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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

How to get DD to try new foods?

4 replies

TheRealMrsHannigan · 10/05/2012 13:31

Sorry if this is the wrong place, DD is 3 and a half so definitely not weaning but I am hoping someone may be able to offer advice.

When DD was weaned she would eat anything except banana, she still won't eat it to this day so I ahve accepted it's just a food she does not like.

However she seems to be growing more fussy, and refuses to try anything other than what she knows, for example she will not try lasagne, even though she likes and eats mincemeat, cheese and pasta seperately, she will even eat pasta in a tomato sauce. There is no logic there to me.

She did try meatballs last night, I was cooking them for me and she decided they smelt nice, then promptly wolfed down three of them. It just seems so random, the list of what she will and won't eat.

How do you go about encouraging children to try new foods? I ahve tried involving her in cooking, but she still wont try it.

A few things she has refused to even try:

Lasagne
Pizza
Apples, Pears, Plums, Nectarine etc (Despite eating these when younger and also used apple puree in weaning)
Blueberries and Raspberries (But eats strawberries)
Salad leaves
Cucumber
Pie (she will only pick out bits of steak from a steak pie)
Cheese spread
Sponge Cake
Carrots (raw or cooked)
Couscous
Courgettes
Aubergine
Mushrooms
Sandwiches in general(unless it's Dad's bacon sarnie she is nicking Hmm)

Things she likes and eats with no problem:

Chicken (she adores chicken curry)
Beef
Pasta
Noodles
Caluiflower and Brocolli
Peas
Beans
Raw sliced pepper (wont touch cooked unless in Fajitas)
Strawberries
Green grapes
Rice
Spaghetti hoops/shapes
Raisins
Porridge
Cheese (in blocks or cheese string type things)
eggs (scrambled or in omelettes)

I am just worried as her list of 'wont try's' is rather long!

OP posts:
JiltedJohnsJulie · 15/05/2012 18:06

Sorry, don't have time to answer your post now. Will try to pop back later and hopefully some wise MNers will post in the meantime Smile.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 17/05/2012 08:58

Well she's got a nice long list of things she will try so that's a good start. What we is to offer the new food along with something we know they will eat, so at least they get something. We always leave the food on the plate, they're not allowed to remove it but we make it clear that they don't have to eat it if they don't want too, it's their choice. Sometimes they try it and sometimes they don't but we never ask them to.

If you are still struggling have a look at this book and if you post on behaviour you may get some more respones Smile.

aethelfleda · 20/05/2012 15:28

Hiya, are you eating seperately to her? Slmetimes it's hard to eat at the same time as your LO but I found that making the meal a social thing with food as the background worked better than sitting down child and watching them eat their plateful (or not!). I eat with my DCs, they havethe same that I do though mine is a toddler portion to stop me putting on three stone. Where possible I do the same food for DH so that I'm not cooking twice. If I think the dinner is something my DCs may not like I give them that but alongside something I know they will eat (so lasagna (??) served with french beans and sweetcorn (which they love) or pizza fingers (which they love) served with broccoli (more indifferent). At least then they will eat half the plateful so you'll be more laidback about whether they eat the "maybe" food. And just keep on offering a variety ad you'll be fine. That list is pretty varied so at least there's enough for a balanced intake. Good luck!

TheRealMrsHannigan · 22/05/2012 11:25

Well I successfully got her to try a jam sandwich on Sunday and she has declared they are 'delicious' so I am hoping this is progress (she always refused sandwiches point blank unless it was a bacon sandwich!)

I had to make her a packed lunch for an activity she was participating in, so put the sandwich in with other stuff I knew she liked, and she ate it!

I will plough on with this type of method and cross my fingers, I am hoping it's an age related phase.

aethel It is hard to eat with her as I dont get home from work until 7pm, so it's only weekends we can really eat together. She usually has dinner at her childminders, at about 5pm, they do all eat at the table together there. She has a snack when she gets home and I sit at the table with her as she likes to chat to me about her day then.

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