Caelyn has always been a brill eater but the last few weeks shes been driving me insane. She eats well at breakfast and lunch but dinnertime seems to be a constant battle. Today for example she ate peanut butter on toast for brekafast and some dried fruit for snack. For lunch which she had late she had 1 1/2 sausage rolls. At dinner we were having chicken and mushrooms with rice but as soon as i put her in her highchair and gave it to her she was throwing a tantrum.

I actually got really irritated in the end because she seemed to be trying to be contrary for the sake of it, she would ask for the spoon then throw it when i gave it to her then want it back, she wanted her juice then didnt she wanted some of mine then didnt. It was so *$%£ frustrating in the end i got her out her highchair and put her on the floor where she kicked and screamed like a good un. I did give her some calpol and brufen and some teething gel and she then settled but still wouldnt eat her dinner though i did get some rice pudding with apple and mango in her followed by a peach fruit corner.

I am at the end of my tether with dinner though i dont know if its one thing or several. I know her teeth are sore so tried gel before dinner but that didnt work. I dont let her wander around and eat she has to sit in her highchair and i did wonder if she ate her rice pudding because she was allowed down but after that she still wouldnt eat her chicken even though she then went on to eat yoghurt so it wasnt that either.

Whats worrying me is though she eats loads of fruit in a day she doesnt eat much veg, today i dont think ive managed to get any in her at all even though shes had 3 or 4 portions of fruit. I worry about her not getting enough goodness through fruit alone.

Im dont think it helps she seems to have been constantly teething for several months now - shes cut 10 teeth in 6 months and has 1 you can see coming through now plus another 2 white bulges. I am tempted to try finger foods like fish fingers and some potato and vegetable waffles ive seen which as well as potato have carrot etc in it and some sweetcorn she can eat with her fingers but just wondered if anyone else had any ideas cos im at the end of my tether with trying to cook good food for her and having a battle every day

its prob jst a phase hun and plus the fact her gums r sore wont be helpin but evan goes thru phases where he wont eat main meals and jst point blank refuses but will happy eat fruit and a yogurt! which is also coolin for her gums so that will help her teething thats mayb why she is happy to eat the yogurt actualy cos it will be cold for gums!
the finger food is a good idea for now until she wants to eat again cos at least that way u know she is gettin some food in her!
mayb try some cold meals aswell like pasta salad if she wud eat that cos it might help with soothing her gums

hope things get better soon x

LOL..fussy eaters are sooo much fun! Sounds like she is getting a great balanced diet..and kids have a more sensitive palette than we do. If she is teething...certain foods will hurt to chew. Have been dealing with that myself as of late. Because she is a big fruit eater..I wouldn't worry too much about the veg..but some ideas are using dips. Ranch dressing mixed with a bit of sour cream makes everything taste yummy. Even when I make broc/cauliflower..I make a cheese sauce..or a bernaise sauce for the kids. If not..they will push it to the side. They even make juice now that is made out of vegetables, but are disguised with fruity goodness. Just tell yourself that kids are little versions of us..and cannot stand certain tastes or textures. Never force them to eat something..because it can cause a life time of food hang ups. To this day..I cannot eat tomatoes due to my parents forcing me to eat them as a child! xxx

I am very experienced in this field of behaviour hun as will anyone with a child over 3 be!!

I can more or less guarantee you this is a phase she is going through! They more or less all go through it at some point round Caylens age.

The fact that she will eat fruit and stuff like sausage rolls i deffo dont think you need to worry. All my kids (sam has just started) got fussy and started showing a preference to not so good foods.

I found the more fuss i made at dinner time the worse they were. I now take the relaxed approach (for my sanity)

Its a pain in the ass but i would give her strict rules at dinner times. Sat in high chair no matter how much she creates cause she will soon learn that she wont get taken out. Try ignoring the tantrums as much as you can and try to carry on as normal as possible i.e eating you own dinner. Keep offering food throughout dinner time and if she starts throwing it about then take the plate/dish away and just offer her bits. It may take a while to get some down her. But if you stick to it for a while she will soon learn that when she is in the high chair she wont get attention and she has to eat.

If she doesnt eat it dont worry cause she will eat when shes hungry. Cant imagine the teeth are helping much either.

Hope this helps hun xxx

we have this all the time!!!!!!!

Alice just very much knows what she wants and what she doesnt. sometimes i just think she genuinely isnt that hungry!

She too eats loads and loads of fruit and lately thats all i can get down her at breakfast time!

i too hope its just a phase and just let her eat the fruit, she doesnt get a pudding if she doesnt eat her meals but i will give her supper which she doesnt normally have as she eats late anyway x

I would defo try the finger food route - and just let her sit there as long as she stays calm - Izzy will have a bit, play a bit and then settle down and eat properly - so I just leave her to it.

I hardly ever give her the fork, she is very good and can eat properly with it, but for example day before yesterday she had fishcake so she was fine stabbing at it til she had eaten all the big chunks and then couldn't seem to stab anymore onto the fork - but when I took the fork away she got really stroppy and tried to throw the food - so its easier all round to start off just giving it her to eat with her hands!

Her fav vegs/salad are cold potato salad, raw peas from the pod, tomatoes & cucumber - but most things she will have a go at
I also put lots of veg into things like quiche, like mushrooms, toms, broccoli etc - which again she eats with her hands

Well she did great today. 1/2 weetabix with milk cold for brekkie, 1/2 pack fruit buttons for snack, breadsticks and red pepper hummus for lunch along with a 1/3 of my sandwich, nibbled on some apple for afternoon snack. For dinner i made her penne in a home made sauce made with chopped tomatoes in tomato juice, 1/2 fat cream and cheddar cheese. She ate an entire bowlful with her hands before demolishing 4 huge strawberries and the other 1/2 pack of fruit buttons then decided to start on her dads naan bread.

will carry on just letting her trough with her hands for now i guess. The other thing ive tried which seems to help is giving her a 5 and 1 min warning its dinnertime and to stop playing. Has always worked well for me with sleep times so figured it might and its cut down the tantrums associated with getting her in highchair to virtually nothing

Aw glad she ate better. They love to worry us!!!