Toddler’s diet

My son is fussy. Things I've found that help are: eating together and doing "animal bites" (like nibble like a mouse, peck like a bird); "tomato" pasta (make and freeze with all the hidden veg blended &chickpeas for protein); offering 1 new food with all rest "safe" foods. You may have tried these and they aren't magic, but they are helping slowly. He also takes a lot of repeated exposure

Yep. My daughter has been fussy since I started weaning her. She turns 5 in march & she just eats the same things over and over again. I give her vitamin gummies, I also buy special nourishment shakes to help her gain/maintain weight and give her body the nutrients that it’s not getting. It costs me around £90 a months which is a huge expense when you don’t work but it’s worth it knowing she’s getting what she needs to. I’ve been under the dietician with her & everything & the dietician cannot force them to eat, so to just give them what they will eat. Some children grow out of it & some don’t xx

However now she’s starting to try more foods, most of which she has said she doesn’t like but so proud of her for trying xx

Mine boy is a horrendous eater and has been since he was poorly in hospital just before his 1st birthday. I make sure he has vitamins in his bedtime milk and pretty much just baring with it until he understands compromise a little more. X

Fussy eating is often a symptom of something deeper going on. It may be rooted in oral dysfunction and/or nutritional deficiencies and/or gut imbalances. You can try starting with a high quality multivitamin and some additional zinc. Zinc increases appetite, improves digestion and enhances sense of taste. After a few weeks you should see an improvement. Also, make sure he sees you and the rest of your family enjoy a wide variety of healthy foods. Shop together, cook together if possible, make it fun.

@Dominique not always. Children are notoriously fussy eaters (majority of the time it’s how it looks) they just grow out of it eventually.

@Cheryl yes, this is true. It absolutely can be something else, but it can just be toddlers being toddlers! X

@Cheryl it’s absolutely true that children can go through short phases of picky eating as part of their development. However, a child that has been fussy ‘since he was weaned’, a child that will barely try new foods, a child that will only eat safe foods and often these are beige bland foods, this is an indication that all the causes I have mentioned above might well be at play. After all if a child isn’t eating a varied healthy diet how would they not become nutritionally deficient? It becomes a vicious cycle unfortunately. Also, if something is common doesn’t mean it’s normal. Did you know for example that British kids are shorter than their European counterparts and scientists have attributed their stunted growth to poor nutrition? Xx

@Dominique OP doesn’t specify if she gives a multivitamin or if her child was fussy from weaning. So you can’t presume, and scaremonger. My child for instance used to eat anything until he was ill and health professionals when contacted have all said as long as you feed a multivitamin and child is growing well, happy and active it’s not a problem and 9/10 will be grown out of.

@Cheryl scaremongering wasn’t my intention at all. I was just trying to offer advice. I am a practical person who loves having all the facts. All the best x

@Cheryl your child’s zinc has likely been depleted by his illness. The body uses up a lot of zinc during illness. When zinc is low the child often ends up not showing much interest in food. This is something I have seen over and over again. Sounds like you’re doing a great job, it’s hard to be a mum.