HHHEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP

Abby is driving us insane. Up until I stopped last week the only food Abby would eat at dinner time was watties 1-3 year tins. We decided it was high time she ate proper food,and were advised to stop cold turkey but she won't give in .

Now dinner time is stressful as all she does is cry and throw her food. I only put tiny amounts of food on her plate but she won't even try it, on the two occasions she did she gags and dry retches. This applies to everything, potatoes, carrots (which she loved in her other meals) Pasta, any meat, all other vegetables and so on................

Tonight i felt so mean as I had promised the kids an ice cream after tea, but the rule is you don't eat your tea you don't get. So Abby didn't get one and she sobbed and kept saying pease mummy pease. .

Help me

hi there have you tryed mixing small amounts of real food into her tinned food mushed up so she donst see it and solwy increase the amount untill shes eating real food james is a very picky eater and i,m trying to get him to eat furit so i feel your fustrtions big hugs hun

I think you did the right thing Vick and that tomorrow (or whenever icecream is next offered) she'll remember. She'll be ok. What kinds of foods does she like? Does she prefer a spoon or by hand? At her age I don't think it's a bad idea to go cold turkey because she has surely eaten some "adult" food - yoghurt, cereal, chippies - so she will be able to manage textures and chewing etc. Let the cans run out, "they are for babies", all that stuff, that would be what I would be inclined to do. And start with her fave foods first (does she like macaroni cheese? That is a favourite for my little ones). Perhaps give her choices of stuff for dinner etc to help her attitude as well - either when you're cooking or dishing, give her options out of two.

My kids will eat anything with tomato sauce in it so maybe if you chop or mash everything then mix with sauce. It's the only way my girls will eat silverbeet!

Vick - how is she doing now?

She won't eat macaroni cheese but we have discovered she will eat spaghetti and homemade beef rice risotto, what she will eat is so random. She will either eat something and love it or not try it at all.

I'm completely split down the middle with this and DH doesn't help his input is "do what you feel is best" not very helpful. Part of me does not want to give up like gandt said she will know she has won, but I don't feel right just feeding her bread before bed, it goes against all of my motherly instincts. This child is going to give me grey hair.

Wean her off or cold turkey. The only major problem is if I do wean her off it she won't even bother trying our food she will eat hers and then stop eating! ARRRGHHHH

I have found at this stage Ayja is very random too. she loves chicken curry pasta, butter chicken, sweet chilli chicken lol.. notice the trend. anything chicken or spicey!

She also likes most noodles, loves her mashed potato, especially with gravy on it.. or grated cheese.

We kept putting things on her plate and every once in a while she surprises us.. ie brocolli or peas... she has started eating peas when she sees paris eating them.. making "sticky peas" ie.. sticks the peas to her mashed potato.

We also have a rule that if they want their drink of juice.. (only have this at teatime, watered down) they have to have eaten their veges first. paris has learnt to eat her veges first off and get her drink straight away, ayja is learning to do the same depending on what her veges are.

i guess giving incentice has worked for ayja.. and positive role modelling from paris.