does any know how to help my situation?

Question

i have a 20month old son. every time i give him a meal he refuses it.the only meal he eats is breakfast.after that all he wants is junk food. how can i make him eat good healthy food. i have tried to just let him sit there for a while, i also made him something different thinking he dint want the first thing i gave to him. i dont know that to do. any suggestions?

Answer 1

First off, your child will not allow himself to starve. At some point, his belly will be screaming at him to put something in it. A few suggestions...Depending on what the food is, you can add a little ranch sauce to it, for example his veggies. Or some ketchup. You can change the way you fix the other foods he doesn't like. If he doesn't like baked chicken, see if he'll eat it grilled. Position his food on the plate in a happy face and turn it into a game of sorts. Tell him he can't have a junk food treat(of which should be few) until he eats his lunch and dinner. If all else fails, sit him there for awhile like you did before. Let him cry, scream, whatever. If he doesn't eat lunch or dinner that day or the next, don't trip as far as his health because like I said, he WON'T allow himself to starve. HE WILL EAT! Trust me....

Answer 2

He will eat when he's hungry. I thought it was mean when everyone told me to do the same thing. Do NOT give him junk food just so he will have something in his stomach. He KNOWS this and will work you over so he can get his own way. What I did was if they didn't like what I had made for the meal I would make something else (very simple) like a pb&j sandwich. I left both meals on the table. If they didn't want to eat at that time I would check back 30 minutes later, if not then, I closed the kitchen. Let them have a 1/2 of the sandwch as their snack in between meals. Pretty much after a few days, depending on how determined your child is, it will stop. Look into buying a cookbook with fun foods for kids or you can find them on the internet for free.

Answer 3

Darlin, wanting junk food is something he Learned. So now you have to UNLearn that habit. You might have to disguise healthy food as junk food for awhile, or let him just get hungry enough to eat what you give him when you give it to him. Some kids think of apples or bananas in the same way they think of junk food - it's sweet and its fun, so you might try that.

When he eats the junk food, is the setting for eating the same? A highchair or booster seat at the table? Or does he eat that stuff elsewhere? It might be that it's the structured setting of a normal meal that he's objecting to. Sometimes they interpret that as interrupting their play or what they'd rather be doing. I wouldn't change his normal meals to match where he eats junk food, but just the opposite.

No matter what he eats, junk or otherwise, for a while at least, make it be in a normal eating set up - otherwise you'll have problems down the line with family dining.

I know it's so easy to not have routines and rules, until you realize, like now, that things aren't going the way they need to go. Don't loose sight of the fact that you not only want to raise him to be a healthy adult, but he needs to be able to function comfortably in the real world, and the stuff he learns from you now is what will get him there.

Answer 4

All toddlers at one point or another refuse to eat. But don't panic. I tried using food dye in my sons food. I made all different colored foods like rice, pasta, and things you can dye). You will be very surprised how editable food can become to a child when it is bright blue or purple.

OH and I also would cut out the junk food til at least he gets used to meals at a certain time. Get him used to lets say at 1pm is lunchtime, 6pm he will eat dinner. so on and soo forth. Make it a daily regular routine.

I also have purchased cookie cutters. When I make him a sandwich or a grilled cheese I make him a dragon or a star sandwich or whatever cookie cutters you have. It's fun for him and my son really enjoys it.

Well hang in there.
Good Luck and I hope this helped.

Answer 5

You could try to change what he eats for breakfast and that may help to encourage him to try the different foods later. It is hard once they get used to a certain type of food. They will only want that and nothing else, the best thing to do is to be persistent and to find out what it is they like so much and slowly take it away and offer something else in moderation. Its hard because they can be very picky and you don't want to traumatize them and finding a balance takes patience and time. You can also try the method where you eat the food in front of him and make it seem very tasty or interesting which will cause him to be curious what it is and possibly want to try it, but with this method you need to really ignore him until he is about to or is crying and wants what you are eating. Most important is to be patient and to work slowly with him.

Answer 6

I have a 22 month old that wouldn't hardly eat anything either, not even junk food , shes more a picker during the day ...I find what she eats most is finger food ,something she can feed herself..try leaving cheese ,crackers or fruit in a dish around in the day time so he can take it when he wants....trust me he wont starve he will eat when he needs to , just make sure he's getting milk. Try even a sandwich that might work for lunch time .make it fun....

Answer 7

I would continue to make breakfast food for him three to five times a day. He needs to eat. I would also continue to offer one new food at each meal. Something you like and are also eating. I sit down with my son (now 2 and a half) and eat with him. So he will see me eat the tomato or avocado or whatever and this has encouraged him to try it. He's quite an adventurous eater most of the time. We do indulge him with "junk" - like one chocolate after dinner. Make up the rules and stick to them. And make sure you follow them too. If all else fails, be sure to talk to the pediatrician to make sure he is getting proper nutrition.

Answer 8

It is unfortunate that he had a taste of the junk food. I would say you need to ban it from the house and let him see how you enjoy the healthier stuff. Don't force anything on him, if he is hungry he will eventually eat what is served, don't cater to him.

Answer 9

At 20 months of age, he shouldn't be getting junk food. Fix him lunch / and an evening meal and tell him that is his food...if he is Hungary enough, then he will eat it.

Answer 10

it's not good to just let a kid that age eat junk foods. How can he have them if you do not buy them? Just tell him you have none and give him some cereal, hotdog, macnchz. pbj, the basic kid stuff. Those are atleast somewhat nutritional.