Toddler not eating Dinner

Eireog1

Hi All I need a bit of help. My 16 month old used to eat brilliantly but for the last month is refusing dinner and its a real struggle to get him to eat dinner. He can be a bit fussy at breakfast as well but no where near as bad. We just dropped the morning bottle thinking this was the problem but it hasnt made any difference. He has cereal in the morning and a bottle before his nap and then lunch which would be toast and fruit or waffle and sausage. His dinner is normally meat veg and potato but he wont eat it now. This meal is normally spoon feed but I have tried letting him feed himself and he still wont eat. He has a bottle before bed as well.



Any suggestions what might help thanks in advance

shesty

Is it an evening meal??Very, very normal.Tired after a full day, often not that hungry.Just get what you can into him and don't stress.He will let you know if he is hungry.

Eireog1

Thanks Shesty. It is normally the evening meal but I have tried giving it to him at lunch time and its still a battle. Tried yesterday for a hour to get him to eat dinner after his nap but it didnt work and then he had no problem eating chips and nuggets at his aunts house as well as a slice of toast so I know he is hungry but just doesnt want dinner.

lashes34

Eireog1 wrote: »

Thanks Shesty. It is normally the evening meal but I have tried giving it to him at lunch time and its still a battle. Tried yesterday for a hour to get him to eat dinner after his nap but it didnt work and then he had no problem eating chips and nuggets at his aunts house as well as a slice of toast so I know he is hungry but just doesnt want dinner.

Would you try a little more variety rather than meat and veg? Pasta with blended veg sc or risotto goes down really well with my fairly fussy 18 month old. I can send you recipes later if you like.

Eireog1

Thanks Lashes34 that would be great. if you have any receipes for finger food for Dinners that would be great as I think he doesnt want to be feed and wants to feed himself but when I tried with chicken and pasta and veg I think it was too dry.

lashes34

Eireog1 wrote: »

Thanks Lashes34 that would be great. if you have any receipes for finger food for Dinners that would be great as I think he doesnt want to be feed and wants to feed himself but when I tried with chicken and pasta and veg I think it was too dry.

Will send on tonight.

shesty

Do you mash it all up?Mine wouldn't be pushed on just meat ,veg and potato, they find it too dry.I tend to add beans etc.Honestly my 13 month old feeds himself.He takes the spoon, and I assist him scooping stuff up when he needs it, but he is getting fairly deft at it.He eats what we do at this point, once it is chopped up small.Bolognese and pasta, roast dinners with a little gravy all chopped up, shepherd's pie mashed up, veg soup with chopped up bread in it so he can spoon it easier, a kind of pasta carbonara....that sort of thing.

One other thing though, I noticed my second would not eat directly after sleeping (and often if she was too tired before her nap).She always needed a good half hour or so to come back to life.Dinner wouldn't get eaten if it was directly after she woke up.Just a quirk of ...her!!!Your guy might be a bit similar. ;-)

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Try mix up the meals a bit, like other posters said, pasta and sauce. Maybe move "dinner" to an earlier time and have a small snack in the evening, fruit or something. Is your little one feeding himself?

Eireog1

Thanks all. He used to have dinner in the middle of the day but stopped eating it for the childminder so we started giving it to him in the evening but it doesnt matter what time he has it he has no interest in it now. We do give him pasta and sauce and it is the same result I'm thinking of being a bit more creative and making some of his dinners into finger food like chicken and veg ball in breadcrumb to see would he eat it himself I suppose its trial and error until he starts eating again.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

You could try reducing the portions also, toddlers may not need to eat as much as when they were babies. Growth spurts and all that.

Does he feed himself? If not, if you give him a fork or spoon it may rekindle interest. I wouldn't worry about it though, he will eat when he's hungry

fits

I have a boy who won't eat dinner some nights. If he is hungry he will go to the table and wait for dinner there, but if he is not, there is no convincing him. We leave it on the table and sometimes he will come back to eat it later and some nights he won't. Don't worry too much about it as long as he is thriving and eating well the rest of the time.

Baybay

My son is much older now but when he was that age, I too was concerned about his eating habits. I mentioned it to the nurse at a developmental check up & she said to consider what he was eating over the course of the day rather than for each individual meal. I quickly realised he essentially ate two good meals a day with no interest in a third. This varied from day to day both in terms of which meals he’d be hungry for & the amount he’d have but overall he was eating plenty.

shesty

Yeah if they are evening meals, I find they can often be too tired, especially at that age.And they regulate themselves by what they eat over the course of a day-like we all should, they eat when hungry, rather than programmed into clearing plates at set mealtimes like we are.

Teeth can be a major factor too-molars coming through could put mine off food for weeks.

bee06

Eireog1 wrote: »

Thanks Shesty. It is normally the evening meal but I have tried giving it to him at lunch time and its still a battle. Tried yesterday for a hour to get him to eat dinner after his nap but it didnt work and then he had no problem eating chips and nuggets at his aunts house as well as a slice of toast so I know he is hungry but just doesnt want dinner.

I have a fussy 18 month old at the moment as well. I give him the food, if he doesn’t want to eat it I don’t spend ages trying to get him to.

catrionanic

He is the prime age for fussy eating to start so it could be a bit of that.

Could you try moving his evening meal forward by 30-60 minutes and see if he eats more then? Just in case he is too tired at the usual dinner time.

Eireog1

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the suggestions. He eat nothing yesterday evening for me and only a small breakfast but I think we have discovered the cause. He is constipated so I think he is full and uncomfortable I have given him a spoon of a laxative this morning so fingers crossed that he will relieve him.

This parenting job is so tough but its great to be able to come on here and get advise and opinions so I really appreciate all the input.

Cakerbaker

Have a look at the baby led feeding website / Facebook page. There’s loads of recipes for baby friendly meals that kids can feed themselves and that the whole family can have. Might help with ideas if you are going to try him with some new things.

Milly33

Tis indeed a great place to come to for support and well just to know you are'nt alone..

Out little one is just gone the year and half (not getting into specs) but exactly the same.. started around three weeks ago with just not wanting dinner, she would eat a small bit and then refuse.. Unlike your lad she is most defo not constipated so just putting it down to a change.. She does eat a might brekkie so kinda not too worried about it.. Tried swooping the dinner time also to lunch time and nope, she seems to like to snack on small things for lunch and dinner rather than big meals.. Which could be the summer time feeling too i am thinking.. We are currently away on holidays and tis the same, have tried different foods and just gave up really in the end, once she gets some food and lots to drink im not worried.... One thing she does not get sick of is fruit which I am trying to cut back on as i do not want the scuts... Fav for the last few week is peanut butter sambo, peanut butter on rice crackers (spice up with some apple or strawberries) or a great one as it is so good for them is avocado and kiwi mashed up... She ate a whole bowl of that so at least tis something nutritious

GreeBo

mine sometimes won't eat unless i give her something to hold... for example half a bread stick... just holding that is enough to get her to eat from the spoon...i think she just wants to feel involved!

chases0102

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get your toddler to eat more fruit and veg? Out 2.5 year old isn't bad to eat - we find he goes through different phases on being good and being bad to eat - all quite normal - but he just recoils at the sight of anything green! Or most fruit.

We've had some success, such as calling dates 'Dinosaur Chocolate', and will have banana spread on a rice cake, but that's about it.

He just loves bread and peanut butter, and any other type of treat!!!

Certainly know he won't be the first, or last, toddler to exhibit these behaviours, just wondering what other people's experience has been like.

dingledosser

chases0102 wrote: »

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get your toddler to eat more fruit and veg? Out 2.5 year old isn't bad to eat - we find he goes through different phases on being good and being bad to eat - all quite normal - but he just recoils at the sight of anything green! Or most fruit.

Stand some broccoli stalks in mashed potato so it looks like trees in snow. Then tell him/her to be a giant who was sent to eat the forest.

If he/she looks at you with a WTF expression, you can explain you got the idea off the internet.

chases0102

Haha, love the creativity of that!