Help! My two year old son will only eat lunch or dinner...he hasn't eaten both for two months. I am worried that he isn't getting enough to eat or protein to eat on a daily basis. He usually eats a couple of whole wheat blueberry waffles for breakfast w/ milk. He may have a few grapes mid morning, but typically won't eat a balanced lunch. He will eat red grapes and a banana or crackers or goldfish. Dinner he will sometimes eat good, but will only eat a handful of things. If he eats lunch then he usually does not eat dinner. However, he wants to snack if he doesn't eat dinner. Do I just let him go hungry w/ no dinner and don't give in to a snack? It is so frustrating! He will not try new things and that kills me, too. Do I have anything to worry about? I am going to talk to his pedi about a multi-vitamin. The child will NOT eat veggies. Any suggestions will be most appreciated.
My 2 year old does that. Like yours, he eats pretty healthy foods when he does eat so I wouldn't worry too much. I do give him a toddler multi-vitamin (we use My First Flintstones)and I always continue to offer three meals a day. So long as he is growing normally and drinking plenty you're fine.
Both of my kids have done this exact thing.....then they grow out of it and become good eaters again. I had a rule of thumb that if they had ONE good meal a day I did not worry...I at times could not even get them to eat two meals a day. Typically we have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. IF they choose to skip a meal, I do not substitute another snack. We do take a multi-vitamin, a probiotic, fish oil or flax oil each day. Hope this helps.
my daughter did the same thing. I did stop giving her a snack if she wouldn't eat dinner. I'd tell her if you don't eat now there will be no snack later. They won't let themselves starve so I wasn't to concerned and I did start giving her a half of a flintstones vitamin at that age too. She's almost 4 now and she eats great, don't get me wrong we have our days where she doesn't like what I make but I don't run a restaurant(LOL)and usually she'll eat anyway cause she knows she won't get a snack later. Good Luck
http://www.kidsnutrition.org/bodycomp/energy/energyneeds_...
I found this calculator online. I have no idea how accurate it is, and it starts at age 3, but you can enter the height and weight. The breakfast he eats probably has about 300-400 calories.
My little brother always ate "good" Basically, he's been eating three solid meals a day plus snacks for the last 12 years, and he is overweight. I don't think it was good for him to eat as much food as an adult as a small child, but he did. Now it is so hard for him, and my mother has to pay so much attention to what he eats to make sure he does not overdo it. So, while she didn't have to worry about it at all when he was a toddler, now she does. I don't stress too much about what my 2 year old eats. For her, grapes, a few goldfish, and a couple slices of cheese is lunch. I think as long as they eat, and eat from the different food groups, they'll be okay.
Since he won't eat veggies, maybe a vitamin would help, but I would definitely ask the pedi about it first. You could try some of those recipes where they "hide" the veggies. I've never done it, but some people swear by it.
My son is the same way so I try to give him as much fruits and veggies during the day and he won't eat that. Eliminate some snack unless he eats more plus I give him Cod Liver oil, probotics, juice plus and as organic and natural,baked as possible.
I hope this helps.
M.
