2 Year Old Refuse to Eat

The moms made good suggestions for things to look at with his intake.

Here is the hard part.
As moms, we feel like if our children are not eating or refusing to eat what we are serving, we are not doing a good job of parenting.

In reality, there are times when humans are just not hungry, things do not look appetizing or we are just not in the mood to eat at some set time enforced by others.

Also at this age, he is becoming more aware of his surroundings and sometimes eating is just not what he has his attention on. Totally normal. Don't you feel like this many times?

You cannot force anyone to eat without consequences. Rebellion, resentment and sometimes health problems in the future.

And so what you do is keep your scheduled meals healthy, keep healthy snacks available. Do not bribe, beg or threaten children or anyone, that does not want to eat.

If you do not want your child eating junk or filling up on junk, do not have it in the house. The options will be only what YOU give him.

Place tiny portions in front of him. 3 green beans. 1 cherry tomato, 1 tiny meat ball. IF he eats an item, silently add more to the plate until he stops eating. No conversations needed about the quantity, instead saying, "mmm, I like my green beans." Wow this cherry tomato is nicce and sweet. "

Instead make sure he is getting healthy things to drink when he is thirsty and remind him, "if you do not eat your dinner. I am not making anything else until the next meal. " Just remind him about not eating when the food was available or have healthy options like apple slices, Cheese, yogurt. Whole wheat toast. etc.. available.

Consider other kinds of milk. Almond etc. Real yogurt with out a lot of sugar, cheeses there are lots of options. Will he eat cold cereal? Some children will get some of their milk intake from a bowl of cereal.

hang in there mom. This is completely normal and I promise there are going to be times when he is eating you out of house and home in his teen years. You are going to be amazed you were every worried about his lack of appetite.

If you are letting him drink all the milk and juice he wants, he is filling up on those. Limit drinks to water during the day, and milk and juice at meals. Yes, milk and juice are good for them, but not to the exclusion of nutritious foods.

We may not realize it, but we frequently do a lot of snacking during the day. Eliminate the snacks, and he may be more hungry when mealtime rolls around.

Sometimes it is just that they are such busy little creatures that they don't understand they need to sit down and eat.

We also forget how tiny a toddler's stomach is..... the general guideline is 1 spoonful per age of each item. Start with very small amounts.

He may be constipated, he may be changing his taste buds, he may be between growth spurts and not need near as much nutrition/as many calories, he may be fighting off a stomach virus or having some drainage and just not be hungry, there are so many things possible.

I would STOP the getting up during the meal time NOW. It will bite you in the butt the rest of his childhood. It will be horrid each and every time you have to do abdominal thrusts on his due to him choking in food in his mouth while playing or running around.

Keep to the routine, during meal time keep him in his high chair, do the family time thing, visit, ask about things that happened during the day, do all the bonding stuff. He will eventually eat meals again, it may be different food, it may be the same old stuff. He will not starve to death because at some point he will show signs he is having a medical problem and you will take him to the doc or the ER.

I would call the pediatrician and visit with the nurse about this though just for peace of mind.

How much milk is he getting? How much has he eaten? Maybe he has a virus that is making his tummy upset? Is he still producing in his diapers?