How do you get your toddler to eat?

[SpiritFilledMomof2]

OK, I'm sure this topic has been discussed before. My 2 year old dd hardly eats anything I give her. Her diet consists mainly of mac n cheese, chicken, sometimes some scrambled eggs with cheese, crackers, grapes, raisins, and yogurt. I will put out food in front of her during meal times that everyone else is eating and she'll just push it away and won't even try it. I have let her go to bed several times without dinner. I calmly tell her that if she doesn't eat what I put in front of her then she will have nothing. It really bothers me that she won't even TRY it. I know that this is the one area she has discovered that she has complete control in because I obviously can't and won't force her to eat. There are days where it literally seems like she has had nothing to eat. My oldest was a little picky, but not like this. This seems extreme to me. Any advice, suggestions? Thanks.

[stephwhiz]

I remember when my children were that age and thinking to myself "they must be living off of air, because they're not eating anything." Little toddlers can be strange little creatures :D . My little great nephew who is 2 1/2 has this same thing going on right now. Sometimes he eats lots and other times he hardly eats anything. Does your baby snack a lot? If so maybe he is just not hungry at mealtime. Is he under weight? I remember talking to my kid's ped and he said that to make sure they drink good healthy drinks and try to get the to eat good foods but not to worry if they don't eat a lot and they are of normal weight. I also gave my kids vitamins.

The little creatures go through all kinds of "phases" and "stages" and that is just probably what is going on. If your concerned alot then I would call a nurse at his ped's office and talk to her about it.

Best of luck!

Stephanie :D

[SpiritFilledMomof2]

Yeah, she does snack throughout the day. Sometimes I'll try and not give her as many snacks so she'll be hungry at mealtime. Not only doesn't she eat a whole lot, she's very picky. For example, today she had about 2 bites of yogurt and 1 breakfast sausage, some goldfish crackers, grapes, some more goldfish, and 2 chicken nuggets. That's all for the whole day! Even if she just snacked, I wouldn't mind it so much if she would at least eat some more fruit and veggies. She also will drink a good amount of milk or soy milk and watered down juice. I stay away from sugary drinks and she can only have a treat if she's eaten a fair amount of healthy foods. Her weight is normal and she doesn't seem to malnourished or anything. I'm just being an over re-active mommy :roll: Anyway, I really do hope she grows out of this.

[luvmy4sons]

They did a study once and discovered that over a period of a week toddlers who were aloud to pick out their food and eat at will ate a blanced diet but over a period of a week not each day. :P It must be perfectly normal because everyone I know has complained of it at this stage! I was always told, offer them balanced meals and let them eat what they want and do not worry. This too shall pass. :) If you take them to regular check ups, then anything serious will be discovered! I never found any magic cure when mine were that age! Who can figure out the mind of a 2 year old? [rofllol] [girlsmiley]

[Madre]

I would really try not to cater to your toddler's pickiness. For example, if you serve spaghetti, broccoli and garlic bread for dinner, I would give her a small plate of the same thing. This is what Mom cooked and this is what everyone is eating. Then I would have her eat a determined amount of bites of each item.

[NZMummy]

This must be a 2 year old stage. My boy used to eat absolutely anything that I gave him. Then he turned 2 :shock: . Now I have much more trouble getting him to eat a balanced diet. He spends all day asking for jam sandwiches and crackers at the moment. And he likes kiwifruit at the moment - but he can't have too many of those (it causes some horrible nappies :shock: ). AND he keeps changing his mind - some things that he used to like are suddenly no longer in favour. If I mix vegetables into a mince/chicken rissotto he will start out eating it all and then begin to painstakingly pick out all the vegies (or spit them out once he discovers them in his mouth). It doesn't seem to be that he really hates them (as he will sometimes take a few more mouthfuls if I make it sound exciting enough) - he just isn't particularly interested. One trick I have found is that he loves crumbed fish flips (or fish fingers) -he will eat any cooked vegetable as long as there is fish on the fork too.

Also, I thought that most toddlers liked raw vegetables because they are sweeter (carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, capsicum, tomato etc.). My son has always refused them completely.

I read an article about this just the other day in my parenting magazine - and it was just talking about how kids can live on an airy fairy diet.
My Mum and sister always used to say to me "Don't worry, the kids won't starve themselves to death"

I get so paranoid about my kids and eating, so another Mother with the same problem suggested a multivitamin called Pentavite just to ensure the child is getting nutrients especially when they are being fussy and only seem to want things like sandwhiches etc. I put my two on the pentavite which has all vitamins and minerals and they are fine and healthy and I sleep well at night because I am not worried about their diet so much.

My Mum also bought me this book on childhood nutrician written by a paediatrican and it gave me innovative ways to give the kids food.

I think the best suggestion was what she called a "taste plate", so I'd get a square of bread, some sort of dipping kind of stick bread, make some fruit/yogart puree they can use as dip, maybe a fish finger, a bit of apple so it's all colourful and interesting and let them pick at it.
I found my kids liked non-spicey guacamole, so they would be getting GREAT folate etc in the avacado and eating something healthy without knowing it. I just gave them carrots and little biscuits to dip in it and they loved it.