Toddler asking for biscuits & yoghurt after 2 mouthfuls of meal.... what to do?

[greenleaveseverywhere]

She's 2.

Currently when I serve a meal, she will have 1 or 2 mouthfuls and then ask for yoghurt or biscuits.

I really don't know how to play this one as don't want to fall into the "one more mouthful" camp but equally, not comfortable with her living on biscuits and yoghurt.

Help?!!

I'd just tell her that she can have some biscuits and a yoghurt if she eats her dinner. Then ignore any protests.

Exactly that. Just “dinner first, then biscuits/yoghurt”.

Are you happy for her to have the yogurts and biscuits? If so, I’d put them out at the same time as the rest of her meal, and she can eat in whichever order she wants. Takes away the issue of the thought of ‘rewarding’ for not eating her main meal and means she doesn’t have to hold out for food she’d rather eat if it’s there anyway. If not, just say that biscuits aren’t on the menu tonight and that dinner is curry and rice (or whatever).

But then she says "noooo" and refuses the meal and I don't want to put pressure on her to eat what she doesn't want.

Following as we have the same with our 2 year old with ice lollies (the healthy type), she will go back to her dinner and polish it off after...I think we've fallen into a really bad habit

I like the response "biscuits aren't on the menu tonight"

I'm going to use that.

It's honestly a mind field. I really feel for us as parents. I'm so conscious of not creating any issues around food but honestly just don't know what the solution is sometimes

Another option is to give her a selection of things including the biscuits at the same time. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. She can then have the other things. Or have them earlier in the day? Reiterate we need lots of different kind of foods to make our tummies happy.

That it’s not time for biscuits and yoghurt and she needs to eat her dinner.

So many kids eat virtually nothing by Reception age (barring ‘beige’ or sweet foods) in large part because they were offered toast/yoghurt/biscuits if they refused to eat their healthy but more ‘challenging’ (in texture, flavour, effort to eat) meal.

We didn’t do pudding in our house for this reason. If you didn’t eat your dinner you could come back to it if you were hungry but no alternatives. All of my kids are brilliant eaters and make zero fuss about anything put in front of them.

I don’t think that is a bad habit. Healthy ice lollies are just fruit juice. It’s like taking care of thirst before hunger. Which is better than mistaking thirst for hunger and eating too much.

Don’t buy (or bake) any more biscuits, then truthfully tell her that there aren’t any.

But they are pretty much pure sugar? And behave that way in the body. Totally different to being given a whole unprocessed fruit and water.

There’s nothing healthy about ice lollies for two year olds. That’s just marketing.

We put all the food out and let them pick- always balanced with choices. Dessert can be before or while eating dinner. Only rule we had with new things was to try them before refusing them. Over time their palate widened to include lots of different foods.

Well, depends on the ice lolly. I make my own by freezing natural no sugar added fruit juice. So there is hardly any sugar and they are mostly water. Same with the yogurt lollies I make. I think that’s what the poster meant by “healthy” ice lollies.

But then they are full of artificial sweeteners? That’s not healthy- it’s UPF

No, there are no artificial sweeteners either.
Just squeezed oranges and not from concentrate.

Most flavoured yoghurts are also UPF. It’s just marketed as healthy for kids

Get one of the toddler plates with segments - put a small amount of yogurt and half a biscuit in one with every meal. Don’t even mention it , it will become boring and not a bargaining tool and she will probably eat everything

You must be shopping in a budget grocery shop to only see UPF versions.

Are you sure? Everything ‘no added sugar’ is pretty much stuffed with artificial sweeteners

My DD is 2y4m and she would happily eat yummy stuff but if it's meal time I just tell her that it's lunch/dinner time now and she can have a dessert afterwards. I then put the food in front of her and get on eating mine and don't pay too much attention to her so she starts eating hers. But no dessert. My DD doesn't like all food (like salmon and broccoli) so I don't even try to make her eat those but keep cooking food that I know she likes. If she refuses to eat that food I know she likes then I take it as she is not hungry enough and will give her the same food later. She knows where the biscuits etc are and keeps asking for them but if it's not a snack time/she already had them earlier I tell her we can have fruits. And if she refuses then she gets nothing.

Wow. No need to be nasty. Most people don’t realise fruit yoghurts are considered UPF because of the thickeners and additives.

Yes I am sure, I avoid all artificial sweeteners like the plague.
you made me check my fridge, and no artificial sweaters

Also you can’t be that clued up because Waitrose and M&S certainly sell the same types of product. Don’t fool yourself that premium is any better

Sorry, but I think you are being a bit nasty by repeatedly disbelieving me when I say there are healthy ice lollies that are not pure sugar, artificially sweetened or UPFs.