[#1]

Hi everyone I'm Becky i'm almost 25. Mummy to a beautiful 18 month old little girl. My problem is her eating habits.

She doesnt seem to eat very much i know they say a child will never starve themselves but i am starting to worry.

She eats breakfast (cereal, porridge, multigrain toast, fruit etc) washed down with a cup of warm milk (it's the middle of winter here ) at the table with my partner and i quite happily. My partner goes off to work and the trouble starts she refuses anything to drink milk or water throwing her cup at me or pouring it on the floor.

 Lunch times can be quite good depending what she gets to eat cheese on toast seems to be all she'll eat for the past few weeks. Toast, scones, pasta, baked goodies all get thrown on the floor. Even at the table with me it's a battle. She has her own little table i encourage her to have lunch at she just swaps herself from chair to chair being cute so i'll 'forget' she's not eating anything.

Dinner time is the worst my partner and i cook dinner together, sometimes she helps depending on if she actually can or not if not she's up on the bench watching us being 'included' (my partner isn't her biological father and my plunket nurse recommended including her in everything we do together so she doesn't feel like she's being pushed out and he's taking me away from her) we sit at the table together and she just messes around. She sometimes picks from our plates but i try not to encourage this as she needs to be eating from her own plate i've tried buying her plates with her fave tv characters on, tried giving her an adult sized plate, a bowl for fun. Nothing works. She just cries or keeps saying 'no'.

She doesn't snack much either so she's not filling up between meals. I keep a diary of everything she eats as i read recommended somewhere else.

Just needing some reassurance this is normal and she will grow out of it or any advice other mums may have.

She's not underweight or sick. She's bright alert and healthy. I stopped breastfeeding her a month ago.

Thanks in advance

Becky X

[#2]

Hi everyone I'm Becky i'm almost 25. Mummy to a beautiful 18 month old little girl. My problem is her eating habits.

She doesnt seem to eat very much i know they say a child will never starve themselves but i am starting to worry.

She eats breakfast (cereal, porridge, multigrain toast, fruit etc) washed down with a cup of warm milk (it's the middle of winter here ) at the table with my partner and i quite happily. My partner goes off to work and the trouble starts she refuses anything to drink milk or water throwing her cup at me or pouring it on the floor.

 Lunch times can be quite good depending what she gets to eat cheese on toast seems to be all she'll eat for the past few weeks. Toast, scones, pasta, baked goodies all get thrown on the floor. Even at the table with me it's a battle. She has her own little table i encourage her to have lunch at she just swaps herself from chair to chair being cute so i'll 'forget' she's not eating anything.

Dinner time is the worst my partner and i cook dinner together, sometimes she helps depending on if she actually can or not if not she's up on the bench watching us being 'included' (my partner isn't her biological father and my plunket nurse recommended including her in everything we do together so she doesn't feel like she's being pushed out and he's taking me away from her) we sit at the table together and she just messes around. She sometimes picks from our plates but i try not to encourage this as she needs to be eating from her own plate i've tried buying her plates with her fave tv characters on, tried giving her an adult sized plate, a bowl for fun. Nothing works. She just cries or keeps saying 'no'.

She doesn't snack much either so she's not filling up between meals. I keep a diary of everything she eats as i read recommended somewhere else.

Just needing some reassurance this is normal and she will grow out of it or any advice other mums may have.

She's not underweight or sick. She's bright alert and healthy. I stopped breastfeeding her a month ago.

Thanks in advance

Becky X

[#3]

I've never been in this situation, but a friend with kids said that what worked for her was to ignore her son when he wasn't eating and reward him with stickers when he did eat. In the morning, do you and your partner watch her to make sure she's eating, or do you talk about something else?

In my, admitidly limited, experience with kids this is a phase that most kids go through. It also sounds like what she is eating is really healthy, especially if she has fruit every morning, so I don't think you need to be worried. I'm sorry that I don't have anything more helpful to say, but I just wanted to say that I don't think you need to worry because almost every kid I know has done this at some stage, and they usually start eating when they realise that will get them more attention than not eating.

[#4]

My oldest son went for about 2 years eating weetabix, shreddies toast dry boiled pasta carrots broccoli cauliflower and buttered bread. I tried everything. I would serve food he would eat with a tiny bit of food be wouldn't knowing he wouldn't eat it but big praises if he would sniff it at first then lick then bite.

Now he is 7 nearly, he is still fussy but nowhere near as bad, if he refuses a food its how it looks now but when I can pursuade him to eat it he likes it mostly x

[#5]

Hi there,

Welcome to the board

Fussy eating is one of the hardest things as a parent to deal with...my dd1 was very fussy (she's nearly 7 now but a much better eater!)...I learnt the hard way that the best thing to do is to ignore as much as you can the fussiness...so, if she doesn't eat something, then she goes without, but don't offer an alternative or make a big deal about it.  The best advice given to me was to let them use child sized plates etc as you aren't tempted to overfill thier plates (as big portions can be off-putting for small children).  It is also very common for toddlers and pre-schoolers to be fussy eaters as they learn to be independent, and I promise you, so, like so many of the other phases of childhood, it will pass

Kelly xxx