How do you get your toddler to eat...HELP!!!

[JPM]

My 2.7DS just won't eat!! In the last 2 days all he has had is toast yesterday morning and a sausage and bread this morning. he point blank refused to touch his dinner last night and had about three mouthfulls of this evenings and then said he didn't like it!!! It was a dinner he loves and has cleared his plate in the past!!

Should I get angry, or just ignore it? This evening I got angry and said if he didn't eat his dinner he would not be allowed to play anymore and would go straight to bed - he said okay and this is what I did!! I left him for 15 minutes before I took a milk up to him and he was fast asleep!!! Was this the right thing to do?? I'm at the end of my tether....how can he survice on so little food???? Advice please!!

[WideWebWitch]

The usual advice (and I agree with most of it) is

Don't make food a battle ground
Only offer healthy food and then whatever they eat will be something good for them
Don't worry, they very rarely starve themselves
And then up to you whether you stipulate that he has to eat what you provide or have nothing or whether you take the view that if you cook food he likes he's more likely to eat it. I personally (no criticism of anyone who does anything differently!) don't make my children eat stuff they actively don't like but I do offer them new things and the rule with 7yo ds is that he must try it and if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to eat it BUT he has to get any alternative himself, I won't be making it. And since there's only healthy stuff in the house if he substitutes what I've made for yoghurt, nuts, fruit that's fine with me. I know it's frustrating though, dd (15mos) is shaping up to be a fussy so and so and ds like such bland food I despair sometimes!

[Lua]

HI JPS,

I understand how nerve racking it can be, but I agree with www, your ds won't starve himself.
As long as he doesn't have the chance to substitute healthy for unhealthy food he should be ok.

The one thing I am learning from my DD (2.5 years ols) is patience. The first thing she says is always I don't want and I don't like it. If I say fine and leave the food in front of her, she starts nibbling on it 15 minutes later....
If I start threatning her before then she usually gets up before eating anything...
Good luck!

[JPM]

Thanks Lua, I'll try that instead of loosing my rag tomorrow...see what happens

[samwifewithkid]

Yep if I get the odd day my dd won't eat something, I just push her plate away and say "ok that's fair enough, don't eat it then" and ignore her and carry on eating mine. She usually backs down 5 mins later and tucks in. It's almost like they want a reaction. So when they don't get one they give in. Be careful that milk doesn't fill up little tummies before eating a main meal, give it in between.