ds 2.6 making a big fuss about eating.........

[sasa15]

he just sits and look at the plate and says
he doesn't want it....

he only wants sweet of course

sometimes if he hasn't eaten anythin I give him a jogurt,,,,

is he testing us again.........

any others in similar situation?

what to do ignore them,....

sometimes after promise him something
he will eat a bit.....

it's devastating........after cooking healthy meals........

[brandy7]

wouldnt offer him an alternative too be honest, think there was a thread similar to this just before xmas. funny age really, they dont eat for a few days and can then stuff their faces

[TheArmadillo]

How many meals a day isn't he eating?

If its just one that he is fussing about I woudln't let him have anything else.

What I found helps with my ds is not promising anything or trying to get him to eat, but giving him his dinner and not paying any attention to whether he eats or not. Just take it away at the end when everyone else has finished and don't let him have pudding.

You have to keep it up for a while but it often works as they are not getting any attention if they are not eating.

HTH

[sasa15]

yeah I found difficolt sometimes because I know that if he doesn't eat he get grumpy...
so I rather give something....

But I need to be strong and do that ...
just be cool........

[JiminyCricket]

I find the best thing is to be fairly low key about it - stressing seems to perpetuate it. Give a good dinner followed by a smallish portion of a reasonably healthy dessert, no seconds. Ignore lack of eating and praise eating. I wouldn't do an alternative to dinner, but I do have a kind of rule of thumb that they can have bread/cheese/fruit at any time (as long as not right before a meal). On the other hand if they were opting for bread and cheese all the time I would soon change this! Also toddlers seem to do better on several small meals, so sometimes i follow breakfast with a snack of toast/crumpets/cheese and crackers rather than a sweet snack, then follow lunch with a piece of fruit and a biscuit or a peanut butter sandwich. Yeah, i do think its a big test and a battle and we go through good and bad patches with it. Also, my dd's go ages not eating much when they have a cold then have a growth spurt and eat for england.

[nzshar]

Have ds 2.6 also have never ever offered sweets instead that includes fruit (which he loves) I am not one for your plate has to be cleared but do insist on at least a decent amount before fruit or youghurt is given. There have been days where he has eaten almost nothing but to tell you the truth they are few and far between. We also always try to have every other evening meal something that we know he really likes while the others are a mixture of new and not so liked meals. Have found that being consistant is key as they are bound to test boundries over and over but need to know that what was the rule last month will be the same this month IYKWIM
HTH

[sasa15]

another day without anything,.........just had 11oz of milk and cereal biscuits this morning..for breakfast and a small piece of
healthy cereal cake...midmorning...

didn't have dinner yesterday...was nice beef with roast potatoes...(had 2 pieces of cheese straight after when I offer something ....cheeky)

he didn't have lunch/tea we sit all together
was a nice bolognaise.........all iin the bin!

I don't like when is not eating...
few days ago...we had pizza ...that he loves it....he didn't have that!!!

I try to ignore him...but me and hubby end up saying something about it...

like you will stay small....mummy is not happy....or similar sentences...!
I don't want to play with you because you are not eating at those days!!!

[JiminyCricket]

Sounds horrible for you How old is he? I know my little one has been really off food through teething, and my bigger one seems to eat practically nothing sometimes (except the sweet stuff of course) especially when she has a cold or something. Hope it doesn't get you down too much x

[DumbledoresGirl]

sasa, ths sounds completely and utterly normal to me. I have 4 children and they all went through this phase. Ds3 (nearly 4) is still going through it.

There are many pieces of advice I could give, but the keys ones are:

don't give in and give him anything else when he doesn't eat the meal (I don't give anything mid meals either);

don't show him you are upset, frustrated, angry, whatever;

don't go to a huge effort to cook him something that will then be thrown in the bin - it is so soul destroying to spend time cooking and then see it wasted. Try to keep meals simple and quick, and you will find that you are less upset about throwing them away.

Keep his meals small too. A lot of food on the plate can be off-putting for a child that doesn't want to eat. You can always offer more if he eats the small amount you give him. Forget how much he used to eat. Make the portions as small as possible and praise him for anything he does eat.

[sasa15]

ok

I will try that!

ds is 2.6