My toddler doesn’t eat

mushkamothers

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 10:47 pm

amother Khaki wrote:

you cant give in. sit her in the highchair and feed her whatever nutritious food your giving her. If and once she refuses to eat tell her that she has to come out and no more food since shes not eating. then just take her out but do NOT give her anything else instead. If a kid is hungry they WILL eat. eventually she will come over and ask for food. If she adamantly refuses then nothing will happen if she goes to sleep hungry one night. It may take a few days but she'll get in the habit of eating normal food.
I know this sounds harsh but I have little kids too and it works. Theres no yelling or punishing.... all the parenting experts say to do it this way...

Huh? Maybe you're not describing this method right.

At that age I would get rid of the high chair and have a small table and chair. A knife like Tovla Jr (on amazon) or a crinkle cutter knife. Lots of things to dip into - dressings, ketchup etc. Cocktail or toothpicks. Skewers for fruit or veggies shishkabobs. Ie make foods hands on and fun with no pressure.
BTW it can take up to 20 times exposure of a new food (minimum 8) til they try it. So don't quit after once or twice. Keep offering the food with no pressure.

amother

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 10:59 pm

tichellady wrote:

get her a little table and chair instead of a high chair. include her in food preparation as much as you can. don’t make a big deal about whether or not she eats, just offer her the food and end mealtime if she’s not interested. kids that age often eat one good meal a week not a day. my oldest is very picky and also tiny so I get the stress but ultimately all you can do is offer the food, you can’t make the child eat it. it’s kind of a metaphor for parenting in general

This was very helpful. Thank you

amother

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 11:02 pm

mushkamothers wrote:

When I give her things to dip into, like ketchup or dips on shabbos, she dips and just licks it off without eating the food arghh!

mushkamothers

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 11:16 pm

amother OP wrote:

When I give her things to dip into, like ketchup or dips on shabbos, she dips and just licks it off without eating the food arghh!

That's just fine. Your goal here is to encourage handling, touching and feeling different textures and tastes. You can't force them to eat it. You really need to lay off the pressure because they can sense it.

amother

Cognac

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 11:26 pm

OP, go to kidseatincolor.com and read up about the idea behind DOR (Division of responsibility) and about how to effectively expose kids to new foods. You can do it, your daughter will be fine and will not go hungry. You're just getting a lot of scattered information here instead of a cohesive picture

amother

Carnation

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 11:44 pm

The first thing would cut out is the milk and juice in bottles and straight out nosh-sugar.
She can have some milk/juice in a cup at meal times if she really needs it. They rely on the bottle as a meal replacement. Water down the bottes until it's only water.

Also my kids love eating their chicken with little fruit picks and other exciting small/colorful forks-picks. At this age you can sometimes distract them. So if you usually feed her let her try it herself or sit by the table/outside etc. to take her mind off the fact that she's eating foods that she officially doesn't like.

amother

Khaki

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 12:01 am

mushkamothers wrote:

did you ever read the jim fay method? he says to do it this way
if I got a small table and chair my 18 month old would just throw the food around and not sit at the table. hes a very big trouble maker. sitting in the highchair gets him focused on eating food he cant go anywhere

amother

Lightgreen

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 12:47 am

You really need to get rid of the bottle. It’s not nutritious and not developmentally appropriate for her. She’s essentially filling up on milk and has no need for food.
I have no suggestions how to do that, I nurse instead of bottles.
Once you eliminate the bottle, she’ll be eating 3 meals a day plus a snack or two. You can give her a cup of water at each meal. Drinking milk from a cup is drinking to satisfy thirst- not relaxing and enjoyable.
Continue exposing her to new foods.
Continue letting her explore and letting her decide what to eat.
But she won’t eat if her little stomach is full of milk

amother

Brass

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 1:15 am

Take her to the NYU feeding center for an evaluation. Ds went there at a similiar age and he only wanted his bottle. We started diluting the milk slowly so he would feel hungry and try new foods. The feeding therapist also encouraged us to add some toys playing with the food, to our surprise!
Diluting the milk worked and he started eating more. It's a process, slowly we are getting him interested in new foods. We also always eat together and the same thing so he sees we are all enjoying it.

amother

Candycane

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 2:29 am

Op, you got some good suggestions here. I have a toddler who won't sit still and I discovered that she stayed for longer when standing on the "mother's helper" type standing stool at the kitchen island. I'm not saying it's necessarily ideal about developing habits but she stands there and eats her meals, so I consider it a win.

SG18

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 2:46 am

Don't offer "nosh" as food. Snacks in our house are fruit or vegetables. Carby options can be potato crisps, Bamba, crackers, pretzels...
We offer a carb with each meal that I know my daughter will eat- bread, orzo, potato- a protein, and a vegetable (fruit with breakfast). She doesn't need to eat everything, but this is what's available.
Bottles should be cut out. Start with during the day- not having it accessible, offering water or milk in a straw cup instead.
Once that's been going on for a few days, cut out the nighttime bottle.