Uhhh he’s 2. I couldn’t imagine sending my son to bed without food (he’s 2.5). He’s also very particular about brand/taste/texture due to his sensory processing disorder and ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder).
So he wont eat healthy… lets bribe him with unhealthy things? Lol if you know your kid eats things at daycare but not home… stop buying crap an only offer healthy choices. Kids will eat when they are hungry
If he doesn’t eat what I make then he goes to bed hungry, BUT im very sneaky when I make dinner. For baked mac and cheese I use cauliflower, for lasagna I use eggplant instead of pasta, if u can blend it and mix it in their food you’ll get them to eat. Ask if they want “dip dip sauce” like ranch or BBQ or ketchup. My 3 y.o doesn’t know the difference between bacon and anything else so I call everything bacon and he inhales it. I just can’t sneak chicken past him, im working on it. Best of luck to you!!! Hope this helps
Remove the ‘junk’ from the house. He can’t eat it if it’s not there. Offer him healthy options and set by example.
1 Like
Keep offering healthy options. He will eat it if it’s the only thing offered
1 Like
My twin girls were picky eaters around age 1/2 I stopped buying junk food only healthy food veggies fruits meat etc, the got what was served and nothing else if they didn’t eat they didnt eat but when they got hungry enough they would eat their whole plate no complaints. Now they’re incredibly good eaters love a variety of food and will at lease try every food once or twice before deciding they don’t like it. If they don’t like something I don’t necessarily force them to eat it but will ask them to take one bite because taste buds change you’d be surprised how many foods they like now that they didn’t a year or two ago. They’re 6 and are very healthy girls.
It’s probably because your cooking isn’t that great lol I mean, not all women can cook.
He can sit there till he eats it if he falls asleep so be it🤷♀️ my youngest does this and knows he ain’t leaving till he does… I’ve never seen someone eat broccoli so slow😂 make healthy stuff and add stuff he likes
You are in control here. A child will not starve their self… Offer them food and don’t give in ti junk. When they are hungry enough they will eat
Maybe introduce foods in a fun way and keep introducing them until he eats them. The only reason he wants junk is because his parents gave him junk. You cant just expect him to switch like that.
Save it for later. When hes hungry he will eat it.
Does he eat what you eat and at the same time and table?
Stand firm u give in ur the problem
He won’t starve himself
He’ll eat when he’s hunger enough
If we didn’t eat what was served we didn’t eat
Don’t give in. No snacks. No bribing.
2 Likes
Fights over food are fights you’ll never win.
Because chicken patties are gross as fuck
Feeding Littles Group Kids Eat in Color
Give him some damn cereal instead of punishing him for not eating your stupid patties you monster that’s how eating disorders happen
Try the group for Parenting Picky Eaters
Lead by example… Radical Unschooling
My daughters daughter never ate anything. But she always maintained her weight. She would eat, sweet potatoes, hummus and avacado. Eggs for breakfast but that’s it. For a long time. They would put it in front of her and if she didn’t eat they never made a big deal about it. She’s 3 now and eats everything. She has smoothies for breakfast and still loves eggs. She has never had bakery foods. Or sugary foods. They make their own ice cream. Good for them but I’m too lazy for all that. Lol
Keep junk foods out of the house. My son rarely eats a “meal”. Hes always been a grazer. For example breakfast might consist of some oatmeal sweetened with some honey. Then I will cut him up some fruits to add of he wants to put it in there, if not he can pick through the fruit and eat it separate. However he wants, but hes eating none the less. I keep him healthy snacks accessible all day. He may run by his bowl and grab a carrot or an apple slice. Hes 3 now. Very healthy, rarely ever sick. He weighs in at 40 lbs and is 40 inches tall. So just dont sweat it too much. Just give him options, but make them all healthy ones.
2 Likes
My sister had this issue with her son. She would first offer him the regular meal. If he refused his only other option was to have a peanut butter/jelly sandwich. No other option. After about a month or so he started eating the other food, slowly. He ended up getting tired of PB&J. She made him help put together the sandwich. Good luck!!
6 Likes
If he’s losing weight; pediasure and a doctor. If he’s not losing weight but he eats at daycare but not for you - try to figure out if he’s a grazer or if he can sit and eat. I have an autistic 4 year old and I have learned that he will eat more if I set out a bunch of options for him and let him graze.
5 Likes
Offer food if he doesn’t eat, it’s okay. They will eat when they’re hungry. No punishments for not eating!
5 Likes
I literally don’t feed my kid the snacks she wants unless it’s a healthy one during the days and for meals her dad will sit with her and spoon feed her cause if we left her by herself a lot of times she won’t touch it unless it’s something she really likes, like ribs or chicken, she won’t touch hamburger unless it’s an actual burger lol and after meals gets a treat like homemade fruit popsicles or smoothies which I would sneak avocado and spinach in it or oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. You know something that’s sweet yet healthy ?
1 Like
My daughter and I have a deal , to eat something with sugar in it , you have to eat a fruit or veggie first .
We started this when she was about 4 , so a little older , but still works and she’s now 6 .
1 Like
Don’t have the junk in the house. Keep offering healthy foods. Do not force him. He will eventually try things and eat.
6 Likes
If he’s not losing weight don’t worry it’s a phase he will eat when he’s hungry just offer healthy snacks veggies fruits an when he realizes that’s all there is he will eat it we went threw the same with my daughter still has her days she’s 8 but what we do is we have pasta like Mac n cheese which is all she ever wants we give her 3 small pieces of the meat we have an veggies she has to eat the 3 pieces of meat half the veggies we give her before she gets seconds of the pasta it’s all about compromise hopefully this helps
2 Likes
My son did the same I worked out because he’s the only child he feels lonely eating by himself and now he won’t eat unless he’s hungry or we eat he use to go to bed early he’s now in bed by 8pm so he has dinner with us
Yup went through this!
Stressed me out soooo bad!
As long as he’s eating and not losing weight.
Pediasure is great it’s what my pediatrician told me to give my daughter.
It’s just a phase roll with it
As long as there is some healthy food
I eventually let my daughter pick out food at the grocery store
Pinterest fun foods for kids helped a lot
They’re like us it’s all about presentation and making it fun!
If you stress they stress
Good luck!
Offer healthy meals and healthy snacks at regular times during the day/evening. A healthy child at that age will eat what they need even if it just seems like a little bit.
1 Like
EXACT SAME GIRL! But mine is 5. We sat at the table for 2 hours and wouldnt let him get up, never even touched his food.
5 and younger should eat when they are hungry. Don’t worry kids his/her age eat what they need.
2 Likes
Definitely not in the same situation but my son was just a very picky eater (he’s 3). He literally had such a small menu because he didn’t want anything else but those foods. So his doctor told me to put on his plate his regular food of every day and put one different food every single time. It doesn’t matter if its veggies, different fruit, meat/chicken just whatever and not to force him to eat it. To just lay it out there for him. It took forever for him to even touch the different foods but now he’s willingly trying new foods all by himself. He was drinking Kids Pediasure and now he doesn’t have to. It’s still a very long rocky road but we’re getting some progress. His doctor said some kids go through this phase so patience is definitely the key momma!
Why would you bribe a kid to eat. ?? If he won’t eat it, he won’t. Let it be. We all like different thinks. Maybe he doesn’t like what you are given him !! Even if he eats it at day care. It just might ve different. Give him different veggies & let him choose what he likes & doesn’t like offer little cups of different ‘dripping’ sauces & let him choose. I am a very picky eater. Thankfully my kids weren’t. But i tried everything with them, even if i didn’t like it. So they could choose. If they didn’t eat something, then they didn’t eat it. Same with my grandkids. But there was no bribe. You don’t eat then you don’t eat. !!!
1 Like
Kids.eat.in.color on Instagram has a picky eaters guide! She is amazing. And her number one thing is you are the parent you decide what is offered. Also the down playing sugar has been so effective with my son.
2 Likes
Let him cook. My kids would love to cook and they ate better if they cooked it. You have to do the chopping and the “hot” stuff but it’s amazing the difference of just letting them put it in a pot.
Check out feeding littles on Instagram. Sounds like you are making a bad situation worse by creating an unhealthy relationship with food.
2 Likes
What is on the plate at home, is what’s for dinner. Kiddo will eat if they are hungry. May mean that your child will make the choice to be hungry and not try to eat what is on the plate. That is totally normal. Don’t have sweets or alot of chips/bread/ snacks available for a late night “food hunt”.
Throwing up… Is that an attempt to get you to make something else? Is he/she throwing up at school? Wish you the best and stay strong. It gets worse, before it gets better, but you can do this!
1 Like
Does he have things he gets to be in charge of? Maybe having other outlets for his need to be in control could help
Keep offering him healthy choices not junk food…if he is at a healthy weight I’d just give him high protein shakes tell him it’s a milkshake
U gotta be sneaky and hide the veggies in pasta sauces with a blender. Don’t do chips, instead do veggie straws and dehydrated sweetened fruit chips.
I suggest following the page:
Kids Eat in Color
1 Like
My grandma always said a healthy child will not starve. I had a 19 month old that refuses to eat sometimes. Sometimes he’ll only eat peaches… Sometimes he’ll only eat bacon or many days only noodles with butter. I feed him what he’ll eat but i keep introducing the healthy foods like broccoli and green beans. He refused strawberries forever! And now suddenly he eats them. 
. We have food allergies in my family so if he doesn’t want to eat something i won’t force him. I just try something else until he can talk. Once they can talk the whole eating thing changes. My 13 year old wasn’t a picky eater at that age .
I agree with Kayla Leigh, kids will eat when they are hungry. My niece would only eat Cesar salad and she grew up too Bea healthy woman
Stop fighting with him. Offer a meal; leave him alone. Wait till next mealtime; offer a meal. When he gets hungry, he will eat. In a power struggle, you’re losing the battles AND the war!
1 Like
I HIGHLY recommend Solid Starts. This momma created this app/Instagram/web page because she had the pickiest of picky eaters!! She’s amazing and has every tip and suggestion without ruining the relation between you and your child, or between your child and food
Smoothies!! Get fruits and veggies to make smoothies. My kids get on kicks where they only want junk so I started buying stuff for smoothies and they’ll drink 2-3 a day if I have the stuff to make them.
Don’t feed him anything besides what you choose. He will eventually grow hungry enough.
1 Like
My son used to eat everything when he was a baby. When he got about 2 or so he got so picky. One thing that helped with him was the Daniel tiger song, “You gotta try new foods cause they might taste good”. If I sang that to him, he’d usually at least try it to see if he liked it. He’s 5 now and starting to adventure out and eat a better variety. But we still have our picky days too.
Getting a toddler to eat isn’t as easy as lots of these commenters are saying. You can’t force a two year old to eat by only giving him what you eat and refusing to accommodate his diet any. This creates a really bad relationship with the child and food and can make his selective eating even worse as he ages. Just offer what you eat first, and if he doesn’t eat it allow him to have something you know he will eat that is somewhat healthy. I have a two year old and he eats a total of 10-15 things. I offer what I cook for the rest of the family and if he doesn’t eat it I offer something else I know for certain he will eat. Starving your two year old isn’t the answer here. Fed is best 
8 Likes
same here!!! 
He’s 3 and legit goes on hunger strikes unless it’s junk food lol
I wish he would eat healthy as well 
My son is super picky. I try to include something he will eat. I put everything on his plate. Right now it may be something with wanting to have some control but it does get easier
He’s also eating it at daycare because the portions are different. They only get a small handful of snack and a certain amount of cereal or hot breakfast. So boy is hungry hungry by lunch. At hone he probably snacks more and eats a bigger breakfast so he can hang tight and decide to not eat it at home.
Atleast yours don’t refuses to eat anything but popsicle lol
Good old fashioned sticking to your guns
No snacks, no dessert. He’ll eat once he’s hungry and realises he isn’t getting other options. He’ll only come to that realisation if you stick to your guns though
5 Likes
By not giving him junk or bribing him with more junk. 
he will eat, once you stop giving him the garbage options he knows he will get anyway if he refuses.
Put it on a cute plate, give him a cute spoon or whatever. Have him eat what you eat, when you eat so he sees how it’s done.
4 Likes
In the words of a doctor to someone else “if all he will eat is a cookie, give him the damn cookie”
3 Likes
Take a deep breath mama you are an awesome mom! Try more whole organic kids food, they have meatballs chicken , try paw patrol chicken nuggets, home made pasta with Marinara sauce, and try to make eating fun! Add fun by prizing him with games if he eats … all games you can buy on Amazon. For like $5 . And if he is not eating at home trust me sometimes daycare lie…… to make themself look good…… I shape my son sandwich … Butterfly , heart lol he eat it all …whatever it takes…
Have him make food with you. It will perk his interest in trying since he made it.
Try cut up fruits hangars fish chicken carrots cauliflower broccoli pour cheese over the top
2 Likes
He won’t starve himself. Don’t even buy junk food. He will get the point.
Hiding veggies is a great option, letting him help cook is great too. Id also try more whole foods. My daughter hates processed food because she prefers when I cook for her. So she eats a very balanced, healthy diet. Her snack options are fruits and veggies.
1 Like
The fact that he eats at daycare but not at home indicates it’s not a food issue - it’s a patenting issue- a control issue NOT a food issue. He knows the rules, regiment and who is in charge at daycare — not him! At home he can make you dance!! He can challenge you to give him something better. It’s not malicious it’s toddler behavior but you’ve taught him he - if I say no I’ll keep getting options- but then the options and decision making is past his abilities and its a vicious cycle with you ending up right where you are. He doesn’t even know what 'that something better is - but once you start bribing/negotiating thats game over for you. There’s no arguing, no bribing, no negotiating - period! This is what’s for supper- eat it now or eat it later. No snacks - no treats. Yes - it may take a week or two of you being “strict” but once that’s over…that’s it.
**also ask daycare what lead up to lunch is - there maybe a prayer, song or simply a let’s go get washed up for lunch. Start doing that at home too…but BE CONSISTENT!! That’s the key. Once you cave to your old ways - you’re starting over from square one and all other attempts are null and void.
3 Likes
All of our kids have gone through this around two, and grew out of it. Limit snacks, especially close to meal time. Sit down to eat together, so he sees you eating too. Put everything on his plate, just in case he gets curious enough to try it. My rule is that they have to try one bite, but if they don’t like it, they don’t have to eat it. Try using cookie cutters to cut chicken patties, sandwiches and so on into shapes. They are inexpensive and you can find almost any shape or size. My kids think it’s the best thing ever.
1 Like
Lunch at day care might be his big meal of the day where he needs the calorie intake to have energy . Supper time maybe just be a small meal time as his system is slowing down and the plate is overwhelming, maybe try little portions or snack size pieces , kids spend an average of 9 hours in a center/with or without school , maybe an hour awake at home before school /day care then what ? Like 3 hours before bed at home , with bedtime routine included in , not much time to use up energy . A small protein , a fruit/veggie , a grain , and dairy small amount also makes their dinner time shorter which in their minds gives them more play time
I struggled forever with this. I finally made a “try it” board. It looks like a board game and everytime they try something new they get a sticker on the board and move closer to a prize. Its worked really well!
2 Likes
Honesty let the kid go hungry. Reheat and serve again what is being refused. Dont fight. If they don’t want to eat make them go without. When they want to eat again, serve them the left overs. They won’t starve but they’ll learn if they don’t want whats given they’re gonna get hungry
He’s a toddler, let him live a little … my kid is 6 and doesn’t eat much either… I don’t do the power struggles anymore …
Plus he’s 2!!! Sheesh, don’t make it hard on the both of you…
I would put it in front of him, in a fun way and see what happens. Go into it as fun , not a job.
Good luck
He will eat when ready. Will not starve himself. Dont give him junk or bribe him.
Slice up strawberries , give him blueberries and raspberries That’s what my grandkids eat all of the time. Cheese sticks and even shredded cheese.
My son has always been like this hes 6 now, somedays he eats great some days he doesn’t. Yesterday he ate nutty bars and chips all day and that’s it. We do flintstone vitamins and they seem to help him some. Sometimes he will eat at my moms when he wont eat here if it’s been a few days that he hasn’t ate good I’ll take him up there and she’ll make his favorite meal for him (he has different favs there than he does here and will eat stuff up there he wont eat here and vice versa). I dont fight him or punishing him over eating though, I don’t want to make him have an unhealthy relationship with food. He will eat when hes hungry. It’s easier now that hes older and can tell me when hes hungry and say hey I want this or that to eat. But I just let him eat whatever he wants a honey bun for breakfast? Sure why not? Chips and cake for dinner sure kid, it may not be the healthiest food but its food none the less. I do try to insist on meat of some sort every few days for iron and such but tbh he lives on lil Debbie’s cakes, chips, and chocolate. There’s plenty of other food available and I offer him different stuff through out the day sometimes he goes for it usually not but I dont stress it or push it on him. Hes not underweight or overweight and he’s perfectly healthy. Dont stress it! Get him some vitamins and just let him eat when/what he wants.
My cousin recently did this junior chef thing. Where her like 3 year old son picked out the recipes and did the cooking (with serious supervision and help of course)… I am not sure what program she used but it worked. Her kid was very picky and he ate everything he was a part of preparing. You can google kid & family friendly recipe ideas and try that. Now if you’re a busy parent and don’t really have the time to take with him being the one in the kitchen don’t feel bad that shit happens. So this idea may not work. But still letting him look through cookbooks (ones that you already looked over and know won’t take you half a day to prepare) it may help him want to eat. But also there are so many healthy options out there these days for children that look like junk food. Just do you some research and when it’s possible involve him in it as much as possible even with the shopping.
I have a dr friend a pediatrician to be exact. And she recently posted a “is this a mom fail or not” post on Facebook. Her children had eaten goldfish crackers and fruit gummies for supper. They are food? Check. They were happy? Check. They slept good? Check. The food wasn’t ideal at all of course if you’re worried about your child. It wasn’t a mom fail in my opinion at all because they did eat and both options were healthy snacks so what if they ate them for supper and not as a snack.
Find what works for your baby and what works for you. Don’t scare him away from food and don’t drive yourself nuts over it either
Milkshake? With different fruits/yoghurt? My 2.5 is a great eater but LOVES a milkshake (banana,frozen blueberries,yoghurt, abit of chocolate ice cream and milk) I add other things sometimes too but otherwise it’s a hit and both kids 2.5 and 15months enjoy putting everything in and help make the milkshake so they enjoy it more 
Get him to help you make stuff.
Stop punishing him for making his own choices. The only person he’s hurting is himself. Kids will not willfully starve themselves. Make a meal, put a small portion of each item infront of him. Then it’s upto him. He either eats it doesn’t. If he refuses to eat say OK & let him play. No reaction, no bribing. When he cries & to screams for food give him left overs. Eventually hell eat. If you give him junk food because he’s hungry after not eating healthy meals you’re just teaching him to refuse the meals.
Include him in dinner decisions, allow him some choices and have him help prepare it.
Tell him thats dinner, nothing else then leave it at that. Once i started to ignore/not make a big deal of my daughters fussy eating she stopped all her fussiness.
Stop first find out what he is eating if not that bad he will come around
Make sure you give him a really good vitamin everyday and let him grow out of it. It’s just a phase. This too shall pass
Give him options for dinner and let him pick. Have categories Meat veggies fruit/dessert
Give two or tree options in each so he feels like he get control and a choice.
Here’s my recipe that babies and toddlers, and EVERYONE in my family love. Please try. Pumpkin, broccoli, carrots and parsnips, boiled and mashed with a little butter and add a little bit of pepper. Sometimes I make a little hole and put a little gravy in the middle of the mix on the plate. My children and now Grandchildren devour it! As a child, my mother made me sit for hours eating boiled cold and bland vegetables. I soon learnt that if I mashed them all together they weren’t so bad and refined it for my own kids. Now my Grandchildren ask for it over junk food 
It’s called Eligh mash after my Grandson. Of course, you can use any vegetable but that’s the staple. Good luck!
I never punished my son for or eating that young. I still don’t. & he tries ALOT of diff foods now. I would sneak things in. You can make spaghetti sauce with veggies in it and you can’t taste it. I would just keep trying with him and not get frustrated (easier said than done some days) but if you get frustrated all they will do is feed off of that
This may not be very helpful on getting your child to eat but it makes sure he has the nutrients and He is healthy… My son who will be 3 next month does the same thing. I give him pediasure and toddler vitamins to make sure he has everything he needs when he refuses to eat. He will go a few days not wanting to eat what I give him then the next day eats everything in the world. I hide the healthy stuff in his food and with his love of chips I buy veggies chips and have him drink v8 fruit juice. He loves the juice and veggie chips.
My little one went over a week without eating. A choking on bacon scare. Some foods has come back for her but lots of the good stuff she won’t eat. Its been hard here as well. Really hope it changes before school. Best advice I could give is… it may take hours but you sit there with that food and support them eating it. Even if it takes a long time. And always leave other foods like fruit and veggies out as a snack, even if they don’t eat it. Mine didn’t even notice while eating a bear paw that she grabbed some blueberries as well
My 5 year old is the same. Mainly eat sausages, hot chips, chicken chippies only if she’ll feel like it or other it’s mainly junk food. And here I am thinking it’s bad and she’s needs to eat better. I let her eat whatever but I just feel so bad with iron, vitamins etc with her mainly only wanting junk food. I wanted to go get her checked for this reason. But if they say let them eat whatever at least there eating. I’ll go with that just feel bad
I was always told that they will eat what their body needs at the time. Offer everything because they will try it eventually.
At that age, they will eat when they’re hungry. Punishment won’t work as young as he is. Don’t buy junk food and they won’t know what it is to begin with. This is totally typical til they’re about 4
I was told by the doctor that a child will not starve themselves , just keep putting it on their plates and if they eat it fine and if not that is also fine.
Give them no other option and set examples for them by doing it yourself.
1 Like
I make batches of bolognese sauce and butter chicken. I blend carrot into the butter chicken sauce. And I finely dice carrot and celery for the bolognese. They’re a winner in my house.
My daughter is almost 10 and still like this 
sorry not helpful but just being real. Overall fruits are way easier than veggies to get her to eat. I gave up years ago…all the introduce new foods etc yadda yadda yadda… She gets a multivitamin and I could care less what she eats as long as she eats something. Motherhood is hard enough without adding mom guilt regarding what our kids eat. Just do the best you can 
No child is gonna eat everything they parents make… dont go thinking you suppose to be like that… you job as the parent is to make the meal & the kids job is to eat it or not… if they dont eat ok put it up save it for later. She/ he will eat when they are… I remember lots of nights my kids didn’t eat & was ok… I never got mad at them just told them no snack if you dont eat… there is no right way to parent your child… … just make sure ur child has fuilds to drink
Why would you punish a child for what you did? You introduced junk and now you want punish him for liking it?
I follow Kids Eat in Color. She has great tips for things like this.
I offered the food. If they refused to eat it, it went in the fridge and when they said they were hungry later it got warmed up. I didn’t make them sit there until they ate it.
There was meals or parts that were heated a couple times but they got over it. I also kept no junk food in the house, not even cereal or sandwhich stuff.
6 Likes
Don’t fight, don’t bribe, don’t react. Try just putting his plate in front of him and let him eat what he wants. Don’t make it a big deal. Don’t cave in. He’ll learn to try and eat different things.
3 Likes
Stop buying crap food.