughout the day.

[SpeakNoWords]

It's not the end of the world given your circumstances, but there is one thing that I wouldn't do, which is to give the plain pasta for tea every time.

She now knows that she just has to refuse whatever you offer and she'll get what she wants. As painful as it may be, I would stop doing that. Missing one meal is not going to harm her, and I would offer yoghurt/fruit as normal after the main course (but don't give her multiple helpings, just a normal portion).

For the other meals, I would introduce other elements but don't expect her to eat them. So add another fruit to the weetabix and banana. If she objects just say each time "that's ok you don't have to eat x/y/z". Then don't make any comment about whether she does or doesn't eat it. You could do the same with lunch.

Will she take a multivitamin?

[pipnchops]

Thank you for your advice, I had a feeling I shouldn't be giving in to the pasta demands!

I haven't tried a multi vitamin as I've heard reports they don't really work but could be worth a try. Can you recommend a good one to try?

[SpeakNoWords]

I figure with multivitamins that it can't hurt, so I'd rather give it just in case. I used the vitabiotics WellBaby liquid although I guess any of the ones aimed at that age would do.

I've got a 4yr old and a 21 week old, so I totally understand about the lack of time to cook and prepare stuff

[Iwasjustabouttosaythat]

Glad I'm not the only one dealing with the plain pasta. I do give it to DS because I think toddlers are too young to be manipulative. They won't think, "oh I went hungry tonight so I think I'll eat up all of whatever is on my plate tomorrow as it's perfectly nice after all and I was just being difficult". They will think, "I'm hungry, I don't like this, why is my mum/dad being so horrible to me?"

DS is just over 3 and seems to be becoming a little more adventurous with food. Finally. I do give him his plain pasta along with fruits, nuts, whatever he will eat on the side. It's so boring to prepare every night and I supplement with a multivitamin, but my understanding is that this fussiness is developmentally appropriate and would have served them well throughout history to stop them eating random berries in the wild etc.

It's frustrating and I feel like crap when I see a plate full of beige, but dinner time shouldn't become a battle now if you want it to be enjoyable later. You have a lot on your plate (so to speak) so if she's getting the nutrients she needs in fortified cereal, bread, multivitamins then I wouldn't worry too much.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

Will she take a multivitamin? If DD refuses what I've cooked, she doesn't get anything else. She did exactly that yesterday. She kept saying she was hungry, but she didn't get anything else.

[SpeakNoWords]

Just to be clear, I don't think 2 year olds are being deliberately manipulative around food. I agree it's normal to be fussy and to prune the range of what they eat at around this age.

I think though that it's reasonable to consider that if they refuse a meal that contains elements you know they would normally eat, then they just aren't that hungry at that particular meal time. I don't think I'd consider that I've ever been horrible to my DS as a result.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

I use Bassetts multivitamins. The DC love them, I put them on their plate with breakfast, DD always eats them first!

[twoundertwowillbefun]

Sure start centres sell NHS multi vitamins for £2 - 5 drops so easy to administer as others are a full 5ml and can be hard to get past a fussy eater...

I am in the same predicament as you - I'm just giving her what she wants and probably too much cake and snacks but my HV helpfully told me not to worry as no adult refuses to eat but may be fussy and only limit themselves, no one else...