Any tips for child that won’t eat?

[smarSarah]

My 4 year old will only eat sandwiches, fruit, snacks and cereal. Anything cooked like dinner food is a massive no, he’s even not fussed on eating really kid friendly dinners like nuggets and beans. My daughter who is 8 eats almost everything and I raised them both the same way so I’m not sure it’s exactly something I’ve done wrong as such? He’s been this way since he was about 2 and I tried not to draw too much attention to it in hopes he would grow out of it (we have also tried sticker charts/rewarding but he isn’t bothered) but it’s just getting worse, the things he will eat are getting less and less and I’m worried now.

Do I just continue not doing much about it in hopes he will one day start to eat dinners again or does anybody have any good tips that have helped your children?

What does he eat on his sandwiches? What are the snacks and cereal? How wide a variety of fruit does he eat? That might make all the difference. Is the sandwich bread wholemeal, or seeded?

Will he drink smoothies or eat ice lollies? My 4 year old would never touch avocado but we use it to make chocolate ice lollies which he loves.

This sounds similar to my 3yo. She’s never been massively enthusiastic about meals. Our feeding journey since birth was quite traumatic too, so also feeling like I was ‘failing’ at feeding her solids has always been quite emotional too.

Does your area have any good health visitor support? I found they were really helpful to talk too, but mainly I just got a “carry on as you are, be patient etc” response. Which was reassuring at least to know I wasn’t missing something.

My 3yo is getting better with meals now but still much prefers to snack. For a while when she really wouldn’t eat much I would pretty much give her a snack (balanced throughout the day and within reason) whenever she asked. Though now once I have offered something she likes and then something a bit more boring then I am happy to say that’s all until the next meal. I think it was starting to become a boredom / control thing. Since that change meals have improved, but there are still some things she’ll refuse.

Big positive that your LO will eat fruit. I read somewhere once that fruit and veg contain a lot of the same things, so if veg is a bit of an issue but a child does eat fruit. Then it’s not so much of a worry.

I was always told: offer dc a plate of food with a few little bits of the things they don’t like and don’t make a fuss but ask them to try it. Also every time you serve them remind dc that you have to try something 20 times before you can decide you don’t like it.

Make the plate look attractive - ie present it nicely.

If the new food isn’t eaten don’t make a fuss, but offer praise if they have a go.

Don’t stress. Make sure they get breakfast plus one good meal per day; if they don’t eat much of the third meal they won’t starve and you can push them a bit harder by not providing an easy alternative (“well this is what I’ve made and everything in this is things you like, try it and then if you don’t want to eat it, it I can give you an extra glass of milk at bedtime).

Don’t force the issue when you’re at a restaurant or in company - always make sure you have considered what dc can eat before you agree to a meal out.

Provide a vitamin supplement.

My dd ate well as a toddler but then started to restrict what she ate once she was at school - it became quite difficult and she dropped from 30% to 10% weight percentile (75th height!). Worrying for several years and a bit frustrating.

She started to grow out of it age around 12 and now age 15 she will eat pretty much anything, including mushrooms (her childhood nemesis).

Maybe dc is worried about burning his tongue and hence no hot food! Just worth a thought perhaps he had a bad experience eg at nursery

As long as he is getting a variety of fruits, fibre and protein is wouldn't sweat it.

When she was 2.5 my dd restricted her diet to chicken nuggets, sausages and cheese pizza after a very well meaning doctor told her they were running tests to see if food was making her sick. She is 12 now and still doesn't wat a wide variety of foods, she is under a chronic illness team who see her every 3 months, she has a full blood work up and they are happy with her weight and all her levels. So I decided long ago to just leave her be. She will develop her tastes when she is ready.

I don't think stickers charts work for food. I would continue offering what he eats, with a spoon of whatever the rest of you are having on the plate. No mention of the additional food, or request for him to eat it. No option for him to just eat sugary snacks.

The biggest influence on the eating habits of the young people and children I work with at school and my own children at home, is that they grow some of their own food.
Seeing them eating handfuls of raw vegetables, washing and cooking others is great.
No pressure—just a healthy interest and a strong sense of pride.