Fussy 2 year old

[Anxiousmumzy]

Hi
any tips on my fussy 2 year old (I know it’s normal at this stage) but I just gets really worked up about it!

he eats small portions like a fistful when he does eat - he’s not a big lunch eater
struggling for meal ideas
hes quite picky with food aswell does not eat any mixed veg (but at nursery apparently he does) he hates his highchair and will prefer to sit in his chair which is fine

I worry about how much he eats and how he likes a very carby diet such as pasta cheese yogurt pots and he will like one particular food for ages and then go off it!
anything saucy he’s like no yucky
I would like him to eat what we eat daily

any suggestions on what I could do?

also I think I’ve become so anxious with his food in general that I’ve become abit ocd about preservatives in food - so I feel guilty for freezer food and will never give him deli meat but then thinking about it doesn’t everything has some form of preservative!! Ahhhh!

Nothing wrong with carbs if we are talking about whole food such as potatoes, rice, pasta, fruit, legumes, ... different story if cookies, crisps, rice cakes, in other words, crap instead of carb

So what does he eat? Just pasta , cheese and yoghurt? What do you do when he doesn't eat? Do you offer alternatives? Does he tell you what he wants?

@Cormoran Thankyou so much for your reply it means alot

he prefers and will ask for pasta cheese and yogurts mainly - I ask him and offer him options even with fruit but he’s quite limited to strawberries and melon at the moment

he will ask for a lot of “crap” snacks such as chocolates or a broiche after not finishing his dinner which now I’m trying to cut out all snacks

a typical day would be like

breakfast a little bit of cereal and milk and then buttered toast when I have mine
a fruit for morning snack
lunch I only offer what he wants with this - eg pasta or fish cakes
dinner- rice/chicken drumstick but no veg/pasta
if he refuses let’s say dinner (he didn’t want spag bol because of the saucey mince) I will offer an alternative food I know he likes

I feel like a lot of kids his age must eat more plus I’m just wary that he should get foods from all food groups ie more protein and veg?

Could you get meat and veg into the meal in another way? For example, I do a cheese crepe but add chopped up spinach to it. Or mash potato with veg and meat chopped into it. Same with pasta, I do a creamy tomato sauce with the veg in it. I buy a bag of frozen chopped veg so they're already in little pieces and so easy to add into sauces/meals in a way he doesn't really notice.

@Sparklybees Hiii Love your username! And what a great idea never thought to do this! Will definitely try these 😘 Thankyou so much

My DD would have noticed all the stealth ways to hide food and refused to eat.
I think you're offering too much choice and perhaps expecting too much.
Don't run a cafe.
For lunch offer maybe 2 choices. Not a free reign.
Don't make eating a meal a condition of getting pudding. I would go as far as not offering a sweet course after a meal as it's tempting for little ones to try and skip to bits they want more.
If you are eating at the same time, offer some of what you are having plus something you know they will eat.
Never battle over food. Offer it, take it away if not eaten. If you know it's something they would eat, do not make something else. Have a go to, bland and unexciting snack that you offer if they are hungry later. I used to offer oat cakes and a drink of water.
It's extremely normal for toddlers to go through often quite long phases of being quite picky with food even if they were not before.
As long as they are eating a reasonable range of food and are an acceptable weight you're fine.
My DD is a teen now and has been very specific about her food preferences for a long time! She doesn't like surprises, wet or wobbly food or anything mixed up, melted cheese is a no, condiments generally also no. But happy to eat a good range of fairly simple meals.