2 and a half year old will not eat meat or fish

[ellegirl]

Hello!
New to this website and it's looking good so far! I need some advice please. For the past year or so my daughter has taken it upon herself to be a vegetarian, this isn't through my choice. She quite simply refuses any sort of meat or fish, she spits it out as though it's the most disgusting thing ever!
It breaks my heart that she has taken such a dislike to meat and fish. She won't even eat fish fingers or chicken dippers, as much as I don't particularly want her to eat things like this all the time, I would love for her to eat it so that she is atleast getting some form of meat protein inside her.
She is generally a fussy eater anyway, dinner times are always a big issue in our house and usually when I mention the 'dinner' word she throws a wobbly. But we can sometimes get a carrot down her, a roast potato, she eats peas and sweetcorn sometimes, other bits and bobs, but our main concern is the meat and fish thing.
I don't think it's the taste, it's the texture. I used to puree all her food (chicken and lots of veg) when she was first being weened so that she'd get all her goodness from an early age and I am starting to think I might have to go back to doing this, but at 2 and a half years old, surely that's just ridiculous?!
We do all the not offering alternative food thing, she goes to bed hungry some nights I hate to say, we do all the things we're supposed to do, and still she refuses to eat her dinners. I am at the end of my tether and it really upsets me. I am jealous of mum's when I see their kids happily tucking into a proper dinner. Any advice, help or tips please?? Thank you.

[angelbabies]

hello and welcome

its hard to do but try not to worry as believe me i know its our own anxiety and worry they pick up on and meal times become a battle. my dd was similar at the same age as yours and was severly constipated to make matters worse. i used to get so worked up that she hardly ate.

she was ok with fruit and carrots and broccoli but touched only a little of her main.

now at 3.5yrs she is much better and eats 90% of what i give her.

i'd say the first step is to make meal tiimes relaxed.


i would keep offering the meat even if she does not touch it but perhaps use a plate with sections so she doesn't its "touching" everything else. if she eats the veg then thats good. give her her favourites but also put other types on her plate.

what about spag bol - blended so the meat is barely recognisable? it could be a start?

its such a tough situation becasue you only want whats best but the biggest huddle is to create a relaxed environment. i was cr8p at it and its only since jan this year things are much better.

what about lentils - eat in some form?

if you're really worried how about a vitamin supplement so she's getting her iron.

does she eat fruit?

i hope thats helped some

[ellegirl]

Hello!
And thank you for your response, I didn't think I had one because it didn't go through to my email, so I thought I'd just have a little check.

So very grateful for your opinions and advice. Everyone says that I worry so much but it's very hard not to be upset and worried when your child isn't eating properly. She is a defiant character anyway and we are all sure that alot of the whole issue with dinner times is a personality thing, in that she doesn't want to eat what we have asked her to eat!

And one day she may eat a whole fish finger, then a few days later, will flatly refuse to eat it! Same with fruit, one week she'll like bananas, the next week she'll spit it out if eat it at all. So frustrating!

I have given her spag bol since weaning her and she used to eat it with a passion! Now she will spit out the mince meat if she comes across it, and that will often mean she will then refuse to eat the rest of it (one inkling of meat and that's it, game over!).

I have come across a recipe recently, minced chicken balls with tomato ketchup, I squashed it all in with some spagetti and she ate some of it. Although I don't want to have to disguise her meat I think even if she just gets a few bites in it's better than nothing. So i'll keep on with this for a little while. Those balls will be going in everything from pasta to scrambled eggs?!

I am glad for you that your child is coming through the other side. I just pray for the day when things are abit more normal. I went to a barby over the weekend and all the children were tucking into sausages, except for my Charlotte, and it's a little embarrassing if I'm honest (

Anyway, I think she eats better than some kids, she loves pasta, bread, cereals (and she gets wholewheat of everything), sweetcorn and odd bit of fruit here and there. I won't give up!! Hopefully it will all pay off in the end!

Thanks again
x

[JHK4610]

Hi... if you want i have a lovely recipe for spag bol sauce... my little ones have had it since they are tiny... blitzed at first and then just cooked (microwave recipe, don't generally get the lump texture of cooked mince) and served with the tiny pasta bows etc.
My son (6) loves it as does my older daughter (4 today!) and she doesn't eat much meat or fish at all, and he doesn't eat vegetables so this is the perfect solution... will soon try younger daughter on this too (6 months) but need to find the gluten free pasta first LOL!
Let me know if you'd like the recipe (I make it loads and ALWAYS have some in the freezer!)

[yummumamanda]

Don’t give her fish and meat. And start other food & recipes.

[torontogirl]

I have got exactly the same thing with my ds who is 22 months, he used to eat meat and fish quite happily until about 18 months when almost over night he stopped.

I have been worrying about it ever since, but in the last few weeks decided to go back to the whole puree thing with meat, and it seems to be working. I tell him he has dippy dippy for tea (which is what he calls soup and bread fingers or pasta), I put the blitzed bolognaise, chicken and veg etc in a seperate bowl and put fingers of bread or pasta on a plate. he then dips it in the meat puree and eats it happily, I also put a spoon in the bowl and he generally finishes it with the spoon. He did go off fish fingers for a while, but last week I got him eating them again by putting them with baked beans on a plate and telling him to dip them in.

I have come to the conclusion that kids are very fickle and am just going to keep on trying with whole meat things, but in the mean time at least this way he gets the iron and protein he needs.

hope this helps, its working for us at the moment

TG

[iwantone]

Could it be the texture of the meat / fish?