For the longest time Erin has been a fussy eater… or so I thought. I remember it all starting when Erin was maybe just over 1 and she had a bad case of tonsillitis that resulted in a hospital visit. It might have just been a coincidence but this is the time when I remember Erin’s eating habits changing. She seemed to go from being the child who would eat and enjoy absolutely anything to being the child who would pretty much only eat some form of bread.
Erin is now 3 and a half and things still aren’t great. Last year when Erin started nursery I had really high hopes for her eating habits. Erin’s nursery was attached to a small private school and on each of her 3 days she had a hot lunch. Lunchtime was spent with the whole school so she was sat with lots of other children all eating the same thing. Each day her teachers would feed back to me what Erin had eaten and although the results weren’t great, she was actually eating.
Now, Erin is at a nursery where she has to take a packed lunch so those hot lunches are long gone. However, Erin has really taken to her packed lunches well and on most days she has eaten everything I’ve given her. The nursery has a healthy eating policy and although I don’t stick to their rules completely, Erin’s lunches are mostly really good for her. I put new foods in now and again to see if she will try them and 95% of the time she will and if this happens, I continue to give her them.
The problem mostly is eating at home. Erin sometimes won’t eat things at home that I know she will eat in her lunch at school. It takes a lot to get Erin to even try something new at home but I have no idea why. We also have a really hard time with dinner times and hot meals. I think this is actually our main problem. Erin will happily eat sandwiches, fruit and even vegetables and spaghetti… as long as they are near enough cold. I think Erin has something against hot food.
When we have dinner now I have to make sure Erin’s food is served before ours just so it can cool down enough for her. If we go out to eat anywhere we usually need a separate plate to make sure Erin’s food can be cut up and cool down. I know that getting Erin to try something new is a lot of hard work but now I think we also need to tackle the issue of Erin maybe having a hot food aversion. Is this even a thing? I have no idea. I have heard of other food aversions before but not this.
It’s been about 2 years of feeling like meal times and Erin’s eating habits are a battle I’m constantly losing but maybe this is at least some sort of answer.
Has anyone experienced anything similar with their children?
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Oh no, this sounds so tricky. Our little one definitely goes through phases of things he will and won’t eat, but usually comes back to eating most things at some point. Who knows what they are thinking. I hope you crack it soon. Xx
Yeah ours went through phases as well and I can pretty much say as they are a 21 year old now that everything they objected to as a young kid they now actually eat fine!!
It’s so good to see Erin growing up! Both of my kids are fussy eaters, and always at home. I’ve figured out for us it’s a control thing. Though it’s hard, there’s no point turning it into a battle. I try to praise my kids for eating something new. Good luck!
I do hope she starts eating at home too, we lucky our ones seem to eat anything anywhere, I hope Erin is just going thru a phase
I have found that my 4 year old will eat almost anything at nursery – apparently his favourite is vegetable lasagne?! – but he is much more fussy at home. Maybe it’s a control thing as others have mentioned above, I’d never thought about that.
We have the fussiest eater ever in Harry, he literally gags on anything he hasn’t tried before and it’s become such an issue. I despair!!
I’ve been very lucky with mine with food and any refusals I’ve just not made a big deal of but kept offering. I think kids do love attention if it’s good or bad attention. I hope it gets better for you
I think you could be onto something with the temperature – my friend’s little one refuses to eat anything cold! My little one never stops eating so I’ve no advice but hope you crack it soon.
We have a fussy eater too and it’s such hard work! My eldest definitely prefers cold food, he normally won’t touch a hot meal until it’s been out for ages and the food is cold xx
Not much you can do. She will grow out of i . My now 6 year old eats pretty much everything. Took him until he was 4 though. My 4 year old on the other hand sounds like Erin. she loves snacking. She hates vegetables and fruit she would only touch grapes banana and apple but not all the tim . Nightmare.
I was so lucky that my daughter is good eater, I hope she will grow out of it!
My son was a nightmare. Exactly the same as your daughter. He’s 23 now and eats everything. Don’t worry about it. They grow out of it eventually.
Spike is very similar. She’ll eat anything at nursery but everything at home has to be feeezing before she’ll touch it x
Eating and feeding disturbances are something I know a lot about now as my teenager has an ARFID diagnosis and is quite ill. Erin is still young enough to grow out of picky eating, it commonly happens between 7 and 11 years of age. The key points to give you hope are that she is far less picky when you are not there and she will try new foods. She may also be responding to her peers, and keeping face in front of them. That’s actually a really good sign. It shows she doesn’t yet have a deep-seated aversion to foods. Play it cool, keep putting things in front of her. Sounds like you’re doing all the right things!