I am at my wits end. My child is the loveliest little man. He has beautiful manners for a two year old, is happy and generally is well behaved. But he won't eat properly and is stubborn as hell.
I have tried everything. I am not kidding.
Basically, he will only eat Heinz Spaghetti baby food for dinner and snacks on banana, yoghurt and tiny teddies throughout the day when he requests (before you make judgements on food choices, I have gotten to the point where I am just happy if he eats).
When I make him lunch, he refuses it without even trying and then pushes it away. It does not matter what it is. Same with dinner too! I have cooked amazing meals for him, cut the food smallish... I even resorted to feeding him myself again but nothing works. I can't find anything in particular that tickles his fancy because one day he might enjoy something and the next day he refuses it. But the worst part is, he holds a mouth full of food for hours, can even drink fluids with the mouth full and talk. It has me beyond worried because I have to constantly check his mouth so he doesn't choke.
I will add that he was a servere vomiter for the first nine months of his life and also has suffered from constipation/bowel inflammation due to allergies. Now that dairy is excluded from his diet, he is fine.
I don't know if it is because he is scared that it will make him sick or hurt his bottom... but I don't know how to deal with this. I am exhausted, fed up and confused! Am I doing something wrong?
4 Replies
It could be a sensory thing with the food. The foods he does eat don't sound like they're the worst foods in the world. My child has autism he only ate 2-min noodles, fries, nuggets and sandwiches at one point and was skinny as. He eats more now but not much. Every child is different and as long as he is eating you know your doing great.
Thank you, that makes me feel better. Everyone in family is saying I should expand his food but I have done it all and this is still what's happening. I guess as long as he eats, I shouldn't feel so bad.
Take him to a good paediatric speech pathologist to rule out oromotor issues and also an Occupational therapist to rule out sensory issues. A dietitian may also be able to help.
Spaghetti, banana, yogurt and tiny teddies.... sounds like normal fussy toddler diet to me :) My mother always said bananas and milk (in your case yogurt) are whole foods - basically you could live on them alone. He's getting carbs (and some basic tomato fruit) from the spaghetti and sugar and fat from the teddies. Taken in combination this diet covers all the food groups except veges. As long as he's thriving just leave him alone. He'll grow out of it. You're doing a great job mumma, don't stress it :)