2 year old refusing almost everything! (Food)

[2littlemoos]

What do I actually do?!

I've tried everything and nothing works anymore. The food has been a train, a plane.. characters from nursery songs to which I sing.. I've used her toys to try and feed her. I've bribed. I've threatened. Nothing is working and it has become ridiculous!

She doesn't even want some of the things she used to enjoy. Breakfast is the only easy meal.

When will this phase end. I am clueless as to what to do next. Thank you

What will she eat?

It might be worth taking the stress out of it for a while - give her things she will eat - if she will drink milk, top her up,with that - but just make mealtimes a stress free time for you both. Then gradually introduce a bit more variety, but try to keep a stress-free, 'It's OK if she refuses it' attitude.

I often found that, if I ate something, and told the dses it was mine, not theirs, they would want to try it!

"Stdg" yes tried that as well. No luck!

Atm she only likes porridge, banana, cheese, yoghurt, SOMETIMES egg, toast, SOMETIMES cucumber.. she likes fruit and oat bars but I don't like to offer them straight after she has refused to eat but at the same time I am trying to avoid snacking for a few days to work up an appetite.

She has gone off all her favourite veg as well. Tried making veggie sauces. Pointless. Made sweet potato and chickpea patties. No way.

Might try the veggie muffins again but probably no point!

Thanks though. I'll keep at it!

What do you eat when she's eating? Do you offer her the same?

tea pretty much. She might have a couple of different options due to spice etc. and sometimes it's laid out differently to mine but generally the same.

I've seen a book recommended a lot called 'My child won't eat!' By Carlos Gonzales. Not read it myself, but know people who said reading it totally changed the way their child ate.

Interesting; thanks *thebooks" I'll look into that.

I second the book.

It won't make your child eat. It will adjust your expectations though. ;)

This is my life with my two year old son, he has a very small range if food he will eat! I am hoping he will grow out of it super quick!

Me too cookie I'm finding it hard not to let it stress me out!

My son went through a similar phase at that age. As STDG said, lunchtime as a variety of snacks will take the stress out and make mealtimes a more enjoyable time for him. With evening meals, I would add ketchup to most things as it was something he'd tolerate. So while it would make most meals taste identical, at least he was getting varied nutrition.

I'm happy to say that now, at 12, he'll eat most things and is completely unbothered by ketchup. Here's hoping it's grown out of quickly!

When it's just a 'no' phase I treated it as bad behaviour until they'd try a few mouthfuls at least. If genuinely didn't like it then, they'd have a weetabix

If you stick to stuff that is easy to make, and you know she will eat, you don't end up with the situation where you have knocked yourself out cooking something lovely for her, only for her to turn up her nose at it - which can be really frustrating and stressful for you.

Then you can gradually reintroduce more different foods after a while.

Is her weight ok? Is she running around/active etc? If these two are ok I'd just present her with whatever you're having and let her take it or leave it. Toddlers are fussy buggers. Try not to let it get you down.

threestars ketchup worked yesterday with a veggie burger I made, but not today!

missanony this is I have felt recently. She will not even try it, no matter what I do.

SDTG yes I am just going to do that for a little while. Hopefully she'll get bored after a while and will want to try what I have

indubious she is skinny, but she always has been. She's a string bean, just like I was! And yes lots of energy. You're right, I have to remind myself of how young she is and what toddlers are like.

My 23 month old has good/bad days. More bad than good . I wrote a post a little while back about it actually, it is frustrating & I still get stressed out by it even though so many people told me not to - not always that easy though eh? Hope things turn corner for you soon OP.

Thanks "tinks" it's always reassuring to hear we're in the same boat

I feel for you. I have a 2 year old boy who is hideously fussy. I could have fed Africa 5 times over with the amount of food that goes in the bin with him. I'm hoping he grows out of it. 2 weeks ago at nursery he ate nothing and the girls ended up making him toast as they were worried. I have read that book and its not helped at all. One of his main suggestions is that children don't eat because they are not hungry. I refuse to believe a child that has eaten nothing all day isn't hungry!

This is my life. My 2 year old will only eat pasta and peanut butter sandwiches and bananas . I try not to get stressed but I do!

You could try having a look at Ellyn Satter's 'Division of Responsibility'. There's a toddler section.

I feel your pain as my just turned 3yo dd is very similar. What's more frustrating is that her older brother will eat pretty much anything and therefore I don't want the rest of us to have something bland for her, nor to cook something separate for dd. So she eats almost nothing in protest