How do you get a 3yr old to eat???

[NastyNemo666]

Ds was 3 last week and meal times are a nightmare. He is stroppy, refuses to eat, asks to be fed but then will refuse anything offered. He has never been a good eater but he refuses any breakfast apart from occasional dry cereal. Lunch time isnt too bad as I tend to do sandwiches and he will eat a square of a sandwich. He will eat bananas and sometimes grapes. Evening meal we do a variety of meals and we have tried everything from ignoring him to sitting and coaxing him to eat and he just sobs. Its not even like he will eat treat stuff as he is not interested. He has a couple of drinks of milk a day but then water the rest of the time. So what do I do?

Feed him one meal at mealtimes - if he doesn't eat it, fine, no fuss, but there's nothing else until the next meal. He'll soon get the hang of it and he won't starve, so don't worry. He's just testing the waters and how you will deal with it. Do you eat together? as that helps especially if you are all eating the same.

furball we eat together about 3 nights a week. I dont everynight as I have to feed DD[10mths] at the same time. I do sit with Ds and DD at the table as does Dh if he is home.

I agree with Furball, just offer him the food (hopefully not something you have spent hours cooking ) and if he eats it fine, if not, he gets nothing more, except water, until the next meal - try and cut out too much milk between meals as it can fill them up - with / after a meal or at bedtime is great.

It is hard, but i saw the effects with a friend of mine who really stressed over her kids eating (mainly becasue the HV put the fear of God into her becasue the kids fell off the centile - now tallest in the class!). She used to coax them, let them eat on front of the Tv etc and they knew who had the upper hand!

We always try to offer at least two vegetables and fruits and then go for easy staples like pasta etc. sometimes they eat loads (yesterday it was pasta, cauli, peas, carrots, parsnips followed by yoghurt, nectarine, pear and apple!!!!) and others not very much (two ham sandwiches), but as others say they eat what they need.

Maybe if he can get involved in buying and preparing the food it might help? Ours love that.

Good luck