15 1/2 Month Old Non-eater Addtional Question!! Is My Son Working Me Over?

Don't worry! He'll eat when he's hungry.
It's great that you offer him what the rest of the family is eating. Don't get into the habit of making him something different now. You'll become a short order cook in no time.

All kids do this, and they will quickly learn to control the menu and mealtimes if you give in and start offering cheese pizza and goldfish because you think "that's all he'll eat," and if you start pulling out snacks 30 min or an hour after you've offered a meal (which he didn't touch).

15 month olds are brilliant. They are completely aware of cause and effect. He'll learn in no time that if he pitches a fit about a plate of food, you'll eventually bring out something different, and something different still, etc., etc. At this point you'd no longer be his mother, but his waitress, or maybe his food slave. Don't do that! :-)

Offer 3 meals and a couple of snacks and he should have plenty of opportunity to get what he needs. Sure, he may skip a meal here and there (even two in a row!), but he won't starve himself.
And try not to prolong mealtimes hoping that he'll eventually eat. If it's been 15 min and he hasn't touched anything, consider him not hungry and pick up the food and move on to what's next in your day.
He may protest when you take his plate away, but it's not because he's suddenly hungry. It's the same response you'd get if you took a toy away -- he's just mad because you took something that was his.

Just stay focused and know that you are offering grat nutritious meals and one day he will eat them. You're in for this kind of food war for the next two years, so just stay consistent.
It really pays off! I sent my 4 yr old down the cereal isle this spring to pick any cereal she wanted for her "fun Friday" cereal (it's the one day a week I allow "junk" and sugary foods). I fully expected pink Barbie Princess cereal....but she came back with "Autumn Wheat" organic whole grain wheat squares... "like Daddy's cereal" she said. I swear I did the Happy Dance all the way through Walmart after that. Since then I've seen her make other healthy choices like "the bread with the oats on it" and trying new fruits and vegetables. And we haven't had pink princess cereal ever again!

My son was and still is the same way...sorry to say he is 5 now. I asked the doctor about his eating habits, or lack of, since he wouldn't eat dinner he would only want a peanut butter sandwich. I asked his doctor what was going on and if I should tell him no and he said that it was fine to let him eat a peanut butter and plus it is good for him. So some times I can tell and I remember when I make dinner if he was eaten the same meal before and I try to make if sound great and let him help make it and I can tell right of the bat if he will eat it or not. Other times if he says nooo I don't like that I'm not eating, I say fine more for me and daddy and bubba and then we all get dessert and leave it at that until he comes to me and says he wants it. He has gotten better. I wish you luck!

In our family you dont get anything till you finish whats on your plate. if your plate from lunch or dinner, at the next meal you were given the leftover food. we werent poor or anything but it made us healthy eaters

Kids won't let themselves starve. Keep offering him healthy options and, when he's hungry, he will eat. I think you are doing well at taking away milk excect during meal time. My daughter is 19 months old and went through the same thing. She preferred to drink and not eat so we only let her have water except meal time. She still only drinks a yogurt smoothie for breakfast, but will now eat the other meals with us.

Hi T.,

I agree with Allison. We had this problem with my daughter at that age and now she eats pretty much anything we do. Just keep offering the food. If he doesn't want to eat it, then don't fight him on it. He won't starve. But, if he is hungry later, offer him the same plate of food (no snacks). My daughter's pedi gave this advice and it really worked for us. He is not too young to understand the "eat this or you don't get anything else". Once you do it a few times, they catch on...believe me. It's hard to do and you may worry that they aren't eating enough, but honestly, he will be fine. I think we only had to do this for a few days to a week (usually at dinner time since that was when she fought it the most) and she caught on. Now, she is a great eater. The other thing to keep in mind is that at around 15 months, they start eating like a toddler which means they may eat a ton one day and hardly anything the next. They will survive! I also only gave my daughter water to drink except at mealtime when she had milk. My pedi also recommended this. Too much milk during the day could be causing the lack of interest in food. If he does snack, make them very small. He'll catch on soon and won't starve in the meantime, so just keep offering and good luck!

EDIT...he might be a little young to decide between 2 things right now. In order to avoid making 2 meals and wasting the food, I would just have him eat what you make...just try to vary it so he isn't eating the same thing all of the time. Now that my daughter is older (almost 2), she can tell me what she would rather have. I usually let her pick her breakfast (from selections I give her) and sometimes for lunch she can pick, but she eats what we eat for dinner (she gets to choose her drink).

Hang in there, T.! Trust yourself and your son!

The kids won't let themselves starve, but they will drive us crazy.
My almost-three-y-o daughter doesn't eat much solid food. I have her diet supplemented w/ toddler formula that I put into whole milk, along with flaxseed oil. Occasionally, I make a milkshake w/ icecream or yogurt and add protein powder along w/ the flaxseed oil. My pediatrician knows all this and thinks we're doing okay.
My daugher is small; she's only in the 3rd percentile on the chart, but she continues to grow and is healthy and happy. I don't want to make food a big issue that she starts viewing as a battle ground.
Yes, I continue to fix her a supper plate each night, which she usually ignores, but she does sit with us. she also eats better at school than she does at home!
I continue to worry, but I don't want food to become any kind of "trauma" issue, you know?
He won't starve, and there are many crazy things you can try. Both of you will come out of this fine! Maybe sooner, maybe later, but fine!

~K.

With both of my boys, I get them to choose from a couple of meals. Make it clear that they have to eat one of them or go to bed hungry (which will only happen once). So say that you have hamburger helper/chicken helper, hold up both boxes and tell them to both choose. THen they have to agree. If one is opposed to one in particular, they say they will get to choose the next night.

Remember that the size of a child's stomach (ours too, for that matter) is about the size of his fist. He won't eat much at one time, but will probably eat often. I have been in your shoes, and what I started doing was having food readily available all the time, and stopped trying to force the baby to eat at the same time as the rest of the family. You actually might have more peace at the table if the baby eats first, anyway. Let him "snack" on things like cheese, cereal, baby carrots, fruit, etc. all through the day, plus his milk and juice. By the end of the day, he will have eaten plenty. Of course, while he has a cold, you need to really push fluids, and be careful of dairy products, because that will create more congestion or complicate things if he has a fever. My doctor always said not to get too alarmed about the babies not eating, but to get them to him right away if they stopped drinking.

My children eat what I make or they get pb&j. Of course I know what their likes and dislikes are at this point, so I make some accomodation, but like you said if he knows how to work you already...

They won't starve!! Children eat when they are hungry. You've got to be strong if you don't want to enable a picky eater.