Help please... my DD wont eat her dinner

[Giggle&Hoot]

Hi Ladies

Im about ready to pull my hair out trying to get my daughter to eat properly.

She is 17 months and until recently ate brekky, lunch and dinner with no major problems. We have just moved houses and spent a short time living with inlaws - dont know if the move had anything to do with it.

For brekky she normally has weetbix softened with hot water with milk which i feed her then she will have 2-3 strawberries or a bannana, or for a self feed option toast or cereal pieces with a cup of milk and fruit.

Lunch is normally a sandwich (cheese, vegemite & cheese & ham & cheese) followed by yoghurt or more fruit. If its not a sandwich i will give her a jar (she likes the pumpkin and ricotta one).

Dinner i try to give her what were having but modify hers a bit so she can eat it. Meat is ok she will eat that... just everything else is a problem She hates veg except sweet potato and pumpkin. She wont even eat potato unless its a chip (oven baked...not deep fried). I find that most food is just played with smooshed all in her hair and dropped on the floor. Last night we had crumbed chicken, peas, corn, broccoli and pasta and she wouldnt eat the pasta or the veg... even mixed in together and broken up - just spat it out and played with it.

Snacks during the day are normally pretty healthy. She will have cheese, fruit, sultanas or the cereal bars made for kids.

Anything from a jar she will eat!

She still has 2 bottles (morning & night). I give her S26 Gold Alpha Pro step 3.

What should i be feeding her at this age?

I dont know what to do. Open to all suggestions!

Thanks

[Merla]

Try swapping her meals around

I found DD was the fussiest in the evening with her food but pretty easy going during the day, so we swapped everything around. Breakfast is usually what we have (eggs, porridge, cerial) then morning tea is cut up veges (cucumber, capsicum, carrots, tomato) with "dip" (usually hommus or similar), lunch is usually more snacky type finger foods (veges, beans are always popular too) or last nights dinner reheated. Arvo tea is fruit and yoghurt, and dinner sometimes she will eat a bit of what we are eating, but I "top her up" with a home made iceblock (banana, milk, chi or sesame seeds, yoghurt all blended up and frozen in iceblock molds) after to make sure she has enough in her belly, but I don't stress too much about dinner because she is getting most of her nutritional needs met during the day.

Hope that helped a bit?

[parentingrocks]

Firstly, don't stress... it could be a lot worse!! (Not to undermine your worry) but she is eating a great amount and variety of foods during the day, so rest assured she is getting plenty of nutrition into her.
Maybe try last snack at 3/3.30pm and then nothing until dinner so she is really hungry and ready to eat whats in front of her - give her the pasta & veg irst on her plate and then reward her with the meat (if that is what she likes)

My DD went from eating plently of everything to now no fruit or veg whatsoever unless its hidden.......... needless to say I spend all day trying to be creative to get fruit and veg into her in all sirt of whacky ways... so don't stress your DD is not too bad at all!
HTH

[Giggle&Hoot]

Thanks for your suggestions ladies. Im going to give them a go and see if it makes a difference.

I might add when i say sandwich she will pick all the good stuff out and leaves the bread so its really just the filling and fruit or yoghurt.

Merla - Do you cook the veges a little before giving them to your daughter or are they served raw?

I was considering trying to trick her into having her veges juiced. Im just not sure what combos to use and i would rather her eat her veges so that she accepts them better when she is older.

I also found a tomato sauce recipe in one of my baby food cookbooks which has a LOAD of veg in it! Im thinking of making up a batch and seeing if she will eat her veg with it added as a sauce. You can also use it for pasta etc. If you want the recipe let me know

It just feels like shes not actually eating very much as most of it ends up on the floor or refused. I guess im worried that shes not eating enough. We normally top her up after dinner with a jar of something and she is always hungry enough to eat most of it. I might give the smootie idea a go as it is probably healthier and a lot cheaper.

Also - regarding self feeding. Do you just let them go for it? So far i just let my DD self feed foods which arnt going to go everywhere but should i let her self feed things like spaghetti then hose the house and her down afterward.