18month old refusing dinner but hungry

[Moominfan]

Hello so current methodology he eats what we eat but I always put something he likes with his meal so I know he's eaten. Refuses to go in high chair which is no problem. Not my biggest fan at minute because I've cut off his juice supply to water only. Tonight we had salmon and broccoli he's had many times before and eaten no problem, I put some pasta in with his to bulk it out, growing toddler n all. Ate a few bits of pasta and that's it. Kept taking me to the cupboard with his snacks in didn't give him anything else. Just wanting some advice I'm concerned he's not eaten enough today but don't want to get into the habit of offering alternatives if he doesn't eat.

Breakfast- Porridge and covert blueberries made with full fat milk
Snacks - ToastBanana
Lunch - samosas, pakoras, Gobi curry, few Asian sweets
Snack - milk at nap time
Dinner - salmon, pasta, broccoli

[Moominfan]

Bump

[DrWhy]

Sounds like you are doing it exactly right to me. No dramas and he will quickly work out that snacks are not a option, if he’s he’s hungry he can eat what’s on his plate. If he doesn’t want it then assume he’s eaten enough and clear up accordingly. If you are worried about him being really hungry overnight you could offer something throughly boring before bed like plain toast or porridge.

[Believeitornot]

Does he have bedtime milk?
Mine went through phases of not eating much and of getting fussier. You could just ride it out and give him something at the next meal.
Like adults, I suspect children go off food and don’t want something. Maybe offer healthy snacks if he doesn’t eat dinner.

[butlerswharf]

Don't worry. Remember it's more important to look at how much a little one has eaten over the course of a week rather than a day. Overall I bet he's eaten fine over the week.

[Moominfan]

Yea my worry is he'd happily eat just toast and all the beiges. Still has bed time milk and he eats everything at nursery no problem, so yea over a week he does ok. Just today seemed on the little side for him.

[sirmione16]

I wouldn't worry, leave it and chuck it in microwave once or twice if he goes for it. Completely agree with you - if you give him toast or other food now what you're teaching him is that he doesn't have to eat what he's given and that he can dictate when he eats dinner or not, and what he eats instead. If he's hungry, he'll go to it eventually. Lots of praise when he does, ignore him when he doesn't. He'll get the picture. Don't let OH or anyone else undermine you on this either! My dm did ONCE and it set a president that Lo can now choose ugghgggh

[SleepyMcEdie]

My DS is 22 Months and exactly the same at the minute! I refuse anything other than what’s on the table and then offer some toast an hour later if he didn’t eat much.

[Labradoodliedoodoo]

Putting something he likes with his meal is a quick road to selective eating.

[AvaLove]

Butlerswharf, this is exactly the same advice my health visitor gave to me when I was worrying about the same thing. OP, my ds is exactly the same...wants treats then refuses the balanced meals I give him. Tonight he ate 3 cubes of chicken, a quarter of a grape and a tiny piece of bread and butter...refused his yogurt and only drank half of his bedtime milk (which he normally gulps down). But he did eat really well yesterday and ate a fair amount at lunchtime ( mango, a small bowl of cottage pie with tiny pieces of carrot and 1/2 a pot of ambrosia custard) so I'm guessing he's had enough for today. Some days his appetite is huge, other days it's minimal so now I just go by how hungry he is.

[Believeitornot]

Putting something he likes with his meal is a quick road to selective eating

It’s actually recommended for fussy eaters because they feel happier knowing something is always there they like.

[helpawomanout]

I would put something they like with their dinner. It will get them in the mood to sit down and eat. Although I'm quite bad and have put a tv in our dining room as ds3 will eat anything if watching Baby Joy Joy

He seems to over analyse food when he has nothing to distract him, not sure if this is a normal phase but I tend to go along with phases rather than fight them, ds1 and 2 taught me that they don't last long and really are just phases.

[Moominfan]

The pasta was the nice safe beige food that I know he loves. We didn't have any, just mashed his broccoli and salmon so hopefully got a little bit, but he mainly picked out the pasta.

[AvaLove]

You've done all you can OP ... you can't force him to eat so I guess just know that no baby/toddler has deliberately starved themselves ( I just tell myself it's normal and so many people have ended up just fine despite doing this when little!)

[MaverickSnoopy]

My daughter had her 2 year check the other day and I mentioned her eating which can be similar. My husband especially worries about it because some days she eats hardly anything. More recently though I have decided that some days she eats more than others and it all evens itself out. The HV said their advice is to always look across the whole of the week at food intake and on that basis, in our case, there's really nothing to worry about.

Look across the week and ask yourself how much he's eating. When I've been worried in the past I've kept a full list. Does he have snacks? If his weight is tracking and he's having snacks I'd be inclined to cut them out. I cut my daughters out and she's eating more of her meals, although she's started having a banana in the mornings between breakfast and lunch and still eating a good lunch.