Hiya!
Hoping some other parents can help me through this - a while ago my daughter got sick with norovirus and since then her appetite has been way off. She barely eats anything to be honest (although when she is at nursery they do report she eats quite well and will eat most things) - with me she is so fussy, I can pretty much only get her to eat extremely bland food like weetabix, toast, crackers and yoghurt. ANYTHING sweet and sugary, she will devour though so I know it because she isn't hungry!
Some days she freaks out and won't let me anywhere near her with a spoon even, and cries and gets stressed out. Other days she'll start really well, and then if something distracts her or she sees her water bottle, or any other food in the vicinity she will absolutely refuse to let me go near her with the spoon. I tried finger foods but unless they are, again, bland, such as toast (because she won't touch untoasted bread anymore), or homemade banana flapjacks she will scream and throw the food.
It's starting to really stress me out because we used to do just one meal for the family and she would eat what we ate - and it would be EVERYTHING (pizza, pasta, sandwiches, soups and stews etc.). I don't want to only offer her food I know she'll eat, so I usually offer that and then a new food (like blueberries, or banana), but unless it's pureed fruit (because any and all vegetables, and whole fruits like berries and melon sticks are completely refused and spat out), she won't touch it. Not even entertain it. Won't look at it, lick it, nothing. Occasionally when I have got it relatively close to her mouth she will push her tongue out and cry.
It's really disheartening when I see other children actually eating food, and then my child refusing almost everything and crying her way through 99% of meal times. It also is ridiculously expensive, because I don't want to resort to jars/pouches anymore, and I am throwing away so much food at the end of the day.
Has anyone got any advice? Is this normal? I just want her to be able to TRY something new at least, because maybe then she'll start enjoying more and more food. Something that isn't beige would be a great start!
I just don't understand where on earth this has come from as she was a great eater before - but some days I just feel like I am losing my mind.
Thanks in advance :)