Daughter not wanting dinner

[4kids3chickensandagoat]

Hi, I posted in chat but haven't had s response so thought I would try here! Daughter is 20 months, wolfs down her breakfast and lunch and quite a varied diet (spits meat or fish out but happy with fruit, eggs, cheese etc), the problem comes with dinner. She just flatly refuses anything I make for her, she did eat stew for a couple of weeks but that is now bill no longer eaten. She won't touch a vegetable, won't even try it. I offer them and she just pushes her bowl away, doesn't like pasta etc and now I am worrying. She will eat grated cheese but I can't disguise things with cheese for example as she seems to just know. I found a couple of ellas pouches that she will eat, they are the vegetable ones that contain quite a lot of fruit. Today I mashed sweet potato, wouldn't touch it, added a bit of Ella's and she ate it. I don't know what to do really, I'm worried she will only eat pureeed dinners for the rest of her life! Slight exaggeration but I am concerned I am doing this all wrong! Help! Please!

Maybe she's just not hungry at dinner time? What happens if you give her her main meal at lunchtime?

Can you not give her breakfast/lunch foods at dinner time?

Thank you for the quick responses! I haven't tried dinner at lunch, will give that a go, thank you. She doesn't appear tired at the time i feed her in the early evening but perhaps she is. Breakfast and lunch food she would devour hippo, do you mean do that instead of trying to feed her vegetables/pasta etc so she basically had two lunches a day? Sorry, am being dim . Do you think I should be concerned at the lack of veg? Protein wise she has cheese every day and she has egg every day.

I suppose I'm thinking if she eats a varied diet of breakfast and lunch things, why not feed her the same things at dinner? I think we can get caught up in thinking of appropriate 'breakfast foods' and 'dinner foods'. Food is food. If she's eating varied things, feed her what she'll eat!

Yes I see what you are saying. I guess so. I wonder want dinner to turn into a battleground! I spoke to the health visitor and she said offer her something, if she eats it fine, if she doesn't don't give her anything at all until breakfast. She no longer drinks milk so would literally have nothing for over 14 hours, too long in my opinion, or am I wrong

That's a long time to go without food at that age. Could you offer a sandwich or something that she will eat along with the food she's not keen on?

We ended up putting homemade dinners in branded jars, it worked, and then after a short time ds got over it and found eating dinner with us at the table on a chair more exciting! As long a their overall diet is balanced, it really doesn't matter x

My DD can be a bit like this (she's 2). She gets a main hot meal for lunch at nursery when she's there so we do the same the rest of the time and she gets a sandwich or omelette or beans on toast at dinner time. I think she's just not as hungry in the evening.