Did your fussy eater grow out of it?

[GraceGrape]

I'm just doing my meal plan for the week and hoping the time will come when I don't have to cater for my fussy 4-year old's preferences.

She isn't extreme. She likes cereal and sandwiches (cheese or peanut butter only) and some fruit so eats quite well at breakfast or lunch time but every night almost her entire evening meal ends up in the bin. If I cooked what she wanted we would just have spaghetti bolognese every night. I have started to cook stuff the rest of us will eat and just make sure there is something on the plate she will have, like rice, cous cous or pasta.

I was apparently very fussy until I was 6 or 7, then became a very adventurous eater, so I always assumed she would do the same, but is this most people's experience? I am starting to worry about the lack of balance in her diet.

My DD became extremely fussy around 2 and at 9 she is gradually growing out of it. We ended up doing pretty much as you are. She sometimes now complains that some foods aren't spicy enough, which at 4 I thought would never happen.

She would still live off cereal and chips and chicken nuggets though. Although I do try and make sure she has some fruit and veg and a multi vitamin and I've recently started giving her calcium and vit d supplements.

My 12 yr old da has never been fussy and will eat anything.
However, my 9 yr old dd has always been fussy and isn't getting any better (probably worse!). Ad a family we eat quite healthy so god knows where she gets it from?!

Thank you. Sounds like I've got at least a few more years!

One thing that really helped us was cutting down on portion size, she gets overfaced very easily. Think of a portion as the size of her palm. Another thing that helped was minimising snacks.

Yes, that's a good idea. I do find she will sometimes eat more if she only has a very small portion. To be fair, she is quite good at trying new foods, just decides she doesn't like any of them!

My 4 year old son is exactly the same! He rarely eats an evening meal, it ends up in the bin 8 times out of 10. I was getting really worried but he has been following the 75th percentile since birth and is still just below it so I guess he's Ok!

My eldest was really fussy as a child, but he's now 23 & will eat pretty much anything.

The youngest is 19 and still has a very limited diet, so he didn't grow out of it unfortunately. He's very healthy though, so it doesn't seem to have done him any harm.

I suppose I'm best to have low expectations. The rest of us are all adventurous eaters so I don't know where she came from.

Just about to turn 5 here and still very fussy/limited diet but mainly due to texture I think.

Great to hear that your eldest has completely grown out of it Drama especially if I blot out the rest of your post...

YY to the very small portions. My DD was very reluctant to even try anything new for years but is much better now.

DD grew out of it age about 6 and will now eat almost anything, DS is 13 and I swear he's got fussier.

I will cling on to Greebols' DD as a source of hope and ignore the fussy teenager.

My DD2 was fussy up to about age 10/11 then she went to a school where they got lunch provided each day. Up until then she had taken the same packed lunch to school everyday but on moving schools was forced to either eat what was on offer or go hungry. She learned to eat most things as she hates being hungry. Now at age 19 and after a year in catered uni halls she will eat pretty much anything.

No. 15 now, wanted to be a vegetarian until she realised the fatal flaw in that plan. Still moans and looks at me like it's my fault she doesn't like vegetables.

at Rick. DH's family still laugh at him being a vegetarian as a teenager as he didn't eat vegetables.

Honestly, he's been worse than DD ever has.

Fwiw I was a very fussy eater till I was about 9/10. Now I'll try anything, am a real foodie and the cook of the family. I love experimenting in the kitchen and eating out at new places :) so she may just be waiting to "blossom" into her foodie ways ;)

DD1 was a very fussy eater but at 6 is gradually growing out of it. We never force her to clear her plate or anything but she does have to eat what the rest of the family is eating and she must have a 'good try', even if that's just two or three bites.

One thing I remember working was giving her main meal at lunch when she wasn't quite so tired. You also get the benefit of knowing she'll eat well in the evening if you stick to giving her something you know she'll like.

Unlike her big sister, DD2 asked to go to a sushi restaurant for her 4th birthday and wolfed down everything!

When I was a kid I refused to eat any hot meals what so ever. Every time I went around a friends or family house for dinner I'd have a sandwich. I grew out of it eventually and have gotten a lot less fussy as an adult.
I know this isn't extremely helpful to you though

My 5yo is similarly fussy, we suspect mainly through choice (rather than his dislike of most foods). He hasn't eaten any vegetables since he was a baby and eats very little fruit. He mainly eats carbs and dairy, which is apparently more important for energy and growth at his age. We give him a multivitamin with omega 3 every day to compensate. He is very rarely ill and is growing normally, sleeps well, is generally happy. We've tried everything to encourage him to eat a balanced and more varied diet, but he is too stubborn. Now I mainly feed him our meals, knowing he won't eat much if it; sometimes I offer him what I know he'll eat (if he's not eaten much that day). To be honest, I think a balanced diet is overrated and just have to hope he'll grow out of it! Good luck.