3 year old making himself sick over food

[LemonAda376]

My son is 3 and is becoming increasingly fussy with food.

When he was weaning and even up till around 2-2.5 he would eat a good variety of foods and his doctor was never concerned. He's never been a massive eater but at least he would try new things.

Recently he's become quite fussy and barely eats anything. He seems to have a particular aversion to meat and says I don't want to eat meat. It's not limited to meat though- he now doesn't eat pasta, rice, beans, or any cooked veggies.

He lives on mainly fruit, cheese, bread, crackers, pizza, potato waffles sometimes, cereal, toast.

We make family meals that we all sit and eat but he makes himself gag on purpose if we put food in front of him. We tend to just him and eat our food or tell him to stop being silly and eat his food. He's quite switched on and we've explained why he needs to eat healthy food to help him grow big and strong and for energy.

I don't give him and make him something separate when he is crying about his dinner instead I just take it away after a certain time and tell him dinner time is over.

Sometimes he cries and says he wants his dinner back but if I give him it back he does the same- pretends to or really does gag and has made himself sick in the past or mess about with his food.

We've cut right back on snacks and treats as he isn't eating properly but nothing is convincing him.

Any tips or ideas to get him to eat more varied?

As someone with a problem eater, don't make a big deal out of it. He may have a limited pallet, but don't get frustrated or draw attention to it. Pressure tends to make these things worse.

Our ds is under dietician, paediatrician, and according to recent assessments is neurotypical but very bright (possibly anxious though). He eats carbs and meat, and bananas and now apples. No sweet tooth or much interest in junk food, he just wants consistency.

We don't tend to make a big deal of it I just worry he isn't getting enough nutrition.

He would eat rubbish likes sweets snd junk all day if we would let him but we've cut right back and he doesn't get any treats now if he hasn't eaten proper meals but even this doesn't seem to be encouraging him now.

Maybe time to speak to the doctor about it?

My 35(?) year old 6ft 2in strapping great nephew grew up on a diet of peanut butter sandwiches and baked beans on toast (and perhaps a few other things... he eventually tolerated chicken nuggets and possibly pizza as a teen). Unfamiliar textures were a big deal.

Something changed when he hit his 20's (possibly beer), but he eats fairly normal meals (meat and two veg), including Chinese and curries.

Yes, he struggled with Aspergers and had to be taught how to navigate adulthood.

It is worth talking to somebody who understands these issues. Your child might just be a super-taster.

Hello. Just wondering where you got to with this as we’re having similar issues.

we tend to give him meals we know he enjoys, but he’s starting to say the ones he loved are “yukky” now too so it’s really limiting us! Getting any medical help with him is so hard where we are due to lack of staff.

so far his weight gain and growth have been fine and we give him a multivitamin but I just don’t understand when his 16mo brother sits opposite eating everything we are!

Interesting that 'madcats' mentioned Aspergers. My son at about the same age lived on scrambled egg on toast. It seemed to last years. He has Aspergers. He is rather large (obese) but now eats virtually everything (literally) except tomatoes.

....and he used to make himself sick at school, even with packed lunches. It was the noise (excessive) in school dining hall. We swapped schools, and he was much better.

Might be sensory based avoidance.

look into ARFID.

also a book called MY CHILD WONT EAT

Thanks. We’ve got a number of things going on with him at the moment with behavioural stuff and it’s hard to know if this is linked or just something kids do, but either way it’s so tiring. Earlier he refused to drink his water from his bottle as he was gagging on it but he’s had it every day so I just don’t understand what’s going on!