Toddler won’t eat!

What does he eat? Mines is the same. He literally eats only cucumbers and McDonald’s fries. Some days are good and some days I’m really struggling

@Priya he will eat spag bol, chillie, (although they are just mince the sauce and onions), sausages, burgers, chicken (again very plain), loves pasta! Yogurts (but will only eat it if it’s df Tesco ones! Won’t eat any other dairy free ones)! Loves ham! I found that with the things he does eat I gave him his meal the same time as us but I’d literally give him a spoonful at a time! He will keep asking for more but he eats it all! Some time I’d give him like 5 spoonfuls in one meal but it’s not overwhelming and now he will eat a full portion in one sitting but I just can’t get veg into him and it concerns me that he’s not getting what he needs as his diet is so limited anyway due to his allergies 😭

I puree carrots, cauliflower, zucchini and peppers and mix it into the pasta sauce.

I wish my little one ate any of those things😭 I would talk to you pediatrician and tell them what you are noticing. They might be able to give you a referral to picky eaters therapy. My little one is 2 and he is an extreme picky eater, border line problem eater. We just started picky eaters therapy and to be honest it has helped a lot! It’s slow progress but at this point, I will take anything! We are doing sensory boxes, we have him help us prep & cook, we play with the food & we make sure we follow a schedule. We always offer foods, even if we know he won’t eat it or try it. I will take 10+ exposures to the foods for kids to try them. He just tried chicken nuggets for the first time a couple of weeks ago & this week he officially tried and likes apples!

@Nathalie oh my days! This makes me so happy for you that he has tried nugs and apples 🥹 I will always offer foods and then get disheartened when he doesn’t eat it! He started to play with some sweetcorn and I honestly thought he was going to eat it but then put it back and point blank refused to entertain the potato’s and broccoli 😭 I shall speak to a professional and see what they can offer support/advice wise! Thank you so much xx

@Ellie just blend them down like you would when weaning?

Yup, I already cook pasta sauce with carrots, peppers and zucchini to add sweetness so it wasn't too much to add the extra step. I put the cauliflower in for white sauces (ie alfredos) or if it needs to be used before going bad. I was already hiding cauliflower in mashed potatoes for my husband (he swears he doesn't like cauliflower but loves my mashed potatoes, lol.

Yes I use my food processor to finely chop veg and add it to bolognese, chilli etc. Usually carrot/celery/sweet potato, bulks it out and makes meat go further, so healthier and cheaper. Can try things like daal, as that’s a nice soft texture but goodness coming from the lentils? If he gets on with those then you can sub some of the meat in bolognese and chilli’s with lentils as well, up the veg that way. Any veg you fancy, sauté it off and add passata and any flavourings/seasonings you usually do, then blend finely to a pasta sauce consistency. We use this for pizza sauce as well as pasta sauce, can mix with a bit of cream cheese as well. As someone else mentioned cauliflower blitzed into cheese sauce is fab. Have you tried letting him explore veggies/other foods with age appropriate cutters/knives? Fun shape cutters? My LG is funny about peppers but if she’s chopped it will try a few bites before spitting it out again, and tries a little more every time I let her chop and play.