Picky Eater

4yr old Picky eater

My 4 year old used to eat everything. But this last 12 months the food he eats has drastically reduced. He now will only eat weetbix, bread, apples, bananas, tasty cheese, 2min noodles, mashed potato, sausages, hot chips, cheese pizza and sweets. He asks for burgers but won't eat them.

We offer a variety of foods throughout the day and if he doesn't eat it he has to wait til the next meal.

He fills up on weetbix and the foods he likes when offered so he doesn't have to eat the things he doesn't like. The list of things he eats is shrinking rapidly. He won't even try things. If he does try it he will just hold the food in his mouth until he can spit it out - he once held a carrot in his mouth for 2 hours.

In the last year we have tried everything -

Not making a fuss when he doesn't eat

Offering treats as a reward for eating

Encouraging him and celebrating when he eats

Letting him choose the meal and getting him to help cook.

Making it a game

Explaining he needs food to get bigger and stronger and being excited about growing muscles

Telling him superheroes get their powers from foods

Sending him to bed when he doesn't eat

We are currently trying to avoid the things he fills up on on a daily basis (weetbix, bananas, bread) so that he might try new things but he's refusing to eat and in the last 3 days he has barely eaten. He cries that he's hungry but won't eat - not even the meals he has chosen. He keeps asking for bread and noodles but I feel like giving him these will just reinforce bad habits.

He's being offered things like eggs, spaghetti bolognaise, roast lamb with roast potatos and carrots, baked beans, toasted chicken and cheese sandwich, strawberries, oranges, yoghurt. It's not like we want him to eat fancy things and he used to eat all these things.

What do I do?

Thank you