I read somewhere that telling toddlers that their food is something exotic and wierd encourages them to eat (eg: peas are "worms' eyes"). It sounds really odd and most adults would refuse "worms' eyes" I'm sure, but tonight my daughter tucked into her "birds nest" pasta with gusto (simply the spaghetti that comes in the shape of a bird's nest)...

I haven't tried it myself but apparently a little harmless food colouring in meals makes things interesting too.

While my daughter still doesn't eat everything (green veges are not at all fashionable right now), I found that by letting her join in the cooking or preparation of meals made her more enthusiastic about eating them. Often that means adding a step and dinner preparation taking a whole lot longer (eg: I might chop vegetables and her job is to gather them up and put them in a bowl) 

But on the whole I agree with an earlier bit of advice (from Tracey I think) that Toddlers won't starve themselves. Just keep offering up the food and don't make a fuss when they don't eat it. It seems if the kids don't get the funny rise out of mummy, then it isn't quite as fun for them...also if I don't stress about it, I find it becomes a whole lot less stressful (does that make sense?)

i wrote an article on getting toddlers to eat veggies there vegies and having fun to.
i dont know how to put the link threw on here but if you search for it it should work.
francine

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

suggest trying cruskits (or rice cakes) instead of bread. My son loves this alternative.

It is a common issue with most children.  Just keep offering all the foods that he used to eat, aswell as knew ones for him to try.  If he doesn't eat them, don't fuss over it, just throw them out, but it is important to keep offering a variety of all foods.

Maybe keep the processed foods out of sight,like someone else suggested, but give him an occassional treat if he eats something off his plate that he normally does eat, or hasn't been eating.

Toddlers won't starve themselves.  If they are hungry, they will eat.

Tracey

I think a lot of toddlers go through this I have fruit chopped up in the fridge where Breanna can reach ,I don't have proccessed foods where she can see them,I have found that out of sight out of mind and then they tend to go back to eating healthily.......they still change in tastes all the time so variety is crucial.I also keep Breanna on vitamins when she is being particularly fussy eg incramen  or pentavite drops.

My eldest has done exactly the same thing. I thought I was never going to get him to eat! I just stopped the biscults and other junk and when he refused to eat I would just walk away. Often leaving the food in front of him would make him realise I wasn't going to get him the junk he wanted.

The other day he asked me for Broccoli, Carrot and Mushroom with his dinner. He also eats bananas and apple. I'm hoping that preschool will help with his eating habits.

If you give in he will always refuse the "good" food and go for the "junk".

Good luck a fussy eater is difficult to deal with!

This is just a phase. It'll all blow over. Nothing to worry about. Maybe try different foods on his sandwiches and sitting him down until he eats it.