Fussy eating 18mo

[Rach7291]

DD will try anything i put infront of her, but won’t actually eat any of it. She lives off toast and omelette for breakfast/lunches. I can’t get her to eat sandwiches, pancakes, cakes etc (anything soft). She won’t eat anything that requires a spoon and will not let me spoon feed her either. If i try to give her anything new on her plate alongside other food she eat, she will try the new item, spit it out and refuse the whole meal. She eats a few different dinners so thats not my issue. I’m struggling with breakfast/lunch ideas or ways i can actually get her to eat new things!

If she’s eating a decent range at dinner, I’d try to take the pressure right off breakfast/lunch for a bit and treat it as “practice time” rather than “this meal must be eaten”.

A few things that helped us:

• Keep a safe food on the plate (toast/omelette) and put the new thing on a separate little side plate or even on the table for her to explore.
• Tiny portions of the new thing. Like a single pea / one blueberry / one bite. Big portions can feel overwhelming.
• Deconstruct meals if she doesn’t like soft mixed textures. So instead of a sandwich, offer “bits”: a strip of toast, a slice of cheese, a bit of ham, cucumber sticks.
• Dip without a spoon: hummus/cream cheese/yoghurt as a dip for breadsticks or fruit. Some kids will do “dipping” happily even if they won’t use a spoon.
• Food play away from meals: let her “help” make lunch (spreading butter, putting toppings on toast, stirring yoghurt) with zero expectation she eats it.
• Repeat exposure: it can take loads of tries. Even touching/licking then spitting is still progress.

I've followed Charlotte Stirling Reed, a child nutritionist, on Insta for years now. Her advice has always been useful and helpful.