18 mnth refusing dinner, for the 3rd time this week...

[swifterella]

and i am about to scream!! why oh why is he doing this over things he ususally loves. Keeps shouting NO and turning his head away. any advice? have not offered him anything else. is that the right thing to do?

This is a tough time. Offer him something else if you dont mind doing so for the next 10 years!

You're doing the right thing. Dont fret, he is testing you, to see if your going to make a song and dance about it.

Remain cool at all times.

Does he have is own spoon?

ignore him and keep doing what you're doing

you're doing exactly the right hting

its a quest for independence .. he can't help it .. but if you pander to it you'll end up with a really fussy eater

make sure you eat at the same time and the same thing as your child .. he should be basically eating your food by now

and just continue to enjoy your meal without continuing to prompt DS to eat .. just expect him to eat and gradually he'll start to .. don't encourage

well that's what I'd do

you're

thanks ladies, he is now watching bob and i am taking deep breaths. Trouble is i shouted at him the other night and tis now a game i think. He still eats in his highchair in the kitchen and can feed himself with a spoon. he doesnt eat with us because my DP works most evenings and I tend to have my dinner at 7.30. do you think i should have my dinner earlier with him?

Our DD is going through this at the moment. I have taken the view that if she is hyngry she will eat but can't be doing with making different food is she down't like the other.

you don't have to have 'dinner' but I would suggest you have a little bit of what he's having with him

eating IMHO is a social endeavour .. and toddlers mimic what they see too

be careful though it can make you fat

Totally ignore it - it might last 2 nights it might last 3 yrs (as per my ds)....as long as you offer dinner and don't make up for it in snacks or too much milk they'll soon get the message!

am fat as a house anyway so a little bit more wont matter!! he is testing me constantly at the mo (as per his age i imagine)is blardy exhausting!

No child will starve itself to death - someone said that to me ages ago. What's your LO eating during the rest of the day? It does sound like he's asserting himself rather than anything else
But if he's getting, for instance, biscuits and juice at playgroup and a huge lunch as well then he's getting enough calorie intake.
My DS, (2.4) has spells of rejecting his food. We eat together at lunchtime and he sometimes eats all the potato off his plate, demands all the potato off mine and won't touch anything else - sometimes he just throws his plate on the floor. I try to remain serene and calm (!) my general policy is: if he doesn't want to eat it he won't be forced or fussed at. If he throws his food about his meal ends and he gets lifted out of his chair and sent out of the room. BUT the mext meal is, if remotely possible, something I know that he likes, which is also nutritious.
DS is not fat but he's not dead either. HV says he's doing fine. I know the temptation is to run flapping round offering more and more possiblities, but that's really not a good idea. My DS is now old enough to demand things spontaneously - but if we haven't any, we haven't any and that's that.

thanks for the advice madamez. I think maybe snacks are the issue. Tgis morning i didnt give him any snacks (fruit etc) just water and buy 11.30 he was trying to climb into his highchair and ate a MASSIVE lunch. may try nothing this afternoon and see if he eats his tea? i think keeping calm is also the key as he is defo doing it for a reaction. Its just so funny when they go from being fantastic eaters to rejecting everything just to test you!!! anyway lets see how his tea goes!