to not mind if dd doesnt eat her food?

[biddysmama]

dd is 28 months, right height and weight for her age but eats like a bird! i leave her to it, if shes hungry she eats, if she isnt then she wont, i dont make a fuss,i do the same with my 9year old and 11 month old although the 11 month is greedy a hungry boy

we went out for dinner with my mum yesterday and she was trying to force dd to eat the food, going on and on at her even tho i was saying to my mum that she didnt eat much, it doesnt matter

am i doing it wrong? should i be making a fuss? she made out like dd was going to starve to death shes a healthy,active toddler, she has snacks but its fruit,yoghurt,couple of biscuits now and again rice cakes, that kind of thing

i don't fuss about how much mine eat either. Sometimes they're ravenous, sometimes they have a single mouthful. I agree about cutting down snacks if they're regularly not eating meals. Met someone the other day who was astonished I don't spoonfeed my 2 yr old if he's not eating much. He would be furious if I tried that!

ive never spoonfed any of mine so i think shed probably look at me like i was mad

Same here. I have loads of issues with food, so am taking a no fuss stance with my DCs and it seems to work well. DS (2.8) is similar to your DD, but I know he's not starving and is a healthy, energetic little boy. I refuse to get into a battle with him when he won't eat.

Please, please keep going as you are. I was that child, and was bullied by realtives until I did start eating more, and then more of the same when the balance tipped the other way. I have struggled with eating habits all my life because of it. People may disagree, but hand on heart I feel you are doing the right thing. Obviously if she was underweight and not eating it would be different. It sounds like she is eating what she needs.

No, you're not BU. Well, in my opinion anyway! DD3 is 2½ and will eat as much as her 15 year old DB some days and absolutely nothing on others.

We live in Spain so when it is super hot, as it is at the moment, I think eating is the last thing she's interested in at times. We rise late, have a vague breakfast/lunchy meal and then she may or may not want something around 5. We don't tend to eat supper until after 8 most evenings, when it's cooler. If she eats, she eats, if she doesn't it is because she isn't hungry and she certainly won't ask for anything later on.

This is a constant battle i have with family and even my last au pair. My dd is more of a morning eater - she'll eat a massive breakfast, a fair lunch and then will pick at her tea. There are very few snacks if any, but she can help herself to the fruit bowl and loves fruit. We encourage her to try new food and she's pretty good at it.

But older family members keep going on that she should clear her plate - eat all her food (they do have weight problems). I'm of the belief that she know's when she is full, plus she's only 6 so won't have a very big tummy. Also she does not get an alternative, and no sweet stuff. But they keep going on, In fact my husband remembers being kept at the dining table for hours until he finished his cold dinner (he's on my side).

My last au pair would try blackmail, you can't have such a such until you finish your meal. We had a chat, and it was what her mother would say to her, and admits that her issues with food come from such situations.

You know your child, stick to your guns. reduce snacks, as this can fill them up, but then if it's healthy so what.

Good luck

My sil has this issue with her 5 year old dd and it drives me mad! The child is harrangued told she can't have pudding if she doesn't eat her dinner and can't go to the cinema etc. This has become a battle ground at every mealtime and I am quite sure dn uses it as a stick to beat her mother with and vice versa. My ds (3) sometimes eats like a horse and sometimes hardly anything I say nothing he gets what he needs and kids will eat when they're hungry.

My MIL does the same - thinks I should force feed my DS who is a similar age when he goes through phases of not wanting to eat much. He will only eat 2 good meals a day and normally lunch is a bit of a laugh. My DS is lovely and round and you definitely can't see his ribs my MIL "you must do something about his eating". I ignore her, she looks after my niece regularly and unfortunately people stare at my niece because of her size .

My DD didn't really eat much food until she was 3, I think my MIL making me so stressed about it made it much worse. By the second child I just laugh at her comments and say does your grandson look like he is fading away?

I don't think there is anything wrong with snacks if they are healthy why matter if it fills them up, just serve a smaller portion of dinner.

We are far too obsessed by 3 meals a day. Thats more important as they head towards school age but at two let them eat snacks.

My mum is the same - I counted how many times she said " eat your dinner up" to dd1 once - it was about 10 in five minutes! Now I just tell her to stop if she does this or goes on about eating it all up. I was the child eating a cold dinner for an hour too. DD1 is a slow and picky eater sometimes, I try my best to say nothing except to remind her that's all there is to eat, mainly if she's just sitting there and won't pick up one bite. It pisses me off when my mum does it as she isn't giving me the chance to judge when to stay silent or say something. Her other annoying thing was to sit there doing a running commentary on her dinner - " mmm, I'm going to try some broccoli dd, have you tried yours? mmm, lovely, I'm going to have carrot now, what are you going to eat?" Drove me batty!