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Picky One-Year-Old!

7 replies

Sleepy104888 · 04/04/2025 20:43

As the title suggests, my one-year-old (21 months) is extremely picky with food. He was really great up until about 12 months. We did BLW, etc., and I thought he was on track to be an excellent eater. Over winter he was poorly quite frequently and admitted to hospital a number of times. As a result, I gave him the things he wanted to eat, because he's also been monitored for slow growth and is already between the 0.4 and 2nd centile, and because he was already very poorly. I still breastfeed, but I cook lots of homecooked meals and he tosses them, refuses to try even a bite, etc. In short, even if he might like something new he wouldn't know, or he rejects something that the day before he thought was awesome.

I know a lot of this pickiness can be normal. The problem is that it is now nearly a year later, and we are stuck in a major food rut. The foods he will eat include:

-oatmeal
-biscuits (the low sugar Nairn ones)
-bananas
-soya yoghurt (plain with coconut or vanilla)
-smoothies (our only saving grace, I blend these with various frozen fruits and fresh baby spinach and/or other frozen veg like carrots or cauliflower)
-pancakes (homemade, I do a low sugar/healthy version with buckwheat flour)
-peanut butter bread (on wholewheat seeded bread, and he will not tolerate any other spread right now)

He will not eat ANY meat (we give him a multivitamin and iron supplement as a result) and he cannot have egg as he's got a severe egg allergy. I've poured a lot of time into trying different homemade toddler meals that I thought he'd love and that just didn't work.

I'm really just exhausted and burnt out already as it was a rough winter. But I do want my little boy to be healthy. I don't expect him to be eating loads, but a couple of fruits and veg and a little meat to add in variety would be amazing.

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
NuffSaidSam · 05/04/2025 16:19

Fussy eating is common at this age.

Try giving him bits and bobs instead of (or in addition to) mixed meals. For example, instead of fish pie give him some plain mash, piece of salmon, piece of cod, some grated cheese. Lots of kids will eat better when the things are separate than when combined. You can also try giving the same food hot/cold and as part of a meal/a snack. It's not uncommon for them to eat a food in one format, but not another.

Cut the biscuits out while he'll eat other stuff, no need for them really. You can make 'biscuits' with oats and bananas or try making some cheese biscuits instead.

Continue to present all of the foods, don't let any food become strange to him. You never know when he'll give it a try/decide he likes it. Stay neutral around food. Give it to him, let him explore, take it away. No rewards, bribes or punishments. Don't let meal times become stressful/a battle/a negative experience.

Get calories in where you can.

Sleepy104888 · 05/04/2025 21:27

@NuffSaidSam ,that's normally my approach in terms of giving him several different foods to pick from and having at least one thing I know he'll eat on the plate. I think the big thing that's made this a bit more difficult is a) how long it's going on and b) the fact that he has had genuine health issues and concerns about growth/weight gain. This puts more pressure on me to be sure he's getting enough calories. I did try making the oatmeal/banana 'biscuits' and he didn't like them.

Most of the time he doesn't even want to explore new foods. He just immediately throws them on the ground or tries to push his plate away.

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NuffSaidSam · 05/04/2025 23:00

Are you hiding calories in the things he does eat as much as possible?

That's all you can do really.

Are you getting support from HV/GP?

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Crispynoodle · 05/04/2025 23:56

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BunnyRuddington · 06/04/2025 08:28

Are you under a Paediatric Dietician with him being so tiny and having an allergy?

is it just eggs or milk that they allergic to?

And have you tried night weaning yet? That usually picks up their appetite during the day Flowers

Sleepy104888 · 06/04/2025 13:48

No, paediatric dietician. The HV gave some generic advice and I have told her I’m still struggling with food, but not had any further advice.

We do hide veg and new fruits in smoothies. That’s working really well but I’d love to mix it up further, and also try anything else that might help him slowly expand beyond the few safe foods we have right now. He’s done slightly better the past few days since I’ve tried making sure we don’t let him snack too much between meals. At least we’ve avoided biscuits!

He doesn’t bf at night anymore as he sleeps through so it’s more bits in the day, and I’m planning to fully wean him once he turns two.

He’s kept following his line so I guess he’s at least getting enough calories, and it’s more the limited diet that’s worrying me in terms of his nutrition etc.

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kaela100 · 07/04/2025 13:35

You need to keep offering him food. It takes 12 tastes before they know whether they like something or not.

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