What do you do if your toddler refuses dinner?

[Naptime12]

Just made my 16 month old dinner and he threw it all on the floor then demanded a breast feed.
Do other parents then make them something else?
Obviously don’t want him to go hungry but I really can’t be bothered with cooking something else for it to then not be wanted/eaten.

It’s so annoying! I do offer an alternative but only because I don’t want a hungry child waking at night! Do you have any of those bamboo plates with suction cups? Mine doesn’t throw but was terrible for refusing food at that age so I sympathise

I used to give mine toast or ready brek! Anything to ensure as few wakes in the night as possible! I am not a happy bunny when woken up!

I offer bread and butter

Thats all

It's very hard though - I think that's the main reason they say feed them what you're going to eat- so you don't get annoyed when they chuck it on the floor. They are just experimenting with gravity..

It’s hard when they do this,
when are u breastfeeding? Is it usually dinner? Or bedtime?

can they have toast, bread, porridge? Cereal? Fruit?, pasta? East cook?

they might not be hungry? But may want soothing?

Ah it is so annoying. When my little one was around that age we introduced, if you don't eat your dinner the only other option is banana or peanut butter on toast. It's worked really well for us in that, she'll now either eat her dinner or have something reasonably easy and nutritious instead.

Mine are older but when little I used to just offer toast or porridge, quick & easy to make but filling.

I would offer fruit or yoghurt. Definitely not another meal.

Right I'm replying to this thread but I'm not one to give advice as my five year old isn't the best eater. She's not the worst either though.

At 16 months if she chucked her meal on the floor I think my reaction depended on my mood if I'm honest. If I felt up to it I may have made something else. If I'd had loads of sleepless nights and was on my knees I'd probably have said sod it and gave her a breastfeed.

mealtimes in my childhood were very stressful. My dd is a fussy little sod at times but it's not as bad as I was.

The only consistent rule I manage is I try never to make a drama of my dd not eating something (some days that's really HARD). No cajoling, bribing etc. just "you're not eating that today? Ok". I also shut down conversations about "not liking" things as soon as I can. I usually say "ok sweetheart you've told me you don't like carrots just eat the other stuff on the plate". Then if it wears on it often becomes "I get it, no carrots, you've said" I don't negotiate. Sometimes I'm raging inside about it but it's never become the battle of wills that I had with my own mother.

I'm sure others will have more successful advice though 😂.

Mine would only not eat at that age if she was full.

I only gave her milk before noon as I realised that if she had milk anytime after she wouldn't eat her meals. I had to convince her other care givers to do the same.

A little bit older then I would just offer toast.

I used to make sure dinner was something I knew he liked and would only introduce new foods at lunchtime. But no, if he doesn’t want dinner then he doesn’t get dinner. He’d eat if he were hungry. It occasionally backfires when he wakes up early and wants breakfast. But I don’t worry too much.

Drink wine

Yoghurt, porridge...maybe fruit or an organic cereal?

Our DD is 16m and a healthy weight so we are pretty chill. Some days its adult size portions of pasta and others its half a banana

We do no milk except bedtime (up to 210ml) and a little sip (60-90ml before breakfast) her eating picked up significantly when we cut down the milk

If she didn't fancy it then I'd just take her out and put anything non-messy on a plate for her to graze on after the rest of us had finished eating.

If she asked for a breastfeed I'd assume teething or other pain and do that then reoffer the same food reheated.

If it wasn't edible or had been thrown on the floor then Cereal, toast or fruit but not a full on cooked meal.

DC is 17 months and has just refused dinner too. Their preferred option was bread. Just bread. Jam was terrible. Butter was terrible. Banana was terrible. They literally just ate bread.

Some days they'll eat brilliantly and try anything, but some days are "bread!" "snack!" and "no!" to vegetables.

I'm trying not to take it as a judgement on my cooking (sob).

DS1 got offered a banana before bed.
DS2 got offered a bowl of cereal before bed.
Both were foods they would eat, but weren't overly fond of.
I'd be a bit more generous if the meal was not great or something new.

I don't cook DS (16mo) a meal anymore unless he's having the same as us.

I'll do a plate of different bits all together, fruit, veggies, some meat (like steamed chicken breast or bit of steak), maybe some pasta. I keep half back.

If he starts throwing or trying to tip the plate then I take it away and give him an item at a time.

He likes a toy or puzzle to distract him.

If he doesn't calm down at this point (he usually does) then dinner is over and I suffer the consequences 🤣

16 month old and if she doesn't want dinner I'll offer her a yoghurt and some fruit or maybe puffs. Usually does the trick. X

I wouldn't make something else, but I think that's too young to go without food so would offer something like weetabix or toast.

Thank you all for reassuring me I wasn’t an awful mother by not making another meal 🤣
This is when having leftovers would have come in handy.
I gave him some porridge with blueberries and banana. Banana got thrown but he ate the porridge.

Fruit is all I offer.

It's really annoying but I don't agree with sending kids to bed hungry so if my DD refuses dinner I offer her a boring alternative like a slice of toast or bread and butter.

If asking for a breastfeed, they may not be hungry and may just want comfort - could be teething, tired, have a headache..... so I'd let them feed and then offer toast or porrige or fruit before bed.

Try not to let it bother you. My eldest had lots of issues with food - she couldn't eat solids for 9 months, and trying to re-wean at 2.5 year old was a NIGHTMARE. She ate no vegetables for over a year. I was (very quietly and internally so she wouldnt pick up on it!) Tearing my hair out. Yes, she's still a fairly picky eater at age 6, but not off the scale. She can go to just about any restaurant and there'll be something she'll eat perfectly and nobody at school notices as far as I can tell.

One of my younger ones is a bit picky but I don't worry as much as I used to.

Mine did this a few months ago! I got him out of the highchair and told him no dinner because he threw it on the floor. He's not done it since!

(I did give him a bit of plain cold pasta from the fridge so he didn't starve, but I wouldn't say it filled him)

I would assume he was tired.
2 things that I found helpful were making lunch the main meal of the day, and only putting small amounts of food on the plate, offering more when the first lot was eaten. That way there isn't too much to clean up if it does get launched.
Toddlers are contrary little creatures, but everything is a phase.

We share our food with him and just give him a small portion. If that lands on the floor, another portion of the same thing. Have heard this strategy reduces fussy eating later on -- fingers crossed! If it doesn't work for you to share your meal with him, you can still just serve him what you've made him in stages, so one plate tip doesn't mean it all goes.

Btw the suction cup plate things only work if you have a perfectly smooth table.

Actually at 20 months our plate tipping days are mostly over!