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Breakfast and lunch she is ok as she will eat some cereals, all fruit, yoghurt, luncheon and ham, raisins. But dinner is a problem. She refuses to eat anything but pureed baby food and occasionally she even turns her nose up at those. She won't eat eat toast or sandwiches or meat or vegies but will if its pureed. She is still a happy and active little girl that isn't under wight but it does concern me that she won't eat normal food. I think she is getting enough nutrition as she eats fruit well,has vegies pureed and has farex for breakfast. I also make sure she has a lambs fry and bacon baby food at least once a week too.
Any advice is much appreciated, thank you.
if you are finding your toddler is avoiding any hard food at all it is probably a good idea to consider a visit to an early childhood expert (most kindies can give you the name of a good local person). The other option is a feeding clinic such as Tresillian. It is important for tots to have chunky food for jaw and speech development. You are doing a great job with the foods and certainly it sounds like nutritionally things are covered. But it would be good to get your little one moving on from soft textures.
I have placed some links below re clinics:Feeding clinic links :
Aussie: www.nofussfeeding.com.au
NZ: http://www.paediatricfeedingdisordersclinic.co.nz/index.htm
Tresillian – http://www.cs.nsw.gov.au/tresillian/resources.htm
Speech pathologists – http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Default.aspx?p=3
If you feel extra capable and want to tackle it yourself, the book No Peas Please is excellent for helping with texture.
If though it is only the dinner meal that has to be pureed, it is likely to be just a stage. Little ones are generally very good at self-regulation and dinner is often the most difficult meal. Many toddlers are full by dinner and only require a smallish meal. You may want to offer a nice smoothie after a rejected dinner meal (offer food), pop in yoghurt etc and this in itself should offer lots of nutrition but avoid pureed foods. As long as all the other meals are full meals things should be fine. You do want to avoid any other meals slipping into the pureed stage.
Keep an eye on her growth and if it is consistent that is a good sign that things are in fact fine. If things change at all this strengthens the argument to pop in and see someone for help.
All the best
Leanne