My 18 month old daughter has always been pretty picky with food but over the past 6 months it has gotten worse. For breakfast she is happy to feed herself cheerios and milk with a spoon but at dinner refuses to eat any meals like Spag Bol, rice dishes, casseroles etc she won’t feed herself and won’t let us feed her. Even with finger food she’s picky. She has her favourite foods and usually won’t sway from those. She’s sometimes waking up early wanting to eat. Any suggestions on what I can do to get her to eat or is it really just a phase? Have others experienced this with their children?
- We play silly games at dinner which have our kids gobbling up their food and looking for more. Might not be your bag but each time a food gets eaten my husband or i will jump up as in pain and say did you eat my ear. .. someone just ate my ear etc etc. Never ever fails at our house. The kids love this game and when they say they are full i say ok. The other trick i use is to give food funny names ie clouds or ghost poo for mash pototo,what ever your kids interest is basically. Make dinner time a fun family time. Danielle
- My 17mo is exactly the same. Weetbix or toast for breakfast then just grazes all through the day then won’t eat dinner (if I’m lucky, he might take a bite). He’s been like this for many months now. As frustrating as it is, just go with it. I’ve only now finally just stopped stressing over it and because I’m not worried I’ve found he’s starting to actually try new things. It’s just an age thing. Best of luck mumma 💕 Hayley
- My 2 y.o is the same. He sometimes has porridge for breakfast and dinner as he won’t eat what I serve and I don’t want a 5am cranky wake up because he’s starving! Not worth the battle at the end of a busy day. Melita
- My son also went through that phase.. Lasted a few months I would say for us.. In that time I decided it was much more pleasant if I just fed him what he wanted and hid lots of vegetables in whatever it was (if possible). He’s just started coming good again (almost 2) and trying things for us (he understands bribes for dessert) lol Rachael
- What time does he have dinner. Maybe bring it forward by half an hour so he’s not as tired and will eat. Or I have heard of people giving there dinner at lunch time and then just a sandwich or fruit or whatever for dinner. Emma
- My 18 month old is the same at the moment… she is getting really fussy with her dinners but she eats perfectly during the day and has milk before bed so im not to fussed, hopefully it passes Hannah
- Try reading a story or drawing a picture with her at the same time ie keep her busy thinking about things other than dinner! It works for us most nights! Coralie
- Try no snacks for at least 2 hours before dinner she may just not be hungry if she has been eating all day. Try a bigger meal at lunch and smaller at dinner time. Their tummies are only small and they will not eat if they are not hungry. Kate
- My daughters 23 months and has been going through this for a while now lol. Apparently it’s a phase and they do grow out of it you just have to preserve for now but also be persistent so they don’t end up being fussy eaters. As long as they’re eating something then it’s fine (ive come to terms with this) lol. I still offer my daughter veggies & meat even though I know she won’t eat them, hoping that one day she will! lol. Sometimes I just go with toast for dinner – as long as she’s eating! Sarah
- My 6 yr old started a faze like that. But unfortunatly didnt grow out off. But he still eats enough that his a healthy happy kids so doctor told me as he gets older he may try new things. Katherine
- Not sure if this helps but since 15 months old my son stopped breastfeeding and went straight to only food and water, no milk drinks or bottles. He eats amazingly well and still does at nearly two. He has three meals a day, no snacks, so those three meals are very big but predictable. Often he’ll have 3 eggs and a piece of toast for brekky, and last night for dinner he had a whole piece of fish. Lunch might be a banana and half an avocado. If he’s not hungry I don’t make a fuss he just goes straight out of the high chair. Elana
