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2 year old won't eat anything

4 replies

Thesystemisbroken · 11/01/2023 19:07

I am so hopeful that you lot can offer me some advice. I have a just 2 Yr old and 4 Yr old. DS4 is a lovely eater, can be fussy at times but generally eats well.

Let me tell you about DS2. Being honest I have given him half a biscuit here or there during the day and squash. Never an issue with DS4 who is not bothered by sweet things. BUT DS2 is a sugar fiend. He is refusing meals for days at a time. I've cut all snacks and no dessert unless meal eaten. He still has 10oz of milk at bed time but I've cut the morning bottle incase it was filling him up.

Example of last 2 days:
Breakfast: porridge with raisins / porridge mashed banana (both days ate it all)
Lunch: fish fingers and beans with bread and butter (eaten before but refused this time) / BBQ chicken wraps with picky salad bits (didn't even try it)
Tea: chilli and rice (eaten before but refused this time) / pizza (eaten before but refused this time)
Supper: weetabix and mashed banana (eaten it all)

Tonight I didn't give him supper as I think he's holding out for this as he enjoys it. He's had more milk tonight than usual because he's starving. He will point to where the nice things are in kitchen and cry into the floor when I say no. He doesn't fully speak but was saying apple tonight because I think he just wanted something sweet. If I make crackers and cheese with grapes and apple for example he'll just eat the sweet stuff.

He has fruit in the morning with his breakfast. Sometimes we'll have a good day and he will eat curry and rice and a good breakfast but wouldn't have lunch for example. Or he will eat a mashed up roast dinner but not two days in a row. I sit him at the table with his brother but should I distract him by sitting him in front the TV?

What should I do? I am planning on going to hv for advice. But in the meantime thought you all might be able to help.

Oh he's 91st percentile for weight and 75th for height. I just want to make sure he's getting his nutrients and developing a good relationship with food.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
MooseBreath · 11/01/2023 22:38

My DS (2y7m) does this exact same thing. He is also oddly the exact same percentiles as your DS.

Today he had...
Breakfast: 1.5 crumpets with butter and a banana (ate all of it)
Lunch: Potato leek soup with bread and strawberry yogurt (has had the soup many times, yet refused, ate a bite of bread, and ate the yogurt)
Snack: Grapes, a Babybel, and a party ring (ate the grapes, a bite of cheese, and the party ring)
Dinner: Half a fish finger sandwich with carrots and sweetcorn (has had all of this many times, but licked the ketchup off the fish fingers and refused the rest)
Milk before bed (5oz)
For drinks he has water and tea (I make him a very weak cup with milk and 1 sugar twice per day because otherwise he steals mine).

When looking at how a toddler eats, look at what he's had over the course of a week rather than a day. They really don't need much to sustain themselves!

NuffSaidSam · 11/01/2023 23:33

Given his weight, I'd say he's fine!

Serve the food, let him eat what he wants and then take it away (I'd keep it back incase he wants it later).

Don't bribe. Don't punish. Don't reward. Don't nag.

Food. Time to eat. Remove. That's it.

Don't give snacks outside of set times. Don't offer anything else.

If he starts losing weight or is lethargic/unwell then seek medical advice, but I honestly wouldn't worry about a big kid being off their food/fussy for a while. Just don't let it become a battleground.

Bababluesheep2 · 11/01/2023 23:44

I wouldn’t worry because I think most two year olds are like this! They’re fickle and some days eat more than others. Hungry kids will always eat the main thing i think is just having lots of basic bland stuff that they will find acceptable.

The rules I had were always no pudding /treats unless a good portion of dinner was eaten and don’t eat in front of the tv as you want to get them into good habits early on.

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CalloohCallayFrabjousDay · 11/01/2023 23:53

Maybe breakfast is filling him up? Porridge is quite "heavy" really.
Or, could it be that breakfast and supper are both stodgy and not lumpy and so less effort to eat?

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