fussy/non eater

Is he healthy and active? If so, I don't think you need to worry. I have a fussy eater in the house too but now she's getting to the age where she realizes it's her responsibility to keep herself healthy (she always has been, by the way). She will occasionally try something new now. I think it is food phobia, though what caused it I have no idea.

I've told her that if her health suffers, I'll be taking her to see someone about her eating habits. Somehow I don't think I'll ever have to. Fingers crossed.

We encourage our fussy eater to taste things with no expectation of liking them. He has a glass of water next to him to wash the 'horrible taste' away. Nine times out of ten he takes a second mouthful of the food rather than a drink of water. Our one rule is 'if it goes in the mouth it goes in the stomach'. Nothing comes out of the mouth once it goes in.

My nephew lived on beans or jam on toast for about 2 yrs around that age.
He's now a strapping rugby payer who eats anything.

If he is lively I wouldn't worry too much. Though I understand why the family would.

Oh tell me about it! My 10 yr old GD has only now started to eat normally. She was finicky even being breastfed! What a struggle it was to get her to drink anything.

The other day when she proudly announced that she doesn't eat eggs I replied that she would find life outside the home increasingly difficult, when declining to eat something as common as eggs.

She went quiet now old enough to imagine difficulties in another situation.
I told her that it is her problem. She must work it out.

We'll see.

Oh this sounds just like my grandson ! Tall for his age but as thin as a rake. Everyone who meets him comments on his inexhaustible energy. For most of his six and a half years he has pasta with a bit of butter, bread, biscuits and cheese. He is now becoming more adventurous - possibly because his eight month old brother eats everything he can get hold of and he's beginning to wonder what he's missing. He also has to have different foods kept completely separate on the plate - deconstructed risotto anyone?

DS was one of life's non-eaters. I never made any fuss over it or commented, but it did worry me because he was thin, pale and without energy. Then one weekend we went to stay with MiL. She always got the children up to give us a lie in and gave all of us a cooked breakfast.

We got up as usual after the children but when we got downstairs, MiL was apologetic, DS had eaten his breakfast and both of ours, from fruit juice to toast. We would have to wait for ours and there was no bacon. DS then ate an enormous lunch and by mid afternoon his cheeks were rosy and he was leaping around rather than sitting quietly and watching tv or reading.

I think it was the smell of really good quality bacon that did it.

I think most finicky eaters do grow out of it in due course. My son would eat nothing but crisps and tomato for breakfast! Would't touch cake, now he eats whatever is put in front of him. My grandson was the fussiest of eaters, but my daughter just let him get on with eating what he liked. As he grew older she showed him how to cook the things he liked, and he is now an excellent cook, and manages to create a nice meal out of practically nothing, he is also a vegetarian, as is my daughter.

Another one with the belief that fussy eaters generally grow out of it. Do his parents/you feel this is more than the normal fussiness so many of us have experience of. I don't know how children's services got involved. If his parents are very worried, I'd say discuss this with the GP, who may arrange to see your grandson, height and weight him, and discuss food with him. If the GP feels it's necessary, s/he will refer to child and adolescent mental health services where good support is available. Good luck, it's probably no more than fussy eating. I find it hard to believe, but I do remember being just such a child, and thank my mum for not making a big deal out of it. She always put the same on my plate as she did for everyone, and didn't 'notice' when I slid my meat over to my sister, who was not a fussy eater. I was a natural vegetarian, but that wasn't something that happened often in the 1950's. I went on to eat anything and everything by the time I hit my teens.

My toddler grandaughters are funny, because one is a fussy eater and will try anything - the other would live on yogurt, fruit pots and cheese biscuits if she had her way. They sort it out between themselves, by swapping the food around on their plates. Fussy eater takes what she likes off her sister's plate, and the other one ploughs through what remains. My daughter keeps giving them both a variety and now she can see they are both thriving, has stopped worrying. Fussy eater is leaner, but bouncing with energy.

We have been having problems with DGS, not that he is a fussy eater, except for sweet things like my DD and I he will eat anything, it is the quantity, tiny amounts and never seems to be hungry, again like me, although if you saw the size of me just now you would not believe it. His peadiatrician told my DD to give him higher calorie foods, but we don't want to set up bad habits in later life. we have tried giving him smaller portions but he just eats even less, he is quite small but sleeps 12 hours a night and is very bright and active. He has fruit as snacks, but does love cheese, the stronger flavoured the better, favourite lunch is tomato and mozzarella salad with basil olive oil and lots of black pepper,,,,,, he is 19 months old.

That all sounds reasonably healthy, felice. If he's active and happy, I doubt if there's a real problem. No child will deliberately starve himself.

Can't think of anything healthier than tomato and mozzarella for a 19 month old felice What's not to like? Some children do seem to function perfectly well on less food than others. I think making a big thing of it would just cause more problems.

Yes I just wish I could persuade my DD of this, he likes milk but we try not to let him fill up on cups of it. He is very independant and has to use his own knife and fork, on the potty already, I think it is because he has to do everything himself that he sometimes just gets fed up and stops. we shall see what the Doctor says next month when he has his assessment?, i am going with my DD as SIL gets a bit panicy? Off to bed now have a good evening, just watched the Marianne Faithful programme, very interesting.