Fussy eaters - support and advice thread

[IamAporcupine]

My 5yo son is a fussy eater.
He eats: fish, chicken, noodles, rice, eggs, cheese spread, pizza, potatoes, broccoli, sweetcorn, beetroot , tomato soup, apple, banana, pear and yogurt. I might be forgetting something.
Anyway, everything has to be plain so no sauces etc, and things cannot mix, ie different bowls, etc

I am trying to get him to try more things but he refuses completely or makes a big drama out of it. I can tell that is a control/anxiety issue because for now I am only suggesting things that I believe he might like, like fruits and he still finds it very difficult. I do not know what to do. I really do not want to turn food and meals into a fight, but at the same time I feel I have to do something.

Anyway, I guess the question is, if your DC are fussy eaters, how do you handle it? have you found anything that works to get them to eat/try new things?

Any support/advice appreciated!

That's a big list to me!

I use smell - ask them to smell things!
Or put stuff i your plate and tell him he can't have it - and turn away while he sneaks some
Or let him help cook - or look at a few cook books

Try putting a mixed salad on the table before dinner - in little slices like carrot cucumber cheese and leave it there - surprising what they'll pick up!

3luckystars haha yes I also thought it seemed a bigger list when I wrote it. But everything has to be bland. And he eats only 3 vegetables and 3 fruits.....

Astro55 yes, he is open to try more if he cooks too. I will try the smell one, thanks! Leaving a salad one the table will not work. He cannot stand carrots or cheese. I do not think he has ever tried anything out of interest

I meant to post more, sorry I was distracted. That's a good list, I don't know what the answer is except to keep trying, it sounds like you are doing great though!
I thought my son was bad until I went to a special course for parents and one mother had a boy that just ate one brand, one flavour yogurt, it was a muller with a specific lid. She was so absolutely terrified that they would change the packaging and he would starve to death. She even wrote to them about it. It was really tough on her but I said to her the same thing, even one new food tried or tasted is a huge success, even in 6 months or a year, just work with what you have and don't worry about what you haven't. He is surviving and the psychologist said the same, every year brings improvements!

My son has improved hugely with age, he is 8 now and will taste new things sometimes, which is incredible when I think of how he was at 4 or 5. At 8, they take bribes! Keep going, don't look around just keep trying and it will all work out! Good luck!

He eats way more than my 4 year old! I seriously wouldn't be worried. Just keep giving him new things to try and no pressure or stress if he doesn't want to eat them :)

DS is 14 and your list is enormous .

We have recently been able to expand his vegtable intake from raw carrots to icebergsalad in a hardly noticable vinaigrette.
Fruit: apple and banana
Drinks: water, plain lemonade, cold milk

And everything has to be as plain and bland as possible and no variation in taste and structure if at all possible.

DB is in his 50ties and has grown out of it, almost.

My DS is 4 and will eat: cereal; yoghurts; peanut butter sandwiches; mashed potato; spaghetti bolognese; chicken and squash stew thing that I made up. Oh, and of course biscuits and cakes and chocolate when allowed.

Your list is amazing. I'm just trying to keep things relaxed around food and hope he will get more adventurous as he gets older.

It's hard as hell.

My dd was fussy until last summer when he was 14 we stayed in a nice hotel in Austria with a menu with 3 choices each night. As he was with his older cousins he was too embarrassed to be fussy, and tried and ate everything
Back home he is much better, but still tries it on occasionally.

Thanks everyone!
I feel slightly better. You are right, the list is not too bad I guess.
I was feeling down about it as I just came back from visiting my best friend (who is a bit of a food snob) and her children eat absolutely everything.
Should I just stop trying to get him to try new things for now? We had this chart for trying things etc, but It was not working and it ended up being the opposite of relaxed (totally my fault)

We're going through this at the moment with both of ours.
Dd announced yesterday that she no longer likes pizza and the fish fingers I had bought were wrong. So currently she will eat: chocolate chip brioche, pain au chocolat, bread products, bacon, yoyo bears, cheese strings, macaroni cheese, marmite, raw carrots, sweet corn, apples and grapes. She will normally eat crisps too but has given them up for lent. She is 7 .
Her brother will eat cheerios, ham, fish fingers, pepperoni pizza, pasta pesto, mild chicken curry (no veg in it), raw carrots, sweet corn, apples, pears (sometimes), crisps and chocolate.
It is exhausting and very frustrating trying to cook a family meal!

Has anyone found a way to make their DC less anxious about food?
Do you have any clue where your DC food issues come from?

Both DH and I have had eating disorders so I am not that surprised that our son is not the best eater in the world