2 year old with VERY limited diet

[ella kays mum]

Hi there have had a quick scan through recent posts and couldn't find anything similar so here goes. My 26 month old daughter is so very limited in what she eats that i am starting to get concerned and wondering whether i need to be givimg vitamins. For breakfast she has shreddies with semi skimmed milk and a yogurt, morning snack is usually wholemeal toast or a banana lunch is always dairylea sandwiches ( on wholemeal bread) , half a pakcet of wotsits or quavers and a slice of malt loaf . She usually eats it all. Afternoon snack is either a biscuit , sometimes she will eat apple , or a toasted teacake ( about half ) . The real probs seem to be at tea time, all she wants to eat is either beans on toast, potato waffles and beans , occasionally she will eat pizz ( again with beans) . I have been trying to get her to eat what me and her father eat but she just want touch it. I have stopped giving her a yogurt afterwards, Last night she had one bite of garlic bread and that was all. She has supper before bed which is either a piece of fruit loaf or toast. Shoud i carry on and hope that one day she will just eat what i want her to or should i give her what i know she likes and some of ours as well.
I have switched to low salt and sugar beans as she was eating so mny of them. Looking at what i have written it doesn't seem too unhealthy it's just very limited. oh and she loves ice cream and chips but what 2 year old doesn't.

Hope am doing the right thing by trying to get her to eat diferent foods. For the last few months have been giving her what i know she will eat with a new food on her plate as well, this doesn't seem to have done anything, though i have seen her put different thing in her mouth and spit them out again.

Traceyx

[dkjokisch]

Do you eat as a family on a regular basis?  If not, that's the first place to start.  If you do already, I'd pick one meal a day where you make the same for everyone.  For us, it's dinner.  I make a well-rounded meal which always includes something she has eaten before and liked.  In the beginning, there were plenty of nights she chose not to eat (though she would makeup for it at breakfast the next morning), but now she eats whatever we eat for dinner.  If she has eaten a good dinner and at least TRIED everything on her plate, I'll give her yogurt or applesauce as well if she wants something else.  And keep in mind that kids often need to be presented with a new food 20-30 times before they actually start eating and liking it, so it's going to take some time.

I make whatever she asks for for breakfast and lunch (though I often steer her decision by limiting her choices), but we all eat the same for dinner.  My personal opinion is that if you don't want to be making separate meals for your kids well into adolesence, don't start now.  I know moms who make three meals every night to accommodate their kids, now aged 10-14. 

[lilmonkey]

I agreed with starting them young to the meals the family has but be patient.  It will take at least 20X exposure to the item before they will try it.  Also, young children have a very sentive palate.  For our family meals, I try not to use too much spices and herbs in our dishes.  Dd loves cooked green onions so I tend to add it in with most items to get her to try the new dish.

Does your dd likes to dip?  Dipping a new food item into something she likes is great way to sneak in somethng new. 

[ella kays mum]

Hi there, thanks for the advise. We do eat dinner in the evening together at the table as a family. Last night she surprised us by trying 4 different things, she spat them straight out but she tried, i think it helps for her to be fairly hungry as i had given her less for lunch yesterday, she ate loads at dinner time, she even tried chicken and vegetables. I guess patience is the key but it's right i don't wnat to be making seperate food for everyone.
Thanks again
Tracey

[dkjokisch]

Just don't stress about it too much.  They won't starve themselves.

And try to incorporate things she likes into your one meal for everyone menus, like pp said with the green onions.  Dd loved sweet potatoes, so for awhile I made oven-baked sweet potato fries alot along with other new vegetables for her to try.