Unfussy toddler!

I'm seriously thinking that I may need to rename this blog as my son has started to eat everything I give him now, thank goodness. However he still won't touch banana or spag bol which is really weird as banana was the first thing I introduced him to. One of the really successful things I tried last week was a salmon spread. I always wanted the LO to like fish as both my husband and I really love fish. Also I found that his love of bread was so great that, when presented with a sandwich, he would pull out all the fillings like ham and tomato and just eat the bread which I didn't feel was great, nutritionally. I just whizzed up a tin of boneless salmon with ricotta, lemon juice and red onion and spread it on a bagel. He loved it.

This week's meals:

Monday - = Milk and wheetabix with raisins

L = Bagel and salmon spread /Tinned peaches

D = Scrambled egg and toast

Tuesday - Milk and Ready Brek

L =Pasta with chicken and mushrooms / Grapes

D = Crumpets

Wednesday - Milk and stewed apple, yoghurt and porridge oats

L = Cheese and Broccoli pasta / Rice pudding

D = Jam sandwiches

Thursday - Milk and rice Krispies

L - Minced lamb shepherds pie / Stewed pear and custard

T - Red Pepper dip and vegetables

Friday - Milk - Wheetabix

L = Sausage, mash, peas and gravy / Angel delight

T - Jacket Potato and beans

Tip - check out Tesco's real food planner on their website. I saw it advertised the other day and tried the menu planner tool for budget meals. It's really useful.

This week's menu

Thought it might be useful to post my son's menu over the last week. I know that I would find it useful when menu planning to see what other people feed their children -

Monday B = 6oz milk, mango and yoghurt.

L = Chicken Casserole and mash

T = Hummus and Pitta Bread

Bedtime= 6 oz milk

Tuesday: B = 6OZ milk, 2 wheetabix

L = Macaroni cheese, Stewed apple and custard

T = Ham sandwiches and salad

Bedtime= 6 oz milk

Wednesday: B = 6 0z milk, cheerios

L = Roast chicken dinner, Jelly

T = Scrambled egg on toast

Bedtime= 6 oz milk

Thursday: B = 6oz milk, 2 wheetabix

L= Chicken and veg pie with mash, Rice pudding

T = Vegetable soup

Friday: B = 60z milk, banana and toast

L = Lentil soup

T = Muffin with cottage cheese

With regards to snacks, I don't generally give them as 3 meals tend to be enough for him. He sometimes gets them if we are at a toddler group or out and about.

x

A better weekend

I'm pleased to report that my son has had a much better weekend foodwise. I was getting really paranoid after his childminder said he was an amazing eater. His favourite foods that we make at the moment are croquettes, patties or veggie burgers. I think he likes the consistency of them. Got a great recipe for spinach and sundried tomato croquettes which even me and his dad enjoy.

Found a way of getting him to eat more veggies - mixing them with mash. He loves mash potato so I just cook up some veggies until they're really soft and disguise them in the mash. Works a treat!

We went to a Baby Sensory party at the weekend. Healthy eating went out the window once he saw all the cakes and sandwiches - he's a real carbs boy just like his dad. It's amazing how fast he can eat when given biscuits or cakes!

Also positive is the fact that he's started eating properly with a spoon. I thought it would be useful to encourage with a new baby on the way - the more independent he is, the better really.

Only problem that emerged this weekend, is that he's suddenly decided that he hates napping in his cot during the day. Definitely need to sort this before my due date - I'll need the rest!

News to me!

My son started at a new childminder this week - prior to this he had been at nursery. I was disappointed to take him out of nursery as I liked the idea of him interacting with lots of other kids but finances must!

The childminder must have thought I was the world's fussiest mum. I sent a huge list over with loads of do's and don't regarding his food habits. There is a reason for this. As I mentioned in my last post, my son has the most irritating habit of pooing in the night. He has also suffered from regular bouts of stomach upsets, which again affect his nighttime sleeping. I have spent ages reading how to solve these sorts of problems. Family and friends always said the obvious - cows milk intolerance but I was convinced this wasn't the problem. However, Ive never switched him onto cows milk, he's still on 1plus formula. Other demands to childminder included - no fruit after 1.00pm, cooled water only (no juice), sterilised beakers, no beef (Im convinced he has an intolerance to this), carbs for tea, no snacks (Im paranoid about his weight as his dad has a love of pies!), the list goes on .......

After his first week at the childminders, she told me that he eats everything she gives him and that he's good as gold! That's all news to me

xx

Sleepless nights

For the last two nights, me and my husband have been woken in the middle night by persistent crying after my son decided to poo in the night again and then couldn't settle back to sleep.

We thought we'd got over this problem and have tried so many different things - no fruit in the afternoon, increased carbs and vegetables for tea, diluting milk feeds so before bed he only has 5 oz of formula in a 9oz bottle and so far it seems to have worked but not the last two nights. I'm not sure what's going on. I know what most people will say - teething!! but Im not so sure. Tried toast at 6 tonight as a friend suggested giving a carb snack before tea so will see what happens.

Husband definitely in spare room - what with his snoring, my pregnant restless legs and my sons nighttime pooing - sleep is a rare occurrence in this household!!

xx

Fussy snacker

Just thought I'd share LO's fussiness today. Some days everything has to be so precise. I've been trying to encourage him to eat cheese for ages and today he did! At a playgroup, they served tiny cubes that were so small you could hardly see them but he ate them. I also tried to give him a piece of satsuma but you'd think I'd given him a piece of liver! My friend's baby also pulled a rather disgusted face too. He ate his lunch which was a miracle. I gave him spinach and sundried tomato croquette with mashed potato (containing cunningly disguised courgette which I had whizzed into a puree). He loved it. Found some chocolate and raisin organic bars for a snack. i don't normally give too many treats but I fancied a coffee and a cake. He'd play merry hell if he didn't get some of my cake so I got him one of these bars which definitely distracted him. At dinner time, I made the mistake of giving him jacket potato with the skin on - never again - I now have a potato skin collage on my wall!

xx

First blog

Hello, this is my first ever blog. I decided to start writing a blog as a way of venting my frustration with my fussy eating toddler and also as a way to preserve my sanity when my maternity leave starts (again). I started weaning with the intention of having the healthiest. least picky child ever but that hasn't exactly happened. I began with a combination of baby-led and puree weaning which worked wonderfully at first. However, now I seem to spend most my evenings picking up food which has been thrown all over the floors or wall.

Keep reading as I share my experiences and tips

xx