Dinner time Nightmare

I am getting to my witz end with Rhyley and dinner time. its hit or miss that he eats anything and its a battle with Rhyley normally crying in his highchair (cause I am gonna win but never do)

I know hes hungry hes gotta be - but hes stressing me out with this battle and gone is my placid lil boy and in its place is this horrible definant child - Give me back my Rhyley who loved to eat and eat anything and was a pleasure to feed.....

when my boys were that age and still in the high chair if they didnt eat dinner then i would offer them fruit and if they didnt eat that that was that.
there is no point in stressing over dinner - in my opinion anyway - the more relaxed you are the better and it isnt the end of the day if he doesnt eat it. if you are worried about nutrients etc you could try giving them to him at lunch time or i used to give my boys toddler milk with quik. they thought they were getting a treat and i felt good they were getting vitamins etc.

I agree with Bizzy. You can't be a short order chef.

If he won't eat what's put in front of him let him down from the table, he'll soon learn to eat what he's offered when he's hungry. It may seem nasty the first time but it does work.

Also be aware that he may decide to skip the main course and go straight to the fruit. Michaela did this after having a cold several months ago she figured she didn't even need to try eating her dinner as I'd offer her dessert (fruit and yoghurt) if she refused to eat it so to put a stop to it when she didn't eat her dinner I didn't offer her anything else. My DH told me I was a cruel b!tch for sending her to bed without dinner but it worked, she still slept through the night and she woke up hungry and didn't try skipping her dinner to go straight to dessert again (well, for several months at least).

Toddlers will eat what they need and aren't yet restricted by our ideas of 3x meals per day. Most toddlers seem to prefer to snack all day rather than sit down to proper meals.

If Michaela completely loses it and refuses to eat, and she's not eaten properly all day, I put a couple of scoops of complan in her bed time bottle.

Edited by MrsMojo

I agree with Deb....dont stress about it. If they are hungry they will eat what is infront of them. I put Zaara in her high chair, give her the same thing we are about to eat...some days she will eat every thing on the plate, some days she will pick and choose what she will eat and some days she refuses to eat all together.

We do not give her any thing after dinner.

Thanks everyone - I have found he will also eat bubble and squeak - Mash potatoe and veges mixed in a patie type thing which is grilled - he loves it and i feel better cause its got vegies aglor in it

CuriuosG - yes we have always sat as a family at tea time - its my rule. And its a good habit to get into. Sometimes rhyley may have his dinner before us if i am running late but most times its with us.

Debs you are right (and others) not to stress is the key - i do try not to but dh is a right stresser and so it gets me stressed.

I have began to give the caregiver the food I would normally give for dinner as he seems to eat at hers ok - mainly cause its lunch time and other kids are eating around him... eat or miss out

AnnC wrote: I have began to give the caregiver the food I would normally give for dinner as he seems to eat at hers ok - mainly cause its lunch time and other kids are eating around him... eat or miss out

thats funny that...my boy eats his crusts even if it is at kindy... along with everything else in his lunchbox. i had to tell my husband to stop giving him so much cause he wouldnt leave till he had finished everything!