VERY picky 21m DS refusing proper meals

[clazzat]

You could try hiding veggies in other things - I think there is a cookbook (deceptively delicious, I think it is called) which has hidden veg. I also make cheese scones with loads of veggies puréed up in them which are a real favourite here and they make me feel better on the days when not much is going in! You can make them with goats or sheeps cheese (manchego works really well) - I have an mpi boy as well!

Another thing that we did when we were having major issues with m eating was to give her the Ella's kitchen veg pouches as snacks - not a cheap option, but she absolutely loved them and they were a real treat. Again, saved my sanity when she was living off sausage mash and beans or biscuits raisins and cheese!

One other thing - as the girls have got older, we have related the "reward" food to hunger. So if they are "not hungry enough" to eat the thing that they don't like then they are not hungry enough for yoghurt either. I quite often find myself saying that they have to eat a certain amount of a food to get their yoghurt, and then if they say they are hungry after then they have to go back to the main course.

[Truly Blessed]

Oh you Ladies who bake! You're my heroine's  Must try it one day LOL.x.

[clazzat]

It's dead easy, and a great activity to do with your lo - all you need is a food processor.

[Katet]

Thanks ladies

I think at home they know there are many many options so they push for the options they know they like & hold out for those. When they are at other places they only know the options that are there & if they have never had an alternative offered they don't really realise that they can have options, so they accept what there is.

This is the thing though - MIL was the one offering alternatives, not me.  OK I did do it at one stage (between 10/11-13/14 months) but that was a very long time ago now (he's 22 months).  She's only stopped offering alternative meals following our chat the other week. And she has suddenly started offering veggies/mash type dinners which he's never ever eaten there before.  And he's eating them. I quite agree though its probably why he eats better at nursery - along with the added 'peer pressure'.  Oh - dawning realisation strikes - are you meaning because I give him dessert he is holding out for that instead of eating his meal?

more that they know the options at home as they have most of their meals there & know that you do offer other things, where as if it is only 1 or 2 meals at MIL's it is only 5-10% of the "exposure".

Can I ask are your expectations he trys a food every meal, or that he trys once a day or once a week? I think you need to look at it as 1 new food/week is FANTASTIC... 1-2 or 3  new foods a month is actually a more realisitic conclusion & if you set yourself up for him trying at every meal you set yourself up for it being stressful & pass that stress onto the enviornment ie him.
 It actually took until DS1 was 6yo for me to get him to eat anything resembling veg as a regular thing & now at 8yo he eats almost everything - not carrots & tomato though & they were the ones I kept trying him with when he was younger.  When they were younger I was the queen of hiding veg in things (puree zuchinni & cauliflower go really well in Mash)

[Truly Blessed]

t's dead easy, and a great activity to do with your lo - all you need is a food processor.

I am going to do it an be 'Super Mammy Queen of cakes' 

x.

[ZacsMumme]

It's dead easy, and a great activity to do with your lo - all you need is a food processor.

I lol'ed at this, I love to bake BUT Z is TERRIFIED of the food processor/mixer/beater and any kitchen appliance that makes 'those' noises

[Jimbob]

I got them from Morrisons recently but before that got them from an organic fruit and veg stall I go to at a local market.

Kelly x

[Lemonthyme]

Ah I didn't realise things were that bad with veg.  Yes my son will eat carrot, cucumber and will show lettuce to his lips then decides against it!

Personally I would hide some veg in stuff so he gets some nutrition and vitamins but also keep offering.  The sausage plait thing for example, could you mix in some grated veg into the sausage meat?

[clairebear79]

The sausage plait thing for example, could you mix in some grated veg into the sausage meat?

LOL that was a tesco's buy - not homemeade I'm afraid.  But yes I may have to start trying to 'hide' some in there somewhere because he eats absolutely zero veg.  I suppose at least he's getting his vitamins from his fruit.

[Lemonthyme]

Yeah, it's not the end of the world.  My husband managed to avoid vegetables apart from peas for years.  My mum was shocked I managed to get him to eat kale!

Might have a go at making something like that for the blog (a sausage plait with hidden veg).  I think that's a good idea.

[Truly Blessed]

Sam ate no veg for months! and now it's the first thing he eats off his plate. As long as he has fruit and his multivitamin Claire, please don't sweat. It will come good.x.

[Katet]

It does get much better... when DS1 was 2, he really didn't eat veg unless it was hidden (or hot chips)

He will be 9 next month & this came out of his mouth last night "Mum don't bother asking me if I want to try things anymore, just give me what ever there is & I will try it"... now I won't say 100% of the time he does try everything, I mean I was eating Prawn Gyoza the other day & as he isn't a fan of prawns he turned it down outright, but after watching MasterChef the other day he said "in the Holidays can we make a quiche so I can try it"... 6 months ago no way he would have done that.

Yes I agree almost 9yo is a LONG way to go... but TBH I was like that & so I accepted that was the way it was going to be, I actually hoped by the time my children were in double figures they would be open to pretty much anything & we've got there a year earlier.

[clazzat]

It doesn't need to take until 9 - m is pretty open to trying new things now, having restricted herself to 3 meals for over a year when she was 1. I can nearly always get her to try something, and although she doesn't like most of the new things she tries, she will eat a mouthful and (which is the most important thing, I think) try it again a few weeks later to see if she still doesn't like it. There are several things that I thought that she would never eat that she now asks for regularly because of this.

[Katet]

It doesn't need to take until 9 - m is pretty open to trying new things now, having restricted herself to 3 meals for over a year when she was 1. I can nearly always get her to try something, and although she doesn't like most of the new things she tries, she will eat a mouthful and (which is the most important thing, I think) try it again a few weeks later to see if she still doesn't like it. There are several things that I thought that she would never eat that she now asks for regularly because of this.

Yes but I think it comes down to personality, at 3yo if I had put a new food in front of DS1 &  offered it with only 1 alternative for 3 days... as I did... he didn't eat anything but the other option (apple) for the whole 3 days. At that age he would try things on occasion (usually after he had been exposed to if 100 times), but he didn't choose/want to try the same way he does these days, ie he is actually asking to try new foods, looking for new foods to try, which is very different to being required to try them KWIM.  Today he ate steam pork dumplings, crab cakes & spicey fish pieces & was trying to convince DH & I to buy chicken feet when we were in chinatown LOL.

[ZacsMumme]

Yes but I think it comes down to personality

I think there is definately a bit of this. Z is touchy/spirited which really doesnt help. He is slow to adapt, and I really think texture is one of his issues with food. He knows how to use a spoon and fork for example, but will only use the spoon for yogurt and never uses his fork. He wont even want to try things that look stringy ie some meats. If I push he melts down and no progress is made.

I DO believe that this is definately the age of fussiness....but it is tough to know how much to offer, when, which battles to pick etc etc...well thats what I find hard anyway!