How to Get Your 2 Year Old to eat.....Anything!

Hi, I have the same problem with my 4 year old and he has been that way since we started him on solids when he was a baby. I asked the doctor if I should be concerned and he told me that it is normal. Some kids will only eat every couple of days but will snack inbetween, just don't give in to what they want like candy,sweets, etc... and don't let them fill up on milk and juice. Hope this helped.

Hi! My daughter just turned 2 and she is the same way. I just give her what we eat and if she eats it, great, if not OH WELL! Don't give her alot of juice/milk. Give her fruit as snacks. She will eat when she is hungry...my doctor said not to worry as long as she was a healthy weight. They go through spurts. It frustrates the heck out of me, but I have had to let it go. Suddenly, she will just start eating like a piggie!

R.,
Here's a few things you might be able to do. Have her try different foods that doesn't require hard to eat. Her taste buds are developing and the testures to them may make her feel yucky about them. Colors as well. So if she is only eating crackers and small things try baby food again. It won't hurt her and then try mashed potatoes and fries. Start feeding her light tasting foods. Some could be plan and doen't agree with her taste buds. Then if that doesn't work ask her doctor as well. And I'm 44 and I have been in my childrens classrooms as well as a volunteer. Now i work in a daycare as a pre-school teacher. By the way some children at this age won't eat but only a few bites. At every meal. But then as they see others eat that is their age then I have seen them eating alittle more each time. I hope I have helped you in some way.

M.

My 3 year old son is a challenge in this area as well! Since about 2 1/2. He used to eat everything. Now to get him to eat we require 3 bites of everything (his age). The best way is to have her HELP you prepare the food. I have learned that if I have him pour the oatmeal and milk in the bowl and he gets to stir and press the microwave buttons, he wants to eat it. Same with EasyMac & Cheese. I agree that they fill up on juice and milk. And the idea of putting finger food out (carrots, celery, cheese, crackers, etc.) and not making a big deal of it may work. She will help herself when you aren't watching. I also have noticed if I make him wait for dinner (not on purpose, but on those hectic nights after work) he tends to more likely to eat when he is starving! Good luck. I know it is frustrating. Don't let her win the battle. You are the boss!

I watch a 3 year old during the day and she is a very picky eater. it also does not help that at home all she eats are poptarts and bite size donuts. Very frusterating for me because my kids have to eat healthy food before anything else. And the sweets are not a common occurence in my house. This little girl would go days and only drink water and eat only very small ammounts of real food. Probably because he mom would give her coco pebbles in the morning and poptarts when she got home. I finally started making food into small fun bite sizes. I put bite size sandwiches on fun forks or colored toothpicks (I watch very closley when she is using those) I use food coloring to change the colors of homemade bread. Open face sandwiches with actual smiley faces with the meat. Pasta in diffrent shapes and again food coloring does wonders. We make up silly names for food and talk and sing the whole time we are preparing the lunch and snacks. She helps alot of the time. Makes lunch time slower but is worth it. I also do not force food onto her. She really is starting to come around to diffrent flavors. Slow going but defintly going. I also grind veggies into everything. Spagetti Mac and cheese. Anything I can get away with, I will.

My own son is now 1 and starting to be a little more choosy at meal times. So I have started to get him involved as much as I can also. Right now he mostly enjoys the singing and talking time. And my daughter is 13 and still ejoys silly food.

A few tricks that have worked here are to have her help make something. Kids like to feel independant. So get out everything you need to make a sandwhich and have her spread mayo or put cheese on. Another part of that that got the ball rolling for us was to get some big cookie cutters and cut the bread and toppings with the cutters and then the kids would have a fun sandwhich they made themselves.

We also could never get my kids to eat the pediasure type things and my pediatrician recommended we use carnation instant breakfast. It is just as healthy and sweet so the kids like it more. They even make a sugar free kind that the kids just love. Good luck.

Two year olds are picky...My daughter is 5 and I'm still struggling at mealtime. You just have to have faith that they will not starve themselves...eventually they will get hungry enough to eat. Try to find anything she'll eat nutritious and give it to her, every meal. My daughter started with olives, she loved to eat whole olives off her fingers. Slowly, add new foods, one at a time, never on the same plate...God forbid your foods touch! My saving grace was that I could always get her to drink "chocolate milk": Boost or Carnation instant breakfast. There are kids out there who can't eat by mouth who are completely sustained on formulas like that, a dietician told me about Carnation. The dietician also reassured me that they will balance out their diets if you look at the big picture a month or so of eating, not to get too hung up on individual mealtimes.
Best of luck, push the chocolate milk!

i had to sing a stupid little song to my son, it didn't last very long all kids go thru it, my nephew is a very picky eater, he wont eat anything. but he got away with it, they woulb give him something else. you have to stick to your guns and let them know that you are the parent.

Dear R.,

Before anything, does your daughter snack during the day? If so, what kind of snaks does she have?
What I do when my girls don't want to eat, I don't force them to eat instead I have them do some kind of physical activity, like running or play outside, so when they come in the house they are hungry and the food is right there waiting for them. As an insentive I tell them if they finish their food they may have some ice cream, or a piece of candy/chocolate. Hope this helps you, let me know how it turns out.

Sincerely,
Z.

Hi R.,
I'm sure you must be concerned that your daughter will become nutrient deficient; there is a way to provide her with the nutritional essence 17 Raw Fruits and Vegetables by giving her Juice Plus+ Gummies.Unless she has an issue with texture which might be a possibilty, she may enjoy these very much and you will not need to worry about vitamin or supplement toxicity from consuming too much. It's simply whole food nutrition from a variety of nutrient dense fruits and vegetables, with a natural sweetner to enhance flavor. You have nothing to lose by trying this, only her health to gain. If you think this might be an option for you and your family you can visit my website at www.juiceplus.com/+dl40646. I hope this helps, havea wonderful Christmas.

R., are there certain foods she just won't eat? or is it she just wont eat what you put in front of her? lol. my son eats almost everything now, but when he was about her age, he wouldnt eat ground hamburger, i dont know why. he would pick it out of casseroles and eat everything else. if we made hamburg helper he would eat everything but the hamburger..lol. it was a phase with him. if she;s not eating anything that you put in front of her give her the things she will eat. try peanut butter and jelly, the pb is full of protien! also give her cheese slices, crackers. there are ways around it. she wont starve herself, so as long as she continues to gain weight dont be overly concerned about it. she will eat when she is hungry. according to my mom i was the same way.lol and he told her that i would eat when i was hungry and if i was gaining weight that i was getting enough. :) hope that helps.

My 21 month old goes through something similar on and off again. He will love hotdogs one day and a week later he will hate them. He's like this with a lot of foods. He has hated veggies since he turned a year, so now I make veggie juice and add it to his apple juice and he doesn't know. I also try and get him involved in what I'm doing in the kitchen. He gets all excited when I get the electric hand mixer out to make mashed taters. I let him taste them off of the giant mixing spoon I was using and now he loves mashed taters. Just be patient. I'm sure your child will come around.

I agree that toddlers go thru this phase and they will eat when they're hungry if they don't have milk, juice, etc to fill them up.

But I also see the possibility that food has become a control issue for you and your daughter. You're trying really hard to get her to eat and she can control whether or not she eats. She knows it's important to you. And she's learning how to be independent. It's a test. She's winning. Kids always win in a power struggle.

My recommendation is to follow Julie's advice. Put the food in front of her and have the attitude, if she eats fine. If not that's OK too.
Make eating a pleasant experience by talking about anything but eating and food. That may be difficult to do but it works.

Well, all I can tell you is to avoid the "fillers": juice, pop, etc. Sometimes kids go through growth spurts where they eat a ton and sometimes they go through the opposite where they just aren't hungry at all. Don't offer her filler snacks like chips and graham crackers. Instead, give her a banana or yogurt.

I hope this helps. I wouldn't worry too much. She'll let you know when she is hungry. :)

Merry Christmas!

you could try puting out a tray or a cupcake pan filled with different foods that can sit out for a while then she can go and eat off of it when she chooses this way it doesn't feel like you are forcing her to eat. make sure that you put a good variety of fingerfoods in it and she will pick and choose what she likes throughout the day also my daughter loves to eat off of my plate sometimes if I am serving a new food I will put her portion on my plate until she gets to like it on her own.
also things like string cheese are really healthy and kids think they are junk food this could help if she thinks that she is getting a treat. just remember one of the worst things you can say is "just try it. it's really yummy" she won't trust you