1 year old hates dinner time

[slipperq12]

Hi all, so as the title says my 14 month old hates dinner time. He's not a bad eater usually
His typical day is 1 1/2 weetabix with banana or porridge
Lunch is usually half a bagel and cream cheese or philly, toast, soup and some fruit. Which he will usually eat all himself
Dinner is another story we have started trying him with bigger bits to eat and putting it infront of him, for example broccoli, whole pasta, sausage pieces.. he is not keen at all, it seems to me like he can't be bothered to chew at dinner time he'd rather have it blended. Is this normal? Or are most babies past this 😩 thanks xx

Yes dinner time was a battle for a long while. What would happen if you gave him a hot meal at lunch time and the bagel for dinner? We ended up swapping things around for awhile.

Dinner is often the hardest meal simply because it’s at the end of the day.
Stay calm. Don't let what he eats (or doesn't eat) affect your emotional state, because reacting may make things worse.
He’s still mastering eating solid foods in general right now. As long as you are presenting him with a variety of flavors and textures and introducing new foods on a semi-regular basis, you have nothing to worry about. You decide what’s on offer and when it’s served, he gets to decide what of it to eat of it. And do not get the crackers/mac and cheese/pizza that you know he will eat! If the goal is to serve one meal for everyone, he needs to know he can’t just hold out for the foods that he’d prefer.
Put at least 1 hour (if not longer) between the end of dinner and a bedtime snack/milk to avoid a situation where your DS realises he can refuse dinner and get food that he prefers right away. And keep the bedtime snack super boring and not his favourite food.
You can try skipping the afternoon milk/snack and serving dinner a little earlier or serving less filling snacks.
Also, at dinner time, offer very small portions to reduce the pressure he might feel.
Most of all, hang in there. I can assure you that your DS will eventually eat more than a lick of ketchup (my toddler who wouldn't touch his dinner is now a tween who happily scarfs down supper).

Follow sr_nutrition on Instagram, she has so many amazing tips about everything to do with feeding. Apparently it's normal for babies to go through difficult phases with food even if they started off great.. She's amazing, I can't recommend her enough.

Thanks for the advice! I'll give them a go! I think it's more frustrating than anything really isn't it when they just won't eat! He sleeps right through the night so that eases my mind he's not going hungry! Thanks again For the advice, greatly appreciated xx

He's probably just tired and grumpy because it's the end of the day. You may want to try offering food earlier, even if it's not when you eat yourselves. Otherwise just carry on, he'll eat dinner happily eventually.

DS is 13 months and I still help him with his food and if it’s soup etc he still gets it spoon fed. I put a variety of foods out in front of him which he also enjoys. He’s perfectly capable of feeding himself mainly but I don’t see anything wrong with helping him. He’s only little.