Why won't my 2 year old eat anything??

[kievv]

Hello,
so basically my 2 year old barely eats anything and doesn't often like trying anything new. He'll randomly try something new like every few months but then wont try anything again for a while and only eats certain things like cheesy pasta, nuggets, certain crips, yoghurts, wrap pizzas, basically beige foods. Obviously he will eat almost anything sweet; cakes, snack bars etc.

My problem is that when he was being BLW he would try almost anything and would eat quite a lot. He then got to maybe 15 months old and just stopped wanting to eat a lot of the things that he was used to eating and also not wanting to try anything else. This all happened after me and my partner went on holiday together and 2-year-old was being looked after paternal grandma for half the week then maternal grandpa for the other half. I feel like he started being funny with food because of how/what he was fed when we weren't there. Am i crazy to think that? We specifically told to to always offer him some of the food they were having and then to just have a back up safe meal of pasta or porridge or even the pre-prepared baby food you can get from the shops (beef caserole etc.)
Do you think it was this that has caused him to be funny with food or could that just be coinsidence and hes just going through a very long phase.
He has defo get better in the last few months and has ben eating fish finger which is something different for him but bananas used to be his fave fruit and would literally eat it all the time and now wont touch it at all, the same with grapes, i tried them with him before we went away and he seemed to love them and just hasnt wanted to touch them since, same with cucumber. He barely eats any fruit or veg unless i make banana pancakes.

What do i do??

Can you make fruit / veg platters look fun? Fruit kebabs or fruit cut into patterns/ faces etc.

Like this

It could be his grandparents or he could just be being two - you will never know, so don't beat yourself/your parents up about it. Incidentally I think it likely just to be coincidence - many children go through this phase. Keep offering fruit, veg etc, make it colourful and fun and try not to be stressed around mealtimes (easier said than done) and hopefully it will come right.

By the way, some parents not a fan of this but have you tried introducing food by varying his favourites? My DS wouldnt eat a courgette but he loved mac and cheese with mashed sweet potato in the sauce and grated courgette cooked in - he got used to the taste and now he eats courgettes on their own. Or homemade pizza sauce has carrots, peppers etc in. And for sweet stuff we make muffins/pancakes with berries, banana etc.

He's the age when they start to figure out that they have autonomy. This is normal developmentally. Food is a rather personal autonomy issue.

What you do is... You encourage him to try new experiences everywhere in life, and praise him when he does, and shrug when he doesn't. You model eating a big variety of foods & tell him he's missing out very occasionally (never underestimate the power of FOMO). You don't make his food choices into a conflict issue or stress yourself about it. You don't offer junk food instead. If his choices are bland, few & healthy that's sufficient for now.

Hi any update please

Update it that’s he’s still the same! Surprised us sometimes asking to try something then looks at it closer and throws it as far as he can lol! He’ll eat slightly normal for a bit (basic beige foods) then he’ll get ill, not eat for a week, then go back to not eating anything we put in front of him.
it’s a constant battle but am still trying him with different things along side his safe foods

This is a great post.

Just seen your update @kievv . Do not battle with a two year old. You will never win and the child enjoys it.