Toddler Fussy Eaters

Children learn very quickly that mealtimes are a great opportunity to get undivided attention. Is there a lot of fuss made when trying to tempt her to eat? I'd be offering, say, yoghurt or soft cheese, maybe with rice cakes ('as she eats Rice Krispies) and a reduced amount of milk, and remove it without comment if it's not eaten.
My granny used to say, " Hunger's guid kitchen" ( Hunger is a good sauce!)

GS1 never ate enough to keep a mouse alive until he started school, and it showed as he was small for his age and thin. Now at nearly 11 he'll eat anything and everything and is starting to catch up height-wise, though still slim.

He was never forced to eat anything he didn't like but the rule was he had to try one mouthful. Over the years this tactic has introduced him to foods he gradually (or in some cases very suddenly) learned to enjoy and he's a delight to feed now.

He was also encouraged to help with food preparation and cooking, and now he has his own patch on our allotment.

So don't despair. Early days. Keep offering little tastes of different foods and follow some of the excellent advice on here.

My son, now 33, was born at 25 weeks weighing just 840grams! When trying to get him on to solids he certainly didn't seem to like certain textures and we had to start with dry packet food made up with water. I recommend letting her try tiny amounts of different flavours and textures to find which she responds to. Provided she is healthy, try not to get hung up on her eating habits as she will pick up on it.

I know sore gums can be part and parcel of teething, but they are also indicative of vit C deficiency( mostly in citrus fruits, although also found in green pepper). I agree, reduce the milk, perhaps if child still wants, offer after a meal.

How about Readibrek? My daughter (now 24) loved it and still eats it sometimes as 'comfort food'! Milk-based but fibre etc. in there too...

I note that many of the replies suggest cutting down on the milk for drinking..... I was wondering if it might work to offer milk puddings in place of drinks of milk.
My own boys used to love ground rice, tapioca, blancmange, and I often added pureed fruit/carrots/beetroot for flavour and fibre.
If this is NOT a good suggestion I will be grateful for instruction.

My DD said thar she was not going to give our DGD baby food, at 6 months she started the 'self fed' regime. She was given wedges of cucumber, melon and the like, also yoghurt which was held out to her on a spoon, apparently they find their gag reflex pretty quickly. Believe me the mess was a sight to see at first! Now 2 months on it's lovely to watch her eating anything you put in front of her, whole strawberries, brocolli, pasta you name it. She loves her food. But she doesn't get biscuits, juice or any processed food. Has breakfast made with her formula, shredded wheat or weetabix. Drinks formula during the day and she loves water. She is the happiest baby I've ever come across! This is one fad I wish had been around 40+ years ago.

Make your own fruit or vegetable smoothies and leave small slivers of cheese, carrot, ham etc. round the house to see if she notices and picks them up to try.

Leave food round the house??..... not a good idea.

Perhaps not around the house but I had a similar situation with DD2 who fell in weight from the 50ths to the 2nd percentile owing to severe asthma. I found that she was often interested in food when noone was looking and when I was really busy cooking but not when the meal was ready. So I used to keep a little plate of cut fruit, veg and cheese that I "accidentally" left on the kitchen table - it was amazing how many bits would disappear. I think she was worried to try new stuff in case she was given a bit portion.

She also liked things that were like milk when she started eating better - milky baby porridge, rice pudding, yogurt those tiny pots of fromage frais etc

I also found it important that we all sat and ate together - she would also eat much more when we were all chatting and not commenting on what she ate/did not eat.

I agree, leave food out and around. I make a plate before DGC arrive, leave on the work top, food disappears. Grapes, cheese, banana slices, cut apple, seedy bread, nuts.

Try not t worry too much - I am sure it will sort itself out. My one-time neighbour;s daughter aged 5 decided she would only eat ketchup sandwiches. This went on for a year and they tried everything from teaching her to cook to nutritionists and doctors. Eventually they decided to simply ignore it and she gradually grew out of it, grew up and is now a Professor of Neurosurgery! There is always hope.

My DGD at that age loved "dips". Carrot sticks or cherry tomatoes with hummus, fruit to dip in yoghurt, sausages to dip in ketchup. I have found her to be fussier as she has grown older, so I keep to a few staples which I know she will eat with no whining. We too thought she was skinny and underweight, but the Dr said she was fine, just a petite child. She still, at nearly 6, wears size 4 clothes. Her mother is tiny as well.

my son was born at 28 weeks and was a terrible eater,I spent most days cooking ,trying to find something he would eat.As someone said before he had been tube fed and even milk was hard to get into him.I can only say what my health visitor told me...relax...children rarely starve and if they are hungry they'll eat something.Find one thing she likes and use it to build on .My son weighed 15 pounds at 15 months ..hes nearly 30 and is just over 8 stone..BUT he eats like a horse .Try not to worry .she'll be fine

How about buying a toy tea-set and having little tea parties with tiny portions of brightly coloured foods?

Milk alone is no good, and Rice Krispies don't contain much useful apart from sugar.

Agree with other suggestions. Without fruit or veg of any kind she is at risk of scurvy. That was one reason why they gave us concentrated orange juice back in wartime.

In historical times low-grade scurvy was incredibly common and led to tooth loss.

I agree about starting to limit her milk intake.
Also with Apricity about asking expert advice.
DD1 was a very lively toddler and could even climb out of her high chair. I used to cut up various foods into tiny pieces and leave dishes of them around the living room. She would go dashing around, stopping to 'graze' here and there.
She eats normally now.

My grandaughter likes frozen bananas saying that she eats most things her mum gave her lots of food she could hold . She is a pleasure to take out only thing she doesn't like is salad .

Many thanks everyone - very reassuring comments and some excellent tips given. Events have overtaken as she has had a febrile convulsion and was taken to hospital where they asked about her general health as this is the second convulsion she has had in 12 months. My daughter mentioned her lack of appetite and Health Visitor is doing a management plan so it will all help. Hopefully things will improve.

So sorry to hear this ..... Wishing her well xx

Both my GDs have had access to a huge variety of foods from an early age. One will try everything and has a brilliant diet. The younger one will eat only ' white' food. Pasta, rice ,bread potatoes, chicken etc. Their parents do not stress about this. The younger one is now eight. Skinny but very healthy.

My little GD is the same - she was full term but has remained on the 25th percentile and at 4 1/2 still fits into her 2-3year clothes. By contrast both of her premature 18 month twin brothers have larger heads, and the younger one is wider all round,though not taller, than her! We don't know how she maintains her energy because she eats so little, but she's perfectly healthy, always bouncing everywhere and fidgets like crazy in her sleep! A doctor once told my mother that a child will never starve itself - but we have to be firm about her having nutritritional before treats.

Wishing her and all of you all the best.

Really means a lot that so many of you have taken the trouble to reply with your experiences - thank you. xx We waited a long, long time for this little girl and she is more than precious.

DGS was 31 weeks - DD made loads of purees for him which he ate though never very fussed. Now 3 ½ he is still not bothered and often a struggle though he likes curry, nan bread, garlic bread, tomato pasta, popeye pasta (spinach based). He is skinny but getting quite tall, very very articulate and mostly healthy - needs puffers with colds due to his lungs needing extra oxygen in NNU. Baby sister 6 months and eating everything she is given - she is still breast fed as main food but sits in high chair at the table for family meals and gets tasters of what the family are eating - messy but seems to relish this in fact has a rage if something is taken away. Couldn't be more different! She was born at 37 weeks though and is a wee chubby cheeks. Oddly since nursery started back last week he is now a morning boy and has started eating his breakfast no bother. Hope your grand daughter is ok after her febrile convulsion - such a worry but quite common. I hope she grows out of it x