PLEASE HELP! My Two Year Old Will NOT Eat!!

Believe it or not, he will not starve to death! LOL, I went through this with my two older children, one going through it now, and one more to go. I used to freak out about a healthy well balanced diet, giving them good eating habits, blah blah blah. I soon learned that they will eat when they are hungry. If you give them healthy choices and don't always give in to the junk food, they will eventually out grow it.

My son did that when we was about 18 months and his doctor told me they do go through weird eating habits. Unless he is losing weight I wouldn't worry too much.

Dont make eating a battle. Offer what you eat at meals and healthy snacks.

Have you tried letting him choose the menu? Let him choose between 2 things.

Have you tried letting him help cook. It takes longer and can be messier but if he enjoys helping he might be more apt to try it.

Relax he wont end up in the hospital because he only eats hotdogs and chicken. He is not going to wittle away to nothing
he will grow into other foods. Thats just how toddlers eat, let him eat what he will, dont make a big deal out of it. if you are that worried about him getting enough vitamans then get him some pediasure. it comes in chocolate and strawberry and vanillia I think. Or give him vitamans in his drink. Only thing about the vitamans is that they dotn taste too good and kids seem to beable to taste them in ANYTHING lol. good luck

My son does this. He won't eat well at all, only a bite or two at each meal, for a month or so. Then he'll eat everything on his plate for a little while. It's kind of a phase. From what I've seen with my kids and other kids it's pretty normal. If he starts looking sickly I'd talk to the pediatrician but other than that I wouldn't worry about it. Putting him in time out will only make him more adamant about not eating. Just see it as a phase and get some pediasure to make sure he's getting the nutrients he needs.

My cousin would not eat anything but pizza and cereal until he was almost 7 years old. For every meal, snack, everything, it was only one of those 2 choices. His pediatrician said that as long as he was eating (and taking vitamins), it would be ok. He eventually grew out of it and now eats anything and is perfectly healthy and strong.

Talk to his pediatrician and see what the doctor says. Other than that, try buying some healthier versions (like turkey dogs and bread your own chicken for nuggets and bake them) to at least keep all of the preservatives away.

Good luck!

If you are worried about him and he is showing signs of malnutrition, I would suggest talking to his pediatrician. I have a five year old son, that doesn't eat much and is a picky eater. There are days he will absolutely not eat before going to school and/or will hardly touch his dinner. I talked to my son's pediatrician and he said that due to my son looks and is healthy that his body's breaking down the foods he eats in a normal manner. My son is energetic and athletic, and his doctor said that if he was not getting enough then he would slow down. I've never been a punisher about food, but when he will not eat a meal I do make him eat as many bites as his age. Those bites are to his determination of the size, but once he's done that I will let him be. I hope you find something that works for you and your lil guy ;-)

My son, who's 2 1/2, is the exact same way. He's always been VERY finicky about eating. I'm spoken to my pediatrician about this extensively and he's told me that as long as he's eating, he's ok. It's when they stop eating all together is when you need to worry. What I do with my son to ensure he's getting some kind of nutrition is every morning he has a Carnation instant breakfast mixed with milk. He loves them b/c they taste like a shake and they are actually healthy. About an hour after that I'll give him some cereal and a yogurt. Every night I give him a plate of what my husband and I are eating...sometimes he eats it and sometimes he doesn't. But I always continue to offer it to him. To be honest, I'm not terribly worried about veggies either. I didn't TOUCH a veggie (other than potatoes) till about 8 months ago!! And I was perfectly healthy growing up (including a perfect pregnancy). I also give my son a daily vitamin that our pediatrician recommended. Hope this helped a little bit. Try not to stress out so much over this!

best thing to do is to try ALL different kinds and keep at it. Try making the "pigs in a blanket" since he likes hot dogs. Really it would help if u made eating fun.If u spruce up what he already eats with something else in a subtle way without even telling him he may try it.My son always says he doesnt like something before he tries it so me and my husband eat dinner and leave the table and I tell him he cant get down until he eats what I told him to eat and if he doesnt then he has no play time before bed and goes straight to bed if he sits there till 8:oopm (his bedtime).I promise u that at his age he's not going to starve himself to death..he just does it b/c u and him battle over it. try it a few times and see.

does he have a favorite character like superman or something? tell him in order for him to get big and stong like ____ he needs to eat some food... i get frustrated my little one spits her food out too. we are trying different foods now though.

I would not punish him for something he is SUPPOSED TO DO. He will eat when he is hungry. But remember that if you tell him this is it for dinner. Leave it on the table and if he says he is hungry before bed, offer him the dinner he did not eat. I have the same problem with my two year old and I looked for advice at SuperNanny.com. There are thousands of 2 year olds that won't eat and the best advice given was just let thme eat when they get hungry. Try feeding him things he will eat and a couple handfuls of cherrios for dinner is enough. They don't grow as fast from 1-4 like they do from 0-1. And their stomach is only as big as their fist. That is really all they need. Good luck. I am there with you.