Do you always eat at the same time as your toddler?

[prefernot]

In another bid to get our little dd a bit more interested in food, we've ditched the high chair and put some cushions on one of our chairs and are trying to sit down and eat with her for more meals.

She's 25 months and for ages I've resorted to spoon feeding her in her high chair while she watches t.v. which hasn't been great but has meant she's eaten something, even if it is the same things every day (Dp jokes that she's on prison food ). She's not mad on using a spoon though she's quite good with it and she's fine with finger foods so long as it's something she likes (baby corn / broccoli / pasta, not much else)

So far, dp had one great day of communal eating in which she did quite well. Since then she eats nothing, plays with whatever's around to play with and rapidly wants to leave the table. Admittedly, at the moment she's been very ill with a cough but this problem's been around a lot longer than that.

What should I do?
What age did you give up using a high chair and did you replace it with anything special?

prefernot,

DS (4) was the same when he was two. I took away the highchair which made him feel like a grown-up. I also encouraged him to help prepare the food, doing this made him more interested in a wider range of foods. He would 'prepare' mine while I did his, the fact he was making Mummmy food delighted him.I always sat with him and 'ate' something, he preffered this and ate more. He will now eat most things I prepare and still loves to help in the kitchen.

I think at that age he felt like the highchair was some kind of prison, improved massively as soon as he was out of it.

Hope this is some help let me know how things progress.

Would it help things for you all to sit down together? A friend of mine has always done this with her children and they eat well, so we did the same thing with dd from when she was about 12 months old. She is now 22 months old. We moved dinner time back to about 6.45 and have a family meal. We also do this for breakfast each day and for lunch when we are all at home. Seeing other people eating (and enjoying food) does seem to her encourage her to enjoy food herself. We also think that this has helped her to develop table manners and feeding skills. She still sometimes prefers one of us to feed her, but often prefers to hold the spoon or fork herself.

She sits at the dining table on a high-chair, with the tray removed. She also likes having snacks sitting on cushions, at the kitchen table.

Should have added - perhaps it will take her a while to get used to this arrangement.

She seems to love the new arrangement though misses seeing her dvd's. But she's so far eating even less than before ... . I'll keep going though and see how she is when her cough's better.

She seems to love the new arrangement though misses seeing her dvd's. But she's so far eating even less than before ... . I'll keep going though and see how she is when her cough's better.