2 year old wont eat

Egan2012

Hi guys ,
I have a 2 year old boy. He used to eat anything you would put in front of him. Lately he is just gone so fussy. If you try and give him any type of cereal he will cry eating it and then he will start gagging on it. All he wants to do is eat toast. He used to eat all types of cereal. When it comes to dinner trying to feed him potatoes is like mission impossible. All he will eat will be chicken and chips or even sausage and chips. I used to be able to bring him to a hotel or restaurant and he would devour a whole baby bowl but cries now if he sees one coming.
Any advice will be welcome.

sillysmiles

Do you think it is a stubborn/control thing? Has he complained of any pain? May texture is an issue for him.
Would also just get rid of junk and chips out of the house and then let him eat what he eats, if it's only the chicken of the plate then all well and good.

Egan2012

sillysmiles wrote: »

Do you think it is a stubborn/control thing? Has he complained of any pain? May texture is an issue for him.
Would also just get rid of junk and chips out of the house and then let him eat what he eats, if it's only the chicken of the plate then all well and good.

It's not a control thing anyway. I don't think so. It is partly a texture thing. If you gave him a slice of ham he will cringe at the feel of it. His favourite cereal was warm wheatbix or a bowl of porridge. He used to love this. My 8 month old she will eat all around her. I try feeding him with her so he can see what she is eating. But he wont budge on it.

How Strange

It's quite normal that toddlers stop eating as much as they used to. Firstly they aren't growing as quickly anymore so they need less food for energy. An 8month old can eat more than a 1yr old, a 1yr old more than a 1.5yr old, a 1.5 yr old more than a 2yr old and so on. An 8 month old is far more active than a 2yr old as they are learning how to sit up, crawl, walk etc. A 2yr old has mastered all these things.

Secondly they are starting to show their personality and are learning how to say no and mean it. I really wouldn't worry too much as they will eat when they're hungry and when they're having a growth spurt. Trust your son that he knows when he's hungry.

Don't offer any junk food, milk or juices as snacks as these may fill him up and make him even less likely to look for real food. Let him snack if he's more interested in eating that way but make it healthy.

Get him out in the fresh sir as much as possible as the best way for him to build up an appetite is through being active.

Also look at the size of his fist. That's the size of his tummy so be realistic about how much he will/can eat. We all tend to give portions which are far too big. Give small portions of food and give more if he asks for it but don't push it. Let him lead the way.

I think every parent of a toddler goes through these phases lots of times.

I'd really suggest you read My Child Won't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez. It should be handed out to every new parent leaving hospital as it explains that all of this is normal.

pwurple

+1 to everything How Strange says above. He sounds like he is asserting his independence a bit. totally normal. He is too old for the baby bowls at two I would think. Does he use cutlery or are you spoonfeeding?

Mine just loves the play and assembly aspect of food at the moment, she is two. I mean things like putting cheese onto her own pasta, or scooping up curry with her bit of naan. Putting the bits of tomato onto her own cracker. Peeling the satsumas. Things with sprinkles or stuff that needs to be rolled up or dunked. Noodles are another great one.

She often eats hardly anything one day, and then eats all round her the next day. Appetite varies from day to day.

Egan2012

pwurple wrote: »

+1 to everything How Strange says above. He sounds like he is asserting his independence a bit. totally normal. He is too old for the baby bowls at two I would think. Does he use cutlery or are you spoonfeeding?

Mine just loves the play and assembly aspect of food at the moment, she is two. I mean things like putting cheese onto her own pasta, or scooping up curry with her bit of naan. Putting the bits of tomato onto her own cracker. Peeling the satsumas. Things with sprinkles or stuff that needs to be rolled up or dunked. Noodles are another great one.

She often eats hardly anything one day, and then eats all round her the next day. Appetite varies from day to day.

When he eats himself he will sit at the table and eat his own dinner. His favourite is beans on toast. He
Would eat a tin of beans
To himself if he was giving them. When we go out for dinner when I say baby bowl I mean spuds gravey meat and veg. A kids dinner. He would polish the plate himself if it was nuggets and chips or sausage and chips. I'm just worried because he is not getting veg into him.

littlemissfixit

I would say don't push or even try and convince him to eat, I found the more I tried different tactics to entice my toddler to eat the more she would refuse it.
Its a phase, but it could last a while, my two and a half as been like that on/off for the last 10mths+ I'd say.

In my opinion, there is nothing you can do but relax about it. If there are things you're not happy for him to eat just take them off the menu, I'm not of the opinion that anything is better than nothing anyway.

Toast is good, beans is good also, and if that's all he eats for a week, so be it. Don't worry about the quantity or time at which he eats. I know we would all love the sit down at table for every meal but there will be plenty of time for table manners when toddler years are over. My daughter sometimes eat at her own little play table, or with her bowl on the chair, or pick a couple of bites and wants to get off and we just let her.

For the vegs, try maybe sweet potato chips, or other veg chips if he likes chips so much he might just give it a go. Or spreads for his toasts, if he likes houmous you can mix different veg paste with it too.

Just for a little hope, for a couple of weeks my daughter categorically refused to touch her mash potatoes and vegs and last week just as I was thinking to myself what I would make for dinner she came up to me and exclaimed: "I'm going to eat POTATOES, all the potatoes!"

Go figure!

aknitter

I have the same problem at the minute. My fella is 2 next saturday, he will only eat roast potatoes, chips or homemade wedges (everybody loves these). Veg is always ignored. He won't eat any meat unless its battered or breaded so I am battering my own nuggets later this week but I have a feeling it won't work as I think he likes the texture of the nuggets that are frozen.
But he does love apples, strawberries, bananas, I can put anything into a smoothie. He refuses the petit filous yogurt and will only eat an adult size one.

Smoothies might be a way to go. Personally my fella is good size and weight so I'm not worried, I think it is a independence/control issue with him so I am just trying to not let it get to me and wait it out. As he gets older I'm hoping I'll be able to reason with him more but I know from my older lady that at times I made or offered stuff and it was refused or 'I don't like it' but if she got it at a friends house then it was lovely! My advise is don't let this issue become a battle but hold your ground and if he doesn't eat what is in front of him, fine but nothing else is offered! I've done this myself and he went to bed with no dinner. Didn't happen the next day...

Moonbeam

welcome to having a 2 year old,they are nightmares!!!
Mine refuses dinner but will eat anything else.
Shle would live on smoked salmon,blue berries and babybell.