20 month old will not eat sitting down, only standing or wandering

[hackneybird]

My DS was a very good eater until recently. Now he takes a few bites of his meal and then wants to stand up in his high chair. We got him a mini chair and table which worked for a short time, but this is no longer effective. He just wants to wander about and have a wee occasional pick at his meal. I tried strapping him into his high chair again but this results in massive tantrums. When I try and make him sit in his little chair again we get screaming fits and then he eats nothing at all.

I don't know what to do in terms of instilling manners/mealtime routine, as I feel he is still too little to be able to reason with him. I also don't want to turn meal times into a battlefield.

My instinct is to just take his meal away if he isn't prepared to sit at the table and eat it.

Any advice out there??

hi, not much advice to offer, only wanted to say that i went through this stage with my twin boys at exactly the same age, they are now about to turn 2 and are much better now than a couple of months ago.

It was such a battle with two of them and in the end i dealt with it by relaxing my expectations about proper meals at proper times in the high chairs, and took to just letting them snack and graze and eat little and often through the day. Just made sure that it was nutritious and not bad snacking, things like cubes of cooked meat and cheese, veggies, fruit, sandwiches, oatcakes, etc.

Turns out it was just a little stage/phase because now just 2 months on they are different again, are eating far better and will now sit in their highchairs not just for their meals but for some time afterwards sometimes with a book or toy while i clear away in the kitchen! amazing turnaround..just shows sometimes the best thing to do is just ride it out and not battle with them too much.....

If you eat with them it helps. Let him get down, but without the food. Leave the food at the table and if he wants it he has to come back.

Hi

Couldn't pass by without replying as my DS is exactly the same and exactly the same age. He refuses to sit in the high chair and likes to wander and is not eating half as well as he was a couple of months ago. Just wanted to say that you are not alone....

It's really affecting eating out (impossible!), so we will avoid that and lower my expectations at home as suggested. I sat him in his sister's child chair which is just like a proper chair only taller, at the table this morning for breakfast - he loved that and chuckled in a "ooh, I got to sit in a big boy chair" kind of way (he has barely any recognisable speech..) and ate his Weetabix with no problem at all. What a relief..

Wishing you all the best
Catherine