Food refusal

My little one does this when he's unwell or teething

@Sophie what do you offer? He has been like this since Tuesday and I don’t really know what to give him because nothing I offer seems right or even if he asks for something/says yes, he then won’t eat it or just has one mouthful anyway 😵‍💫

I've had this going on for months since before 18months (LB is now 21months)was only eating anything beige like fish fingers or breaded chicken n beans and potatoes or snacks (I only give toddler snacks like organix, veggie crisps, bake bars etc) I was pulling my hair out for months very disheartened by it all as he would just look at food and throw it on the floor. Only now 2 weeks ago Is he starting to eat more than his safe foods. I downloaded a few nutritionist guides about this and it helped teach me what to do, what not to do or say. I now use the offer new foods or old foods he use to eat still but have 1 safe food on the plate you know they will eat. I now use the term of this is what is being offered if you don't eat this now I will offer you the same again later & that's what I do I keep meals I can re offer for when he wakes from nap to offer again when he tells me he's hungry and 80% of time after a good long tantrum he will eat it. He's now eating bread which he never liked before this phase &

More importantly he now atleast trys to explore the food instead of just looking n throwing he will now feel the textures of them or smell them ir even sometimes go to try it and then chooses to not n throw it , which is still progress for them to even touch etc it n still not want it is still steps to exploring food. It's tough n some days he does not eat anything barely but preserve n don't bribe or show them your upset about it by raising tones etc. I do if he hasn't eaten much give him a banana before bed so I know he's had something xx

@Amy I try not to stress too much about it as long as he's having fluids. There are some foods he's more likely to accept as they're his favourites, e.g. peas, yoghurt, so I'd offer those more often than usual. I'd also purposefully eat things I'm hoping he'll eat in the hope that he'll want to steal them off me!

We’re slowly coming out of this! He’s only ever had whole/unprocessed foods and it’s been tough cooking from scratch and watching him not eat it 😂 just persevere and don’t offer an alternative at that moment but wait a while and offer something you know they’ll eat. I couldn’t put my baby to bed knowing they’re hungry but didn’t want them to know there was something else they could have if they refused the original meal. Just distract in between 😅 and don’t worry about the food waste!!