Hello
my DD is 2 and since weaning has been a fairly fussy eater- reluctant to try new things and sometimes seeming to eat very little. Otherwise she is a normal happy 2 year old.
She goes through ups and downs of how much she eats and we have a pattern of things she generally (though not always) will eat and i try hard to introduce new things. i dont allow much snacking.
However, in the last 3 weeks it feels like meal times, but mainly dinner time, has become a total nightmare, sometimes with me having to leave the room in tears of frustration.
It started with a terrible cough 3 weeks ago (possibly a chest infection according to GP) and she was off her food, understandably. But thats gone now and she hasnt really gone back onto her food and her behaviour at the table is quite 'challenging'- sometimes throwing things around and literally screaming if i wont let her play with something she has noticed en route to the table.
I have tried disctracting her with a toy- but then she gets so engrossed in toy she wont eat anything. Then if i try dinner without a toy she gets so wound up to get down from the table that she screams. its been like this for a couple of weeks and its really getting me down. we also have a DS aged 4 who has always eaten brilliantly and i feel as if he gets very little attention from me at dinner time now, so feeling guilty about that too. Also- if she doesnt eat much she wakes in the night, so i feel quite stressed if she doesnt eat knwoing we will get a terrible nights sleep..
Please can i have some advise on how to deal with it- mainly the food really but also the behaviour. And i know some people have the attitude that they would not put up with food refusal but in my opinion you cant force feed a 2 year old . Just saying that as i am feeling really upset about it and messages telling me not to put up with it will only make me feel worse. Hope i don't sound too cranky! 
thanks.