My Daughter Wont Eat - Fountain,CO

children that are approaching 2 are focusing most of their development on congnitive rather than physical. It is not uncommon for them to refuse food at this stage. they are just too busy learning to eat. My suggestion is to let her have the mac-cheese and corn once a day, like lunch. and then offer her a variety of foods, changing the food choioces daily at breakfast, am snack, pm snack and then only offer her what the rest of the family is having at dinner. Try not to make a big deal of it. do not bargain or offer choices. just serve a wide variety. you will be suprised at what she will eat. if she refuses any of these meals, dont push it. just let her know that she can choose to eat it or be hungry and then drop it. if she does not eat it, let her go play and clean up. supplementing in between meals with health snacks like cereal and cheese may give her more opportunities to have a few bites here and there. Try not to focus on how much nutrition she is consuming at each meal. focus more on whether she eats a little of each food group weekly. If you get extremely worrid, try the supplement drinks that you can get for toddlers, by the formula, but sneak them in occasionally, do not rely on them. But most of all try not to worry too much. it is so normal at this age to refuse many meals. I went through this with my kids and i thought that they were going to starve to death! but they wont.

That's a bummer. My daughter who is 2 is a pretty poor eater. I had to cut back on her milk intake. I think she was drinking way too many calories. Is your daughter drinking alot of milk or juice? If so, maybe cut back. Also, I've read in the Dr. Sear's book that it's a good idea to make a "grazing tray." Put little things on there that are healthy choices, like cheese, raisins, avocado bits, cut carrots, grapes. If you daughter is a walker already, put the tray on a low table where she passes by it. She may just start sampling. I realize that it would be nice to have her sit at the dinner table and all that good stuff, but if the grazing helps her to at least eat some more healthy options during the day, that's not such a bad thing. When she gets bigger, she will eventually have the patience to sit and eat with the family. Anyways, good luck. This has been a big challenge for me, too.

My son had the same problem at almost the exact same age but all he would eat was oatmeal. 3 -4 meals a day nothing but oatmeal. When I took him to the doctor the doctor told me as long as he is eating it is okay, that he will grow out of it. Sure enough maybe 3 months later he wanted to try other things. I'm not sure about the mac n cheese but consult your pediatrician. Maybe they can give you better insight on this. That is what I did. GOOD LUCK!!!It's frustrating.

well , i have 2 kids a 2 and 4 year old and believe me they were not the best when it came to eating certain things ! Maybe your daughter does not like mac-cheese or corn ! maybe you can try the old (if you take a bite i will) , you never what works with kids now a days!!
good luck:)

She might be teething, my 2 year old boy and girl twins just finished getting their 2 year molars and wouldn't eat during that period. I wouldn't worry. She is getting what she needs. If you want to hide veggies, one thing I found that works is pureeing some cooked up frozen veggies and sticking them in the cheese sauce. You might also want to try frozen blueberries my kids love these and feel great on sore little gums. Remember when kids are in what we would think is a rut there is something about the texture of the food they eat that they find comforting. If she is into starchy foods right now, try some mashed potatoes, or sweet potatoes, or bananas, if the bluberries work, put some yogurt and different fruits in the blender and fill up your ice trays for some baby ice cream.

That's all I can think of now but keep trying new things and she will find some new favorite foods I promise.

On behalf of our family thank you for your sacrifice and we pray your husband and the thousands of additional troops come home soon.

Best wishes,
K.

I've never really had trouble getting my son to eat, but I will at least try to help you with your problem. Putting other food--say broccoli--in the mac & cheese is a good idea. I hide veggies all the time--in spaghetti, pot pies, you name it! They're bound to get some of it in their mouths, even if it's just a bite or two. Try frozen mixed veggies (or canned, if that's your preference) that have corn in it, and maybe she'll sample some of the carrots or broccoli too.

Keep in mind that a meal time for a toddler can consist of about 9 bites of food, and the child can still thrive--their tummies and nutritional needs are fairly small. And mac & cheese covers dairy and carb requirements (try using whole grain noodles) and contains protein. She'll most likely outgrow this stage as long as you don't make a big deal about it--even my son has gone through phases where he won't eat certain things that I KNOW he likes. If the dinner table becomes a battleground, she'll fight back with everything she's got. And don't change the family's eating habits so she can see that everyone else eats this stuff too. Give her vitamins with iron to avoid anemia, try to make sure she drinks milk/eats yogurt (3 servings) and 100% fruit juice (4-6 oz/day counts as a fruit serving), and talk to her doc at the next well-baby visit.

O my I went through exactly the same thing with my son. He was about 2 when he started "phase eating" some of his phases lasted quite a while...I just let him eat what he wanted for breakfast and lunch. for dinner my kids get what I fix or a bread and butter sandwich. I made sure he was on a good multi-vitamin for kids and then just didnt fight over it. He usually grew out of each phase within a month or so. He currently really loves jelly and cheese sandwiches..(totally gross) but he likes to make them himself and thinks they are quite a treat. hope this helps D.

Hi J.,

Try anything she can hold in her hand, finger food(like corn on the cob) rice cakes (cheese,apple flavored)gram crackers, fish crackers, cereal (cherios), cheese slices, fruit, even cooked peas & carrots, pasta noodle (mac & cheese) just put on the high chair tray and let her play with it. Almost everything in the hand goes in the mouth at this age. Let her squish the banana between her fingers, hold an ice cream stick or cone and lick. The baby and tray will clean up. And no she is not going to eat much at this age, I have a 4 yr old that can take 2 bite of a sandwich and tell me he is full. Hope this helps.

My friend, who is also a SAHM like us, babysat a little boy that was kind of like this. She learned that if you just put them in the high chair with the food in front of them, they will eventually eat it. It may take a while, but eventually they will eat. I'd say no more than an hour in the high chair waiting for her to eat. Hope this helps or at least gives you an idea.