Fussy Toddler

[alice_ng72]

Hi! My son is 2 1/2 years old now. He used to eat really well but has become increasingly fussy. He is surprisingly not skinny - so, I guess he is eating enough, but I am not sure.

He lives on these foods:
- 2 milk feed a day
- breakfast is usually toast/crackers/digestive biscuits with a serving of fruits or yoghurt
- lunch is usually pasta/noodles/udon cooked with some vegetables/cheese/fish/chicken broth/mushroom
- dinner could be fried rice/chicken rice/fish and sweet potatoes/roti phrata/peanut butter with wholemeal organic bread and some fruits

He refused cereals and congee/porridge for at least half a year now and is not fond of eating rice with us at night. We are Malaysian Chinese and eats rice every night with a few dishes and soup. It's really inconvenient to still have to prepare food separately for him!

Recently, he is very fussy - for e.g, tonight, we prepared some fried noodles with salmon, mushroom and vege for him. After a few spoons, he gagged on a small piece of fish and refused to eat the noodles totally. He finished a bowl of banana + kiwi fruits and started asking for roti phrata (Indian-style bread). When we give him that, he has a few bites and stopped eating.

The only food that he consistent loves now are fruits (banana, mango, kiwi, strawberries & peaches), plain wheat crackers and digestives, noodles/pasta (but rejecting them if they are too fanciful - he likes plain), yoghurt, juice and bread with peanut butter (he ask for that all the time now).

He can feed himself sometimes...but we still feed him as I want to make sure he is eating. Could this be a prob?

Would appreciate some tips from mummies with experience on this.

Thanks!

 

[carang]

our son is very picky and eats very little. the thing i try to remember is that a child will not starve himself. i have discovered that if i make it into a game, he will sometimes eat more.

"i think i will finish mine before you finish yours! ready set go!"

he also needs to start feeding himself. he needs to feel some control over this. our 18 month old pretty much feeds herself totally, but my 3.5 yr old sometimes whines and asks for us to feed him, too.

what does your boy have for snacks? how often? maybe he's snacking too much and therefore not eating his meals?

 

[wanfamily]

Hi Alice,
The best piece of advice I ever read on this (From Toddler Taming by Dr. Christopher Green) was that "no toddler ever starved through stubborness". Sounds harsh, but I use it on my (sometimes stubborn and fussy) 2 1/2 year old. Every meal time, she is presented with the same food that we eat. (usually rice, meat and veg). If she says 'don't want it' and asks for something else, we just say, no this is our meal tonight. We never cajole or force her - or offer her an alternative..if she's hungry she'll eat. Some meals she'll eat just rice, some meals just brocolli, some meals just the fish. Over a day she always gets a balance. The result ... a very healthy toddler who is getting less fussy every day.
Good luck,
Cath