help 17 month old refusing to try new things...

[pops79]

My ds (just 17 months) eats pretty well on the whole. But I am concerned about his absolute refusal to try anything new. He will only eat pureed, ready made jars of food and fruit (I know I should never have started but it all seemed so harmless!!). I have tried making fresh, tasty meals and mashing them but he can spot the difference immediately and refuses. He will not eat any chopped fruit (me and the nursery have been trying for a year and there is no head way yet) but will devour a pot of mashed up stuff.

He does now eat a sandwich for lunch and also a rolled up piece of ham as a snack..and of course biscuits is not a problem! But I am concerned that at this age he should be starting to eat normal food, chopped up but not mashed. Has anyone else had any problems making the transition? And should I just go cold turkey and only serve him what his 4 year old brother eats from now on? HELPPPPP.!

Hi there, my dd1 was the same as this, she was a real fussy eater. She would only eat two types of jarred food, pureed fruit , the same as your ds. When i first weaned her i made all of her food myself and added the odd jar, =but over time she got fussier and we ended up in the same predicament as you! Dont worry as you are not the only one! She is now 2 nad half and happy to try 75% of new food offered. It was a long slog but we got there. She would eat ham, cheese and bread, so this was a start. I would do a plate for her with ham, cheese, bread, and add a few peas and carrots. I never said anything just put them on every single time. Eventually after about ten goes at this she tried peas and liked them and the same with carrots. She helped me and watched me prepare the carrots. We made mashed potato togther and she added the milk and butter. I found these were easy things to try to start with,and doesnt matter if they dont eat it. Boiled potatoes cut into little squares were good and we put a knob of butter on the side and told her to dip dip dip the potato in it and she liked the novelty factor of this. Baby corn are quite sweet and good for dipping too.
Pasta shapes are a good one, as they are plain, easy and quick to cook. I let her choose the shapes she wanted. As she has got older we gave her a sticker and lots of praise for trying new foods. Another tip i found on here was to give them their usual food on monday for instance, but on tuesday try something different, then back to their usual jar food on wednesday. This reassures you that they wont starve! Raspberries, and strawberries and blueberries are quite good to chop small and add to yogurt or ice cream as a treat. I tried going cold turkey and she got so upset , meal times became a nightmare and i got stressed and upset too. Give lots of praise if he tries anything new, keep plugging away and if you dont get many responses, pop the tread on again or try searching previous threads, mumsnetters have some fantastic advice which helped me. Best of luck

Am watching this thread with interest as DD (19m) is also a fussy eater and only eating jars. Was gearing myself up for going cold turkey as you put it Spots, but maybe I won't now. Your story has made me see a small speck of light at the end of the tunnel! My dd won't even touch bread in any form, and eats just plain crackers fro lunch. Looks soo unappetitsing and gawd knows what other mums are saying when we eat out. However am putting a little peice of ham/cheese on her plate everytime and just hoping one day she'll pick it up and try it. Will persevre.

Just keep trying new things, breadsticks, pitta bread, naan bread, tesco finest breadsticks (parmesan ) are lovely too. Raisins, dried fruit, bread rolls, Soreen loaf with butter on it, cucumber with the skin off, tortilla wraps, humzingers (dried fruit sticks sold in tescos). Just a few ideas for you of things i tried. I also made sandwichs the size of a postage stamp!Make one sandich and chop it into squares and inch in size, roughly. I know it sounds bizarre but it got her chomping on sandwichs and now she will eat a whole one with the crust on. Try grating the cheese, making shapes with it etc etc.
Hope these little ideas help, it will happen eventually , try not to worry, its really common for them to be fussy at this age. I read a litte quote recently which said ' How many adults do you know who only eat marmite sandwichs? ' Its so true , we grow out of it eventually, but in the mean time , keep up the good work

Have you tried washing out the jars and filling them with your own mush? May help to trick him into at least eating your food and can take it from there??

Ds is getting wary of trying new things at the moment (16 months), he will put it to his mouth, giggle and put it down again. I find sitting in the living room and eating something myself is guaranteed to make him come over and demand some Yesterday he ate whole bits of chicken off my fork he has refused whole bits of meat point blank for months!