That’s reminded me that we had a little boy who downright refused to eat his lunch. We requested that he still sat at the table and I would sit close by. We’d all just chat and then once when I was eating a satsuma, I asked one of the children (who I knew would say ‘yes’) if they wanted a bit, and when she took it I just casually asked him if he wanted a bit as well, which he did. He had a couple of pieces, then I noticed that he had a satsuma as well, so I asked him if I could ‘pinch’ a few bits of his. He said I could, and I peeled it and broke it into segments, which I put between us, and he ate the lot. So after that, one of us would share our sandwich and then ‘share’ his. (With Mum’s permission of course). This was just after he had a new brother, and probably just a kick-back. Mum was at the end of her tether as he wasn’t eating at home. He didn’t stay for lunch with us normally until she said she was having problems. I hoped that sitting with his friends would help, but it didn’t, for a few days, until the satsuma.
Once we ‘d got him eating at preschool, Mum made it so she would put the baby down for a sleep and out of the way before sitting down with M at home to eat. Then of course, when she was more relaxed with him, he was fine.