21 month old wont eat his meals

[Akshayan]

I am having trouble feeding my 21month old. He is fine to have breakfast but its 9/10 a nightmare during lunch. He just doesnt want to eat or shows any appetite. I really cant work out what the problem is. I cant continue increasing the gap between breakfast and lunch. So if he had breakfast around 8.30am (Weetabix, Banana and Bluberries) then he plays for a bit, naps around 11/12pm and wakes up around 2pm and he is not hungry at all. He sometimes snacks before his nap but thats barely anything. I am confused how he can wake up, and almost 6 hours after breakfast he is still not ready for lunch. Its making it so hard for me and mentally very stressful. I have tried spoon feeding him, I have tried to let him feed himself, nothing seems to work. Even TV doesnt help anymore.

Its making meal making and meal times very unpleasant. He has never been a good eater 😭 I have also tried feeding the same meal again an hour later and he still wont eat it. I cant work out what is wrong here. Typically you would expect a toddler to eat something every 2 hours. He has never shown me any signs of hunger like he would never come to me and show me he is hungry. I dont want to keep spacing his meals more and more. A lot of mums have told me that when their toddler misses a meal they just give them milk instead but I dont want to get into that habit. Any advise I would greately appreciate. Thanks ❤

The problem is most likely his age. DD (2.5yo) is just coming out of the other side of this phase, she'd polish her breakfast off but then refuse to eat anything else, the learn they can make their own decisions so test the waters. They won't starve themselves so don't panic

Offer little and often.
Some children just like to graze abit.

Is he drinking plenty?

None of my toddlers have eaten every two hours, I currently have a 13 month old and a 26 month old who eat breakfast at 8, lunch at around 12 and dinner at 5. They have milk with breakfast and the littlest one has milk when she wakes from her afternoon nap. The oldest one eats a good breakfast, a hit and miss lunch and dinner depends on which way the wind is blowing, tonight he's eaten less than the baby has (which is quite usual for him at the moment)

You might find Sarah Ockwell-Smith’s Gentle Eating book helpful. I’d suggest making up a grazing plate for him and leaving it out for him to pick at. Make as little of an issue over it as possible, it sounds like food is becoming very stressful for both of you and this isn’t a good path to head down! Let him take control of what and when he eats, and have the routine of an evening meal if that works for you.

OP I had the same problem. All I can say is in time it gets better. She is now 2.5 and says when she is hungry. Has breakfast lunch dinner. Before it really stressed me out. But it’s true what they say. they won’t starve themselves

He seems to have an early nap. Around this age my both children had breakfast at 8-8.30 then running around in the park for 1-2 hours (they both loved snacking in the park so I always gave them an apple of something) then lunch at about 12-12.30 then nap 1-1.30 pm. After the park they were always hungry and ate well. Add some physical activities and the situation will improve

The problem I have is that he starts nursery (day care) at 1pm meaning he needs to have his breakfast, nap and lunch between 6am and 1pm latest. So I try to give him his nap before he goes off to the nursery. May be once he has settled, I should send him and allow him to sleep there instead ?

Hi Op, I think the issue is the long nap. I was told while working as a nanny to wake up the toddler after 1 hr nap. It might sound harsh but I could see the benefits, including eating.