fussy 3 year old

[leahsmam]

hi im new to this site. my daughter can be fussy at times hard to get her to eat potatoes and veg. she does eat pasta. how do you get ur kids to eat. she hates lumps. she is getting a bit better in that she will eat some things like salmon. had lasagne the other day, any advice. i dont really do spicy food so mayb my food is a bit bland for her. try to do stews etc with veg. shes not starving. its just dinner.

[matilda s mum]

My LO used to be a tough one to feed but has grown out of it now. My Mum always says I was a nightmare when I was 3 - apparently I went off all veg, then I went off meat too. She says i survived on potatoes, tins of sausage and beans and glasses of milk - that was about it. I grew out of it eventually. Now as an adult there is very little I won't eat! Just don't worry, it will all click one day soon and the fussy phase will pass. I know that is not grrat for you now, but at least you can have hope that she will be fine!

Try some of the fussy eating recipes on here - and AK sells a fussy eater recipe book too which I found useful. xx

[EvansMum]

Im with Matildas Mum Im afraid. Evan went through a really fussy stage aswell and I struggled to get him to eat anything at all but now he pretty much eats everything and anything I put in front of him. Try not to stress over it too much because I used to get so upset and worried about him not eating, (and mealtimes were a constant battle and either me and my son ended up in tears) but looking back now I wish I hadnt have worried so much because it just made the situation worse for me and for my son.

Do you use 'hidden vegtables' in your pasta and other meals? Make up sauces using lots of veggies then blend them up until smooth so your LO is getting all the goodness but doesnt know what she is eating. You can even make homemade soups like this using lots of veggies, if she will eat them. Just boil some vegtables up in some stock and then blend until smooth. There are lots of fab reciepes on here with hidden veg ideas. My little man loves Annabel Karmels Morrocan Chicken Tagine which is made using sweet potatos and carrots and then blended up. (if you want I can post the recipe) Its really fruity and lovely and me and OH love it too

[kerri-anne]

I can sympathise totally as my 3 year old is just the same, has been since about 9 mths old She goes through phases of eating brilliantly or eating pretty much nothing but during either phase she never trys anything new, always the same foods over and over again (although it's all home-made so at least I know it's good for her).

I used to get so stressed out that I started dreading mealtimes and would end up crying quite often but I've learnt that reacting like that just makes the situation 10 times worse than it needs to be. Now her food is put in front of her and if she eats it great, if she doesn't thats her choice. She's a healthy weight, is happy and has so much energy that I've stopped worrying so much about it.

As Evansmum mentioned, I use lots of hidden veg sauces which always go down well. One of the things Molly does love is pasta so I make lots of different pasta sauces that are crammed with veggies, blend them down and freeze them. There's even a recipe for bolognese using hidden veggies which is really yummy.

I'm hoping Molly's eating habits will change once she starts school and sees other children eating different things. If you'd like any recipes posting just let me know
xxxx

P.S. I have the fussy eaters book too and use it all the time!

[rachaelmae]

I used the if you dont eat it theres nowt else technique. No response unless she ate it then loads of praise.

I stopped all snacks and once she realised i wasnt given in, it passed she now eats most things.

[theresacrowther]

Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Even though I talk to other mums I feel so alone when it comes to Ambers eating. Amber is nearly 2 and has been fussy since introducing lumps into her diet, since shes my first I was probably overreacting to her not liking lumps and now struggle for her to eat properly. And just so I know she'll eat something always have a back up of her favourate foods.

She will only eat mashed potato, cheesy pasta and cheese/cheese sandwiches at lunch and dinner. She won't eat any meat at the moment. Breakfast time isn't so bad as I can vairy that from day to day.

She doesn't like lumps, I put together a Quorn tomato dish with rice this evening, thinking the Quorn isn't as tough as mince! And as soon as she found a small piece of onion, was spitting the food out, saying put it away!
Stress!!

My partner keeps saying, she can't keep eating the same stuff all the time, but what else can I do?

[KerryLou7]

Being a mum of 3 i have now come to the conclusion that they all go through fussy phases - 1 day they will eat something and the next day they won't.
My daughter has never really been fussy but as she was the first i used to use all of Annabelle's recipes - i used to blend it all up and freeze it.
With my second and third (being a full time working mum) i used a combination of Hipp organic jars and home cooking - althougth we probably used more jars than home cooking. Not saying it is down to the jars but both the boys then struggled going onto lumpy food and were really fussy. I too used to stress with the second born (Oliver) as he used to scream when i tried to feed him lumps and refuse to eat. As he got older we just used the 'keep putting it in front of him' technique i.e we didn't cook separate meals and explained why the food was good for him - and then told him there was nothing else if he didn't eat it. He now eats all vegetables, meat etc.
Our third - Owen, is really fussy. Loves pasta, noodles, beans but refuses to eat Sunday roasts, mashed potato. But i am not worrying about it as i know he will come out of it - we just keep putting the meals in font of him and cheering and clapping (as well as playing some aeroplane games or pretending we will aere going to eat it if he doesn't). As long as he is eating plenty of fruit, raisins and veg (blended onto his pasta) i know he will be fine.

So in essence try not to worry!