fussy toddlers not eating

[Dannii]

my daughter is nearly two and has recently started to not eat hardly anything at meal times. i give her a variety of foods to eat but seems to just have no appetite. she is a tall but slim girl and worry if she doesnt eat a good meal soon she will start to lose weight. can anyone give me any advice?

[tigwig]

Hi, I know exactly how you feel. My daughter who is now 3 ate hardly anything apart from sausage rolls and chicken nuggets from the age of 18 months. I tried everything including star charts and starving her by refusing to give in . She ended up not eating anything for 3 days when I realised she would hopefully grow out of it and now she is still extremely fussy but does try small amounts.
My advice is to keep a food diary and show it to your health visitor she can advise you further. Also, try not to worry because if she looks well she probably is and more than likely eats more throughout the day than you realise.
You could try a reward chart or cutting out all snacks in between meals etc so she is really hungry. Good luck, let me know how you get on

[radiogaga]

hi our daughter is 16 months and is starting to 'choose' what she'd like and not like to eat, i have found by not making an issue of this, but congratulating her with praise every time she eats/ finishes her food certainly helps. apparently this is a stage in their development, where she is savouring her food instead of devouring what was on the plate as beforehand with ours.
normally people should take approx 15 - 20mins to eat a meal, eating slowly.
try not to repeat yourself if she is taking longer to eat, encouragement more that criticisim helps for us.

best of luck

[annie0000]

I have had similar problems with this before, see this thread, it might give you some ideas:

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Family/Parentin g/Question386888.html

Good Luck

[missrandom]

keep offering a variety of foods even if you know they wont it eat, dont make a fuss, but dont give in, soon enough they start trying it.

[aims1202]

i think this is totally normal shes showing her independence and the more you want her to eat the less she will! Do you eat meals all together as a family and eat the same thing? this does help, she sees you eating it and it means there is less focus on her.
you could try putting the food on plates in middle of the table and everyone takes what they want. also try not to say anything, except praise when she does eat something. kids are very clever and they know how much food they need, sometimes they eat lots, sometimes they dont. she may be eating more than you think.
try not to worry too much as she will sense this and it will make her feel anxious about meals.
you could also make it fun by sometimes having an indoor picnic with teddies or involving her in cooking dinner. my son has always helped me with it, doing the bits he can and then when i do the bits he cant, he makes a mixture with herbs and spices!
If she has sugary snacks in between meals she wont be hungry enough, so give fruit or veg. i also think drinks like squash do this too as they have lots of sugar in them. i have always given water in between meals and fruit juice with meals.
one of my sons favourite things at the moment is smoothie ice lollies to him they are a treat but they are just fruit, no sugar and he can help make them! have fun!