It's worrying when the 'will eat' list shrinks to a few beige favourites. In most cases it's a phase you can gently reverse by changing how food shows up.
Foods often need 10 to 15 relaxed exposures before acceptance. Keep putting it on the plate with no pressure and no reaction.
Tweak a loved food slightly — new shape, a dip, a different brand — to bridge toward new ones.
Toddlers copy what they see. Family meals where everyone eats the same thing normalise variety.
Anxiety at the table makes eating harder. A relaxed, no-stakes mealtime is what widens the menu.
Free: 5 word-for-word scripts for toddler meltdowns Grab five of our most-used calm-down scripts, free to your inbox — the fastest way to feel ready for the next hard moment. Send me the free scripts →Usually not — it's a common phase. But if the list is shrinking fast, they're losing weight, or gagging on textures, check in with your GP or a paediatric dietitian.
Offer new foods repeatedly and calmly beside accepted ones, model eating them, and remove all pressure. Slow, relaxed exposure beats force every time.