BLWers, if your LO throws all his/her food on the floor, do you offer alternatives?

[naturelover]

My strategy till now has been: offer 2-3 things per meal, decide in advance what DD is getting, and don't pander to any fussiness (on the basis that she can have unlimited breastmilk). She's 11.5 months old, by the way.

I usually offer fruit and/or plain yoghurt at the end of lunch and dinner, and she loves them both. The problem is that, eg today, she had a peach for her dinner. The sweetcorn & cheese fritters all went on the floor, untasted. It's so frustrating.

I don't want to create issues, so I don't show I'm annoyed. I just move onto the next bit of the meal. But obviously I'd like her to eat more variety. It would be so easy to just offer every day the things I know she will definitely eat (which mostly involve toast).

What would you do? And what strategies have been successful for you when getting your LO to eat a varied diet?

bump

I think you need to try and trust your daughter a bit about what she needs. I know it's more easily said than done but at this age, babies are absolutely brilliant at taking exactly what is right for them. I'd offer a selection of things with protein, things with carbs and fruit or veg over the course of the meal and let her take what she wants if you can manage not to stress about whole meals composed of bread or whatever! My daughter is 23 months and she still sometimes eats a meal entirely composed of fruit and then eats pasta and meat and no veg at all at the next meal. It's not what we think is normal but it seems to work for them. Also, good advice that I was given is to look at what they're eating over a week not over a day or a meal. It balances out surprisingly well in the end. As for eating a varied diet, if you offer one that is all you can really do - you can't make them eat, can you?

Thanks so much for the tips.
And Lucicle, thanks for the reminder that DD will take what she needs - I often forget this! It's just hard to imagine how a meal entirely composed of fruit can be a good thing.

I know exactly how you feel. We have an awful lot of meals that are things like bread with water biscuits, pasta and breadsticks in this house.