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Weaning

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

Fussy 16 month old

11 replies

MrsBxxx · 04/09/2024 06:49

Hello all,

I am looking for help with my 16 month old. He has never been a good eater, he was difficult to wean and will only eat a limited number of foods now. I did everything the same as my first but he just won't entertain even trying things.

I offer him food and he won't even try some of them to determine he doesn't like them or will just throw them on the floor straight away. I know toddlers go through fussy stages but I have never had the stage where he eats or tries what is put in front of him. Meal times are so difficult because he just won't eat but he is genuinely hungry and will cry with hunger but even that doesn't make him better at eating (this is with a variety of foods).

He won't touch any veg and is very very limited with fruit. I have altered eating schedules and cut down on snacks to make sure he is hungry but not too hungry but with no success.

I guess what I'm hoping for are similar stories with tips or help that will inspire me to keep going or try new things. I'm feeling pretty desperate. My love language is making sure my family are well looked after and well fed and I get so affected by his fussiness with so many foods.

Thank you!

OP posts:
Myusername19 · 04/09/2024 06:56

If there is any added sugar in his diet, cut it out completely

crisis1000 · 04/09/2024 07:09

Were you aiming for weaning rather than weather? 😂

Rubyandscarlett · 04/09/2024 07:16

crisis1000 · 04/09/2024 07:09

Were you aiming for weaning rather than weather? 😂

I thought op was going to say her 16 month old won't go out in the rain or something!

MrsBxxx · 04/09/2024 07:32

Rubyandscarlett · 04/09/2024 07:16

I thought op was going to say her 16 month old won't go out in the rain or something!

Haha yes I was and I don't know how to edit it 🙈🙈

OP posts:
MrsBxxx · 04/09/2024 07:33

crisis1000 · 04/09/2024 07:09

Were you aiming for weaning rather than weather? 😂

Haha yep 😂 😂 I realised too late and can't figure out how to edit it 🙈

OP posts:
Janefx40 · 09/10/2024 22:33

Hi @MrsBxxx how are you getting on? My 16 months DS is the same. Always been fussy. Will eat anything not good for him but refuses proper food and just chucks it on the floor. Also crying now with hunger but still refusing.

Cormoran · 10/10/2024 21:26

@Janefx40 why do you even buy foods that are not good for you. Ultra processed food, baby junk food are engineered to make you crave them and of course you reject real food.
Bin them, and , they are not food, just nutrition void edible stuff

MrsBxxx · 14/10/2024 11:58

Janefx40 · 09/10/2024 22:33

Hi @MrsBxxx how are you getting on? My 16 months DS is the same. Always been fussy. Will eat anything not good for him but refuses proper food and just chucks it on the floor. Also crying now with hunger but still refusing.

Not very well. I have tried to give up stressing about it but they both sound very similar. I get healthy stuff into him by blending it and giving him it blended and will just persevere with everything else. It's almost like a sensory thing so I'm going to try some food play too. If you learn of anything that works, let me know :-)

OP posts:
MrsBxxx · 14/10/2024 12:00

@Cormoranwhilst I totally get what you are saying, it's a lot easier said than done when they are crying with hunger and you just want them to eat as a desperate parent.

OP posts:
PolaroidPrincess · 14/10/2024 15:38

It's so frustrating when they're this fussy isn't it? Can I ask if he's night weaned?

Cormoran · 14/10/2024 21:33

I do get it, OP. However, your mistake is thinking that crappy food is better than no food. Problem is by doing so, you dig your grave at double speed. You not only reinforce a food preference, the artificial taste of UPF, but you also reinforce a behaviour, rejecting food, UPF will land in my hand.

In French, we don't even have a word for snack. Offer breakfast, then NOTHING , not a bite, not juice/mil/k,,, , only water and have him with you whilst you prepare a nice lunch.
Something easy, wet, that is tasty and doesn't require a lot of chewing, Baby egg pasta (Emiliane Barilla has a good range) in a rich broth with a knob of butter and a bt of real parmesan, The salty taste of the broth and parmiggiano combine with the fat taste of butter make it resemble the fat+salty combo of the melty puff (those are just Cheetos for babies if you read the ingredients).

Go shopping together, prepare a soupy risotto, again with butter and parmiggiano.
Make food that tastes good.
take a bag of mixed frozen berries, add 3 tablespoons in a bowl, microwave on high for 5 min, let it cool down and mix with Plain greek yoghurt.
Slice a zucchini length wise as thin as you can. Put on an oven tray brushed with extra virgin olive oil. Lay them flat, not touching one another. brush with more olive oil, sprinkle the tiniest amount of salt, cook at 180 until the thin part turns darker. Cut a tiny piece and put it on a baby fork. It is soft, moist, tasty.

A simple sole, cooked in a pan with butter is irresistible. No fish bone, no strong taste, it just melts in the mouth.
Often here , I see some whatever trust website being recommended. I looked at it, food looks vile, taste-less, effort-less, no wonder UK kids reject real food if that is what is presented on a plastic plate.

And soups? Why is nobody soups in UK? From mild to tasty, very clear to thick, with or without pieces, the variety is endless.

Leave the high chair or whatever seating is used in a corner for a week. Have him shop with you, wash the veggies with you, have him in your arms when you stir (safely of course), then have him sit on you, when you dig into it, and just dip the spoon in it or have a teeny piece on a fork. Just enough to touch his tongue, and stimulate taste buds. Smell is strong signal around food.
But you need to cut the junk (puff, crisps, rice cakes, rusks , baby cereal, cereal bars, ....) for 1 week .

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