How to make a 2 years kid to eat?

Question

My son is just completed 2 years, He does not want to eat any solid food, He only drinks 1/2 a galon milk everyday.He is very active though.
We don't understand from where he is getting energy to play full day and late night.He is not sleeping good in the night also, is it due to not having food before sleep?

Answer 1

He's drinking too much milk. Its not good for his kidneys. He's probably a picky eater. I would cut down on the milk and make him eat soilds. Trust me, children will eat when they are hungry.

Answer 2

A normal toddler will have "eating" days and "non-eating" days. On the days he is eating meals, he can have snacks. If he refuses to eat, he should only get water. No snacks. No milk. My daughter also loves milk. However, when we put a meal in front of her, she has a choice. I never make her eat. She can choose to eat, or not. If she wants down, I explain to her that she doesn't have to eat but the only thing she gets until the next mealtime is water. Usually, she agrees and gets down. Most of the time, she will ask for a snack or milk and I present her with her plate of food and she will eat it. Occasionally though, she won't even ask and just has water for the rest of the day.

One thing in helping her drink more water and less milk was to buy those little 10 ounce bottles of water for her. They are just her size and she thinks they are great. Try adding a straw or something fun to encourage the water.

My mother thought it was just horrible that I told my daughter she could only have water until breakfast because she didn't eat her dinner. She said she was not letting her grandchild go to bed hungry. However, a few hours later when she wanted chocolate milk and I refused, she ate her entire dinner. She got the chocolate milk and we both won.

One other thing that I do is to cut up fruit, cheese, veggies and healthy snacks and just sit them on the coffee table. I never say a word to her, I just put the plate down. Many times, she will wander over to the plate and just start nibbling. Some kids are nibbler's and just need to graze on healthy food all day as opposed to having full meals. It is very possible that your son would do better having 5-6 "snacks" through the day.

Don't give in because it really does work.

Answer 3

He should be drinking 16 oz milk at this point. Are you giving him a bottle, because if so, he may just not want to give that up. Introduce little meals three times a day along with juice or water, but out of a cup or sippy. If you remove milk little by little, he will have no choice but to have the solid food. Kids will eat when hungry. I believe he is not sleeping through the night because he is not eating enough.

Answer 4

My 2 1/2 year old son is the same way in that sometimes he doesn't want to eat food. He also still doesn't sleep through the whole night because he constantly wants sippy cups of milk. I know I should break him of this, but it's hard because I know he is hungry because he didn't eat much solid food for supper. My is a big milk drinker too. Don't worry though. My doctor said when the child is hungry they will eat! Your son seems to be very active and is not sick. He just seems picky. I wouldn't worry about it unless he is losing weight.

Answer 5

My daughter is 32 months old and just starting to eat well. It's really just a matter of making a point to give 3 meals a day and not too many snacks. And I know this is easier said than done trust me! The thing is my doctor kept telling me when they are hungry they will eat, but make sure to offer healthy choices, variety. I felt like I was a short-order cook. But now she'll try anything. I can just say patience, just when you think he'll never outgrow it he'll start to eat! Good Luck!

Answer 6

First would be to limit milk. Don't allow him to drink so much. Limit to snack time. Offer a variety of foods. Make sure even if he is not eating that he sits at the table with your family at meal times. Only offer him two (not huge) snacks a day and one at bed time. Kids will eat when they are hungry, but if he is filling up on milk he probably never really feels hungry.

Answer 7

well for starters- let me tell u that once kids get to that age they don't really have much of an appetite, another thing- 1/2 a gallon of milk doesn't help at all!! cut down on the milk, only give him a bottle in the morning and one at night (optional). give him more juices and water, u can even give him little meal portions several times a day like diced up apples w/peanut butter, or even some mashed potatoes with carrots, little chicken nuggets with peas. try to be creative, and him in the habit of eating when u eat. trust me i went thru the same thing with my son. good luck.

Answer 8

He definitely should not be drinking more than 24 oz. of milk per day. This is coming from my doctor who told us this when we told them our daughter (who is almost 2) was taking about 32 oz. of milk per day. My daughter eats other food also, she just drinks a lot of milk too. The problem is that too much milk per day can lead to anemia, so too much milk actually can be bad.

My elder daughter was a bad eater too. Our pediatrician said feed her when it's meal time. Give her an hour to eat, then take the food away. Your child needs to know that eat time is for eating, not playing. Your child will learn in time and he/she will not starve. They will know to eat when they are hungry next time.

Good luck.

Answer 9

Try offering him different foods throughout the day. I would limit the milk and go more for water. Also you may want to take him to the doctor just to make sure he is growing and getting the nutrition he needs. If he is then continue to offer him healthy foods and eventually he will eat them. Good luck

Answer 10

unlike what everyone else is sayin my boy is very picky too,, heres what i do,,, when u make meals try addin some color with food colorin it taist the same but tell him "lets see what blue taist like this time" or what wver color u want, u can color almost anything u make and patatos r a good one cause his body wont full digest them for 10 hours, rice too, add the coloring to the boilin water or to chicken noddle soup is a good one too, my son loves when i do vanilla puddin in a bowl put a few diff. colors in it and give him a spoon and tell him to make the colors mix any way he wants but only if he eats some too, colors really catch little ones eyes give it a try and mabie he will get more excited about eatin, it works trust me my boy was 2 lbs when he was born and he is now 80 and 7 years old, and loves to eat,,, color his glass of water too then he will drink water to