Hello!

My 18 month old little girl has been refusing foods I know she eats for the last 3-4 months… What can I do to encourage her to eat! She has a handful of things she will eat, anything else she just refuses! Help please!


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  • Our toddler is the same.
    We have a 10 month old who loves to eat so anytime she doesn’t eat what’s on her plate we threaten her brother will eat it and she chucks a fit and eats it because she doesn’t want him touching it lol.


  • I started by giving some off my plate, then I started putting some off my plate onto hers, which initially was a combination of both.
    Does your child go to childcare at all? If so you may be giving your girl the same as she has had there either that day or not long before. If she goes to childcare you are able to find out what she has eaten that day. They have snacks during the day (mostly fresh fruit) We got there early one day and waited while she ate her fruit. She went back for a second serve. She didn’t wanbt much to eat that night. They give them a cooked lunch which looks very nutritious and smells good too. I had to drop her off late one morning after an appt. I could smell it down the passage before I walked past the kitchen to take her to her room.
    If you give her snacks during the day, maybe cut the size of them back and give the afternoon one a little earlier if she has one.


  • Maybe try and hide food in things. Or eat that food in front of her


  • hopefully this is just a phase that she will grow out of. maybe she wants to explore more foods.


  • My daughter is still a fussy eater at 5..


  • My 3yr old is the same right now it’s so frustrating. He won’t try anything new and only has about 4-5 things he’ll eat. Following responses to get some ideas too


  • My daughter went through this stage, I started puréeing her veges again with dominant flavour something she likes. She would eat it all down!! Then she eventually got over it and ate well again


  • Be strong! They all go through a fussy period! Offer no choices, you don’t want to be making two dinners till there 15


  • We have the same issue with my 21 month old. I think it’s partly to do with her baby brother arriving plus we found out a couple of days ago that she has low iron, which can cause lack of appetite. We still offer all foods and encourage her to eat! We’ve had some success with feeding her off my plate.


  • keep putting it on her plate and she may well try some without your coaxing


  • Thanks everyone! That’s pretty much what I had figured it’s just nice to have some reassurance! :) :)


  • Don’t stress. There tastes change over time. If she is hungry she will eat. Maybe have food that she will eat and then let her leave one thing, but she needs to eat the rest. Then she has choice.


  • Sometimes children will do this. Probably best not to make a big deal out of it and hopefully it’s just a phase she’s going through. Best to check with your GP or child health nurse just to be sure or to get some other hints/ideas.


  • I had the same problem a while back but I just introduced my daughter to different foods and she wanted to eat off our plates


  • i started preparing things differently when mine started to do this and also just offering more of what I was eating


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