DS 2 years old - time to change the bad habits?

[sharond101]

So DS was 2 just last week and we have some bad habits that we will sooner or later need to work on. Is sooner better than later?? Who knows. Any hints, tips or suggestions appreciated. Bad habit list below,

1. Dummy to go to sleep. He doesn't use it any other time.

1. Bedtime milk from a bottle. Tried a cup and he threw it around spilling it everywhere then tried a beaker and he was still sipping it 1 hour later.

1. Spoon feeding. He will not concentrate on his food long enough to feed himself unless it's pasta, crisps, biscuits or sandwiches so I end up spooning it in whilst he distracts himself with a book or toy or tv.

1. Pureed dinners. Won't touch fruit or vegetables unless pureed into his food therefore I add fruit puree to weetabix at breakfast & custard for pudding and I give him a spoon fed pureed meal (e.g chicken, potatoes and vegetables) to make sure he gets some vegetables. He eats finger foods too but I want him to eat some fruit & vegetables so this seems the only way.

Well the food stuff would be the ones that bother me the most.
Dummy to bed isn't the end of the world and he may well just grow out of that one.
Stick with milk in a sippy cup. Give a set time for it to be drunk - once stories are over that's it.
Purée at the age of two is a little unusual.
Why is he being given books/toys//TV to distract him when he finds it hard to concentrate on eating? Surely this is just exacerbating the problem. Take the distractions away and make the food the only interesting thing happening.
Is he hungry enough?
Does he snack?
Fruit purée in stuff is fine as is veg purée as a sauce for pasta but wouldn't purée up a whole meal for a 2 yr old.
Will he eat meat whole?
Does he eat Any whole fruit or veg?
I would really stop the puréed meals. Offer a balanced meal. He eats what he eats but if he doesn't there isn't anything else. Keep offering different veg etc, don't make a big deal, don't get stressed. He will slowly start to find at least some that he likes.
It is very rare for children to let themselves go truly hungry.
Get some toddler chewy vitamins to stop you worrying about his nutrient intake.

Oh and, yes don't do them all at once!
And my 3.8 yrs old still gets spoon fed sometimes mainly when her little sister is getting it also! It is just laziness!

I've given him sausages with mashed potatoes and peas tonight. He ate all the sausages first then has left the potatoes and veg. He gets things lumpy but unless the whole meal is mashed in together it doesn't get touched.

Dummy - leave it for now.

Milk in a sippy cup, take it away once story finished. If he wants it he'll soon speed up!

Spoon feeding - just stop. Don't worry if he doesn't eat everything, they never do. And definitely don't feed him purée. No need to purée - give him fruit or veg as finger food, fruit purée as a dessert after proper food. It's important he gets into eating proper food now.

Ideas for getting fruit & veg in - if he will eat pasta, you can make a hidden vegetable sauce, Annabel Karmel does a version as does BBC Good Food. Basically tinned tomatoes and a load of veggies whizzed up.

You could offer him smoothies, not telling him they're fruit, to try and get some fruit in. Call it a milkshake or something.

For the bottle situation maybe take him shopping to buy a special big boy cup then let him throw his bottles away himself so he feels he's in control. Perhaps go straight to a straw cup with his favourite character on (Peppa Pig in our house). Might even work if you buy him character cutlery and plates to feed himself, worth a shot.

Re the dummy, I'd probably just remove it one day and go cold turkey.

And as everyone else said, slowly slowly catchee monkey - do it casually and slowly and probably don't even pass comment when he does do something like drink a smoothie or feed himself so it doesn't become a big deal, just something big boys do.

Re the dummy, DS still had his for bed only until about 2.5. He used to get into his jammies then ask to be handed his dummy which he'd place on his pillow for after his milk and story.

One night he forgot to ask for the dummy. DH and I went through the rest of the routine and hovered outside his door. He never asked for it all night.

The next night he asked for it, and DH just said, 'Well, you didn't need it last night did you?'

He sort of tilted his head and thought about it and shrugged. That was it.

Previous to this I had worried, and googled and planned a whole strategy that I was going to implement in the summer.

Don't fret.

Re milk from a cup, we gave milk at story time and the dc haad to have a big swallow before we would turn the page.
We found that worked really well.

Re the milk - I give DD 18mo her bedtime milk in a beaker but I "feed" it to her - in other words I hold it like I'd hold a bottle for a baby. She seems to prefer that, it's like a compromise between cup and bottle (other times of day she holds her own cup). Also means I can control it a bit more i.e. I keep the cup in her mouth (obv not by force!)

Milk in sippy cup worked well tonight until he asked for more then spilled it all over my bed (covers now in tumble dryer!). As for dinner I am frustrated by the spoon feeding mush but really want him to get his fruit and vegetables. In no circumstances will he eat any fruit and vegetables on his plate. He asked for one of DH's peas tonight then threw it across the room. I think I am feeling a little insecure as he has just started the toddler getting into everything he shouldn't stage (had a raisin disaster today!) and we happen to live beside Mother nature who has all of these situations under her belt before they even arise.

Thanks, have just been shifting all the food from the bottom cupboards to the top ones (was feeding the dog from a box of cheerios this afternoon & above raisin incident, can get past the child locks now!).

It's more important that he learns to feed himself and chew properly than that he eats fruit and veg at this stage. Lots of them go through stages where they don't eat as much as we would like. Get him multivitamins for a few weeks if it will help you relax about it.