My 15 month old keeps rejecting dinner

[desperatetofall]

My 15 month old daughter for the last 5 nights in a row has rejected her dinner. There has been lots of tears and tantrums and I'm at my wits end with her and I don't know what to do. The meals I'm giving her is the usual stuff she loves but for some reason this week she won't have it. She's fine with breakfast and lunch and her snacks through the day but as soon as it gets to dinner time, it's a whole different story. Can anyone give me some advice on what I should do.

[peanutbutter&jelly]

Mine too, he'll at fruit but thats about it for dinner. Seems to just be a phase for us to get frustrated about, we've gone through 3 I think now :(

[Milktini]

Does she feed herself? I found that by this age my son was wanting to feed himself at every meal, and if I didn't let him feed himself then he wouldn't eat ate all.
So now it is dinner and then A bath as he still tends to make a small mess, but he is getting much better and most of the food ends up in his mouth.

[Hollywood]

Does she feed herself? I found that by this age my son was wanting to feed himself at every meal, and if I didn't let him feed himself then he wouldn't eat ate all.
So now it is dinner and then A bath as he still tends to make a small mess, but he is getting much better and most of the food ends up in his mouth.

Same here, at about the exact same age.

[Shilo]

I know it's quite unsettling when you go through this the first time, especially if your child has always been a good eater when it comes to dinner time. Then all of a sudden they stop eating and everything is a big fight and drama. Honestly it most probably is a phase and I wouldn't push the issue too much or get too stressed if she doesn't want to eat her dinner. You say breaky/lunch/snacks are still being eaten as per normal, then that should be enough. I used to worry so much if DD wouldn't eat her dinner for a few nights in a row, but honestly it isn't that much of a big deal, and usually the more stressed you get about it, the more stressed they get. I would just offer dinner, and if she didn't want to eat it, I'd just say 'that's okay' and take it away. They are obviously not hungry, if they were they would eat.

In saying all this my DD never really went any longer then 5 days without eating dinner, I'm not sure what your plan of attack should be after that amount of time?

I'm sure she'll come around when she feels like it. Toddlers are werid little creatures. Good luck :thumbsup:

[JabberJaw]

Let her feed herself, offer a pick style platter with different bits and pieces.

Could bub be cutting molars? My DD went off food a bit while cutting hers.

[mim1]

Is she tired or sick? I found especially at that age, my ds got very fussy if either was the case. As I work full time and dinner is often close to 7pm, last year when he was 12 - 24 months it was a nightmare. He was usually so tired he'd barely eat dinner. This year I get home a bit earlier and he's a bit older and most of the time he eats dinner fine.

So, make sure she's not sick, give her plenty of rest and perhaps try feeding her dinner a bit earlier and see if it helps. If that still doesn't help then ride the storm, try not to stress and eventually she'll eat it again.

[LachlansMun]

OMG. My 20 Month old DD does the same thing. Will not eat her dinner at all. She throws the spoon on the floor (and sometimes the bowl!) and says, "Yuk". She will not eat anything!! ARGH. So I have given up....she's obviously not starving cause she dosen't seem to care.

[Opaque]

My DS does this from time to time too...

I usually put him in the bath because he instanly relaxes and let him eat in there. Have received a bit of flack from the IL's about it etc but when don't IL have an opinion...

It works for us whenever he becomes fussy and he might be in the bath for half an hour but if it doesn't cause any stress it is soooooo much easier.

I am happy, he is happy and DH is happy. And he USUALLY eats soooo much more in the bath than when he sits at the table like normal - go figure...

[bosang]

This brings back a lot of frustrating memories for me from a few years ago with my daughter!! I know how annoying it can be when they simply refuse to eat dinner, particularly if they dont even try it. I think there's a bit of a control issue going on - little kids know & sense how important it is to us as parents if they eat their dinner. I decided to stop the 'food battle' & at least pretend to my daughter that I didnt care either way if she ate it or not. If she refused it, I simply took it away, end of story. Nothing ealse was offered. I remember the health nurse's advice of "as parents, we're in charge of what food to provide, but its the child's job to decide if & how much to eat". It sounds as though your child eats well during the day - she might be full by dinner? If it really worries you, you could try cutting back on the snacks to see if that helps. Good luck. I remember always being jealous of those mums who's kids ate anything & everything they put on their plate!!!!!

[bosang]

I forgot to say that my sister had the same issue with her kids. She used to throw raw pasta into the bath whilst the kids were in there & they'd eat it as it became soggy. They would usually eat enough to pass as a dinner anyway! Whatever works I say!!!

[bada]

I was having this problem with nearly 14 month old DD these past few weeks. Letting her feed herself helped for a week then this week she would just throw it all over the place.

So this week I brought dinner forward an hour and things seem back to normal...

[ButterflyMama]

It's normal.
Expect a mess. Clean it up. Move on.

[bada]

I forgot to say that my sister had the same issue with her kids. She used to throw raw pasta into the bath whilst the kids were in there & they'd eat it as it became soggy. They would usually eat enough to pass as a dinner anyway! Whatever works I say!!! :eek::laughing:

[JabberJaw]

I forgot to say that my sister had the same issue with her kids. She used to throw raw pasta into the bath whilst the kids were in there & they'd eat it as it became soggy. They would usually eat enough to pass as a dinner anyway! Whatever works I say!!!


:barf::barf:

[bada]

I forgot to say that my sister had the same issue with her kids. She used to throw raw pasta into the bath whilst the kids were in there & they'd eat it as it became soggy. They would usually eat enough to pass as a dinner anyway! Whatever works I say!!! Over a year later and I still think about this post occasionally lol so bizarre!