Nearly 2yo suddenly refusing veges

[kamada]

Despite quite a few things that my son won't eat, I have considered him to be a pretty good eater. But in the last month or so he has suddenly decided to cut out most veges he previously enjoyed (potato, kumara, pumpkin  especially). He has had coughs, colds and hand, foot and mouth during this time, so lack of appetite wouldn't be surprising, but it seems to be much more than that. He's not too keen on meat and even what he does usually eat is hit and miss at the moment, so dinner is a big problem! He's hungry, but unhappy about what's on offer. Does anyone have ideas of how to get him eating again or alternatives I can try to fill him up/get veges in him??

Ps he won't eat pasta or rice. Loves bread, crackers, fruit, cheese, yoghurt etc.  Usually eats cherry tomatoes,  capsicum, cucumber, carrots, so it's not so much about keeping him healthy as giving him something filling for dinner that's not more bread (or fries).

[creations]

I felt we had some distinct phases of distrust of foods when my DS was younger.  It seemed with developmental leaps in other areas (such as language, motor skills etc) there came another phase of testing the world around him in all sorts of aspects including eating.  He would question foods I knew he liked as though he'd never seen them before.
One thing which helped here was to "taste test" each food - I joked saying I was testing for poison like a jester testing the King's meal!  Once I had take a tiny bit of each item from his plate, eaten it and said "mmm, that's good, that's okay to eat" he'd happily dig in.  Seemed a bit odd but it worked and was just a phase.  It also helped to show him my food was identical to his, I could see him eyeing my plate to check so I would point out all hte same things were there.

Another thing you might consider is that your LO is just not so hungry at dinner time. Often LOs take in more calories in the earlier hours, morning and early afternoon rather than evening. it can appear they are picky eaters but it is just that they have taken on board enough calories and so can be picky or hold out for a certain thing.  Moving dinner earlier may help.  We used to eat as early as 4 or 4.30pm, even now we eat at 5pm which I still think is early.

Otherwise I would continue to keep offering the same meals and foods, this is a time when you can end up limiting his diet if you start to cut back on the variety for fear of him not eating it. Make smaller portions or offer smaller portions to reduce waste but do keep exposing him to those foods.  Having a "real" dislike of a food is quite different to having a phase of not eating a food.

If he likes fries (I'm in the UK I call them chips ) how about trying some oven baked fries made of white potato, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, turnip, swede, celeriac...you don't have to try all at once of course.  Mine loves "chips" he knows I make all different types of chips and likes them all.

Mine was also not keen on meat, I found certain things he would take more readily - slow cooked lamb shank (very soft), slow cooked pulled pork (again soft), sausages (we get the best quality possible).  Maybe try some eggs? Fish?  bean burgers/fritters and lentil burgers were eaten often here - I made a batch all cooked then after cooling froze them with baking parchment between so they didn't stick together then if I knew we were having a meat he was unlikely to eat I could defrost a few for DS and know he was getting some protein.  I also (for a time) served an egg every breakfast so I knew he had at least one portion of protein in the day, it really helped to reduce my concern and he took it happily and with appetite in the morning where as would refuse egg later in the day.  Actually serving foods (you know he likes but he is refusing later in the day) at breakfast can really help overall. If it's veggies you can save a portion from cooking dinner the night before and offer at breakfast time, he might just surprise you and eat them all.

[kamada]

Thanks creations. I've tried the taste test thing and having the same thing on my plate without much success. Last night it just lead to him whining for fries from my plate after his were gone.  It wasn't until mine were finished that he ate a couple of other things off his plate (piece of capsicum happily and small slice of cucumber eventually- refused to touch the crumbed fish he usually eats). He also sees his brother eating the same food as him most nights, even if DH and I eat later.

I don't think it's about lack of appetite at that time. He'd happily eat a sandwich or something else instead. Today I have him French toast for lunch (normally eats) but he only ate half a slice and then wanted regular toast. He just seems a bit off at the moment. Need to try a few other protein options though. Thanks for the ideas. I'll also try various homemade fries again since I haven't done that for awhile. Hopefully if I keep offering he'll eat again eventually. A few boiled veges taken out before I mash for the rest of the family is so much easier!

[creations]

If he's a bit off his food from being ill or less appetite or any reason really it is a time (IMO) to be a little cautious about just how much you let him dictate what he will have.  It is perfectly possible to be not very hungry for a proper meal but to want to eat the foods we really enjoy because they are tasty.  I would probably decide before hand what I was an was not willing to move on, I have had phases of putting a very small number of sultanas on DS's plate along with his main meal as these were a great appetiser for him, they really got him eating and without them he seemed less inclined to get started on the meal.  But it is not about replacing a meal with sultanas, yk?  IMO there needs to be a certain degree of "this is dinner if you are hungry you will eat it, if you are not hungry then you may leave the table" and let him pick up more appetite for the next meal.

I know you said it is not lack of appetite at that time but it sounds it to me.    Lack of appetite could be recovery from illness, or an illness coming on, or teething or just not as much need for calories.

[kamada]

Yes I do present dinner and expect him to eat that. There's always something on the plate he likes/liked. It's hard to find the right balance... hungry enough to want to eat something less preferred, without leaving him going to bed totally hungry if he won't eat anything else. Last night was a couple of bitesize pieces of chicken, kumara, potato, peas and a slice of cheese. He ate the cheese. I know going to bed hungry isn't the end of the world, but I'm not sure he really makes the connection between being hungry when he wakes and not having eaten dinner. He doesn't yet understand/respond to "eat this bite and then you can eat something you like".

I'm pretty sure his molars are on the move now too and he has a very nasty cough, so of course that's not helping.

[Katet]

At 2yo there are so many factors that change food tastes - molars being one. A big one is also the rapid increase in tastebuds on the tongue & the stronger tastes of food. If a child (about 25% of children) taste foods more strongly, then they will start to go off foods that have a stronger taste. 

Both my children struggled with foods from 1.5yo (differing degrees) & ironically DH & I were also limited eaters as children. My nephew was a fantastic eater in terms of fruit & veg by comparison to my sons... roll on to 12yo & he's a much less varied eater than my 2 boys so I don't think it's a long term thing.

I decided early on that I wasn't making battles or stress out of meals, particularly Dinner when they were hungry.
I always offered 5 things on the plate a dinner, 1-2 were "always eat" (be it half a slice of bread & cheese) & then 1-2 were sometimes eat & 1-2 were new or had eaten in the past but not recently. If they were still hungry after eating what they wanted to eat from the plate I'd look at what had been eaten earlier in the day, what their mood was like etc & choose how I'd deal with it based on a big picture rather than a set rule.

Also look at how much he is drinking & quite possibly he may be filling up from milk or maybe grumpy because he's thirsty.

I will say that between 2.5yo & around 5yo DS1 would hardly ever eat Dinner, at those ages he ate 80% of his food before noon... even now at 11yo he eats about 1/3 of the Dinner in terms of size to his brother, but eats much more at Breakfast & Lunch than his brother.