Help my 2 yr old is such a fussy eater!!
She has a fantastic breakfast (bottle of milk, cereal and/or toast, and a piece of fruit) and she has an ok lunch (bread, 2 more pieces of fruit crisps and/or chocolate) but she is a nightmare for dinner!!
She refuses to eat ANY meat, she used to eat bacon but wont even eat that now! She also will not eat ANY potato products including chips, waffles, mashed potato, boiled potato, roast potato etc... and wont touch rice or pasta. She also doesn't like ANY sauces including sweet and sour, bolognese etc... and its getting really hard to feed her!
We have tried giving her a smaller lunch and breakfast incase she wasn't hungry by dinner, this didn't make any difference. We have also tried to swap her cold lunch and her warm dinner around so she eats dinner at lunch time etc but again this has made no difference!!
We have even got to the point where we have given up having dinner at the dining room able and allowed her to eat in front of the tv to distract her. She will eat SLIGHTLY more this way but still hardly anything at all!!
She LOVES fruit and uncooked vegetables but only really like peas and carrots cooked! She doesn't stuff herself full of snacks in the day and she will only have 1/2 more pieces of fruit or a yoghurt at the most inbetween meals!
We have tried EVERYTHING we can think of so ANY help/tips would be appreciated!!

my lo dosnt like potato stuff much either. although i have been a little naughty and let him have a blob of ketchup to dip them in which seems to get them down ( have just picked up a recipe to make my own ketchup so i know what is in it exactly )
what time is she eating lunch ? maybe having lunch earlier would make her hungrier for dinner ?
my lo dosnt think much of brocoloi , but loves carrots and peas and sweetcorn ( either on the cob or cold from a tin ) i think he just likes food he can pick at with his fingers , lol. he also is a little iffy on meat ( although im not too fussed about that myself as i hardly eat any - only chicken and a little fish , was veggie for 13 years) he likes fish / fish fingers, or sausages etc.. but not too keen on pieces of chewy meat ( like diced chicken for example)
i dunno what to say about sauces, maybe try making / buying different ones ?
hmm... just try tnot to give up eventually she will see the light and start eating more ( im told it is a phase they go through, my little man has always been a great eater so im hoping his little bouts of fussiness pass soon )
good luck

Just let her make her fuss, and if she doesn't want to eat what's on her plate, then it's too bad for her. When she's going to be hungry enough, she will eat.

Harsh, but works amazingly well for us. + we never offer any dessert or chocolate or anything like that. He had chocolate cake once and it was on his first birthday, if he wants dessert, it's plain yogurt. I think the fact that they don't develop taste for that may help.

Maybe try to make something fun with her food presentation?? Kids love that!! What about some new recipes you haven't tried before? Maybe she may like some things better, it's normal to develop tastes, but she shouldn't refuse so many different foods!!!

Hope this helps, good luck xxx

Yeah we had tried abit of ketchup too but she just dips it in then licks it off n puts the potato back on the plate
She has lunch at around 1 as she doesnt wake up till 10/10.30 and has lunch at around 5.30/6 when her Dad gets in although on a monday we had dinner at my mums at around 7/8 and she is usually too tired to eat anthing as her bed time is 8.20!
Mills also loves sweetcorn! Could eat it all day. lol. Strange haw babies are! I only eat chicken too but OH eats ALL meat! Ew! lol. She had tried all the same meat as her Daddy and i dont make a fuss about not eating it as i dont want her to think its gross but she seems to have come to that conclusion by herself!
Really hoping this is just a stange but i doubt it as its been going on about a year noe just getting worse and worse! She used to eat chicken, bacon and wafffles but not anymore!

Yeah we also only have dessert on special occasions such as birthdays/xmas/easter. She is not really too fussed on chocolate to be honest. If offered a bar of chocolate or some fruit 9/10 she will go for the fruit.
I think we will try the food prep thing and hope that helps, if not it may just be a case of letting her go hungry although that breaks my heart to think of her hungry
I have tried hundreds of recepies all with the same response because its the basic foods that make up the meal that she doesnt like.
Going to the HV tomorrow for her 24month check up so will ask there if there is anything else i can do. x

just a thought but if she is turning down meat have you tried her with quorn or lentils ? only mention it for the protein but maybe worth a go ?
yeah my OH eats all meat too and i am happy for lo to eat it when he wants to. i think texture is a big thing with the lo's

I hope it gets sorted. xxx

Ps: Have you tried baked toffu nuggets? I make them myself, Josh loves them. Gives the kids the impression they're eating all fun stuff, but it's so healthy.

I buy extra firm fines herbs tofu, cut it in small square, dip it in eggs and dip it in bread crumbs. Put them in the oven on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake them for 25 min at 350 (until golden and crispy)

xx

oh sweetie, they can be fussy at times can't they! i think i'd just try offering her a selection of foods for dinner, like peas, carrots, maybe some roast veg, like parsnips, even stuff she can eat with her hands (often more fun) and just ride it out. if she doesn't eat it, i wouldn't worry to much, she's doing fine as she is hon and i do think they go through phases, one day they want more and others less xxx

Have you tried any fish? My LO isn't keen on chicken or meat and also won't eat potato or fish by itself, but fish cakes he LOVES. Its basically a mixture of fish and potato with a few herbs etc. I can leave him to munch away.

Chips are a no go. Anything even with the slightest bit of oil he will not touch. With mince, I have to puree the mince otherwise he won't eat it.

Good luck! At one point we couldn't get my boy to eat any homemade food and rejected even things like pureed carrots. Now he eats a wide variety of my food (I just hide the veggies in a pasta sauce ).