2 year old not eating dinner!
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Have A Baby?
Forum Name: Kindy and Beyond
Forum Description: So you've survived the sleepless nights and toddler tantrums, now the fun really begins! Talk to other parents of older children here!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=14727
Printed Date: 22 February 2025 at 9:55pm
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Topic: 2 year old not eating dinner!
Posted By: Lisha
Subject: 2 year old not eating dinner!
Date Posted: 23 February 2008 at 7:42pm
Lucy has just decided that she is not going to eat her dinner and it is driving us bananas!  She will sit there and start crying crocodile tears which doesn't work for me. It doesn't matter how many times we tell her "Mmmmm yummy try this", she still refuses.
Anyone else been through this?  ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Replies:
Posted By: Glow
Date Posted: 23 February 2008 at 8:32pm
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Oh yep, every night with my 3yr old. Then an hour later he will tell me he is hungry
I dont let him eat anything for a couple of hours before dinner & have tried bribery  Dont know what else to do.. Sorry not much help
Will be keeping an eye on this thread to see if anyone has some magical tricks ------------- Mummy of Two Boys B: 2004 K: 2007 |
Posted By: FionaS
Date Posted: 23 February 2008 at 8:48pm
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We definately have food struggles in our house. I do a few things:
1. Breakfast is her biggest meal so I add as much nutrition to that as I can....fruit, cereal, milk + ground linseeds and almonds + kids flaxoil. 2. We aim to give veges at lunch time to take pressure off dinner.. 3. At dinner time, she goes in her chair and is offered food. If she gets upset, we just say calmly "ok you're not hungry" and let her get down straight away. A while little or if she asks for food, she goes back in the chair and we try again. If she doesn't eat, we get her down. If she does eat we give her loads of praise and encouragement. A book I read says that kids won't starve as long as there is good food offered UNLESS there is more mileage in starving i.e. they get more attention from refusing to eat than from eating. Essentially, we don't encourage the crying and refusing by battling it. I think sometimes they just want to have control over the meal so if they know you're not phased if they don't eat they will often end up eating ok. With toddlers it seems that it is all about their need to feel like they are dictating the terms!!! LOL Sorry - I'm tired so not expressing myself well...does that make sense? ------------- Mummy to Gabrielle and Ashley |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 23 February 2008 at 8:57pm
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I found at around the 1-2 yr mark breakfast became the biggest meal and dinner the worst, especially so if the kid is tired. I never wanted to battle food cause I still remember as a kid having stuff shoved down my throat (as it were) and I won't eat so many things now because of it! If the girls say they don't want dinner or have had plenty, I remind them that that's it until breakfast (no giving in!) and let them on their merry way. If she's eating well for the rest of the day, I'd leave it. She also could be less hungry than a 1yo because her growth spurting will slow radically from hereon. -------------  |
Posted By: Kazzle
Date Posted: 23 February 2008 at 9:21pm
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i find that Rhiannon has a huge breakfast at about 7.30am, a snack at 10am, lunch at about 1.30ish, then she snacks from 3-5pm (popcorn, rice crackers, fruit) and when we have dinner at 6pm i dish her up a tiny portion and if she doesnt eat it, i dont stress as i know she has eaten plenty. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 23 February 2008 at 10:00pm
| we do the same as Kazzle pretty much - the kids have free access to the fruit bowl, but anything other than that - they have to ask us for. |
Posted By: fairsk8
Date Posted: 23 February 2008 at 10:33pm
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Well at the moment the only main meal Xanda eats is lunch. I have a lot of trouble getting brekkie into him in the morning, and for tea he sits there and picks at his food. So for lunch, I send lots to daycare, usually cooked vegies or a big salad sandwich and he eats it all during the day. ------------- http://www.bump-and-beyond.com/"> 
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Posted By: Lisha
Date Posted: 24 February 2008 at 12:14pm
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Thanks so much! She has a good rbeakfast, then a snack at 10am.. then lunch about 12ish.... another snack about 3.30 ish then tea around 5.30 ish.. so she is eating enough throughout the day, just have to work on dinner ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: The_Stuarts
Date Posted: 25 February 2008 at 9:40am
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Michaela's not a good one for eating her dinner either and I'm not willing to become a short order chef so if she doesn't eat it I assume she's not hungry.
She eats really well during the day and we make sure she gets plenty of fruit and veges offered at all meals so I know she's getting nutrients. Like FionaS said toddlers won't starve themselves, when they're hungry they'll eat and they're actually much better than us at knowing what their little bodies need. ------------- http://lilypie.com">   http://lilypie.com">
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