Really enjoying childminding but.....

[Fraggle1]

my little mindee (13 months) still won't eat! :( Can't help but worry. He has started to drink a little bit more milk but all he seems to eat is fromage frais, fruit purees and biscotti. Other things like grapes, sultana's, apple he will take but then after a while spits out. I have made him lots of nice things, Veggie fingers, toasted cheese muffins with tomatoes, Jacket potatoes, Lovely lentils...he's just not interested. He won't really take anything of a spoon if it doesn't look like what he is used to. Tried giving him tomato stars pasta but he won't even try, just pushes my hand away. If you put something in his hand he may put it to his mouth and if he does it's a tiny little bite and then he will just play with it. It's so hard, can't help but worry, just glad I'm not responsible for his tea aswell. I have suggested to mum that she provides his lunch for next week so I can see what he will actually eat. xx

[jumpinjen]

Hi, if he only likes puree type food, you could try saving some of your family meal for him, pasta or shepherds pie etc, and blend it to his preferred consistency... then when he is more used to eating a wider range of flavours you can mash half and puree half so he gets used to a lumpier consistnecy and build up that way..... You have provided a delicious sounding range of textures and flavours but it might be too far out of his comfort zone at the moment..... discuss with mum what he will eat and batch cook some of them and freeze to defrost ready for his lunch, then add in new flavours a few spoonfuls at a time after he has eaten some of what he likes.... it takes a long time for some children! Although ideally he should be eating lumpy foods and finger foods by now he sounds like he needs more time.... keep providing some finger foods as well.... perhaps put a few on his tray whilst his main dinner warms up...... softened veg or cheese cubes, pieces of boiled egg, crackers, fruit pieces etc..... you'll get there and working with mum is important too!

Jenni x

[sarah707]

Make a list of everything you offer him during the day and everything he actually eats.

Share it with mum and see if she can make any suggestions.

I hope it improves soon x

[FizzWizz]

I really sympathise as I was in this situation with my first mindee (started at 12 months) and after having 2 kids of my own that eat anything I found it really stressful.

I found it really helpful to have a good discussion with parents. It turns out this mindee is very very fussy at home too. I also asked mum what she wanted me to do if mindee would not each lunch - should I offer toast etc if she had not eaten but mum said no and was happy for me to move onto yoghurt / fruit pudding - after all mum would not be offering a selection of meals each time.. we continued for a few weeks and now at 16 months she will eat a lot more but still has her fussy moments - it's basically a problem that you and the parents need to discuss together and come up with a way of tackling that you are both happy with - it's far less stressful if you know the parents are onboard too... good luck!

[nicoleon]

from personal experience i can only say: don't worry about it! My DD and two mindees went through a phase like that. DD actually just started again!

It is very common at around a year old. My DD was a super eater and loved all veg until she was 11 months then started refusing, being fussy, spitting out...the lot! I don't make a big deal out of it, if she spits out or keeps throwing it on the floor I remind her a couple of times that we don't do that becasue it's wasteful and then if she still does it I take it away. SHe does get her yoghurt and fruit (no puree at that age though, just an apple or similar) and no other food until snack time.

Two mindees went through a phase like that and now don't stop eating!

Just another thought as well - some of them turn into 'grazers' around that age - they are just too busy to eat lots at a time and prefer little snacks throughout the day.

Anyway, sorry to waffle on, I agree with others in that you should chat with mum but just wanted to reassure you that it's not sucha big deal :thumbsup:

[Fraggle1]

Thanks for your advice everyone!

I think from what mum originally said she used to give him lots of snacks through the day and he drank lots of water, he is a vegetarian also and from what his mum has put in his little 'snack bag' they give him alot of innocent smoothies and fruit purées. The thing is when I offer snacks through the day, grapes, apple, sultana's he keeps them in his mouth and then spits them out, he won't eat even a square of toast but he'll eat biscotti.
I asked his mum if she could provide lunches next week just so I can see how he has food and what he WILL actually eat...she said she would do that :) When I said to her though today 'ooo he's had 3 poo's' today she said 'how odd considering he doesn't eat'? I thought is that a dig at me? I never said he didn't eat, but all he is really interested in is fruit puree and fromage frais so of course he is still gonna poop that out. She also said he really doesn't eat that much at home either so made me feel like it was a waste of time her bringing his lunches in. I've just got to do what is best for mindee....if I'm worried then I can't change that, I just want what is best for him. xx

[blue bear]

My mindee also one decided she was only going to eat puddings so I put dinner on the spoon and fromage frais on top and she ate all the dinner, slowly reduced the amount of fromage frais and now 15 months eats no problem

[nicoleon]

My mindee also one decided she was only going to eat puddings so I put dinner on the spoon and fromage frais on top and she ate all the dinner, slowly reduced the amount of fromage frais and now 15 months eats no problem

i've done that with DD in the past :thumbsup: veg out of a yoghurt pot but then she noticed...

[Fraggle1]

ha ha ha great idea. I did try it once with lovely lentils covered in abit of his apple and pear puree but you know what - he noticed and spat it out then refused to take anymore! ha ha ha Same with the fromage frais....the spoon only had abit of bean juice on it and he spat that out too! lol Suppose I should be grateful my two winks eat like horses! lol xx