2 Year Old NOT Eating....

Your daughter is at a lull in her growth, so she really doesn't need a whole lot of food. Also, keep in mind that a serving of food is one Tablespoon per year, so if you feed her a sandwich, her serving is 1/4 to 1/3 of the sandwich! It is very very rare for a child to starve themselves, and assuming your daughter is otherwise healthy, the best thing to do is serve her the meal and let her choose how much she does or does not eat. I recommend you STOP making alternate meals, because that will turn into a horrible habit you will regret ever starting. Ask any parent of an older child!
You can "trick" your daughter into eating by making it fun. Make pictures with her food, let her eat in front of the TV or a story, let her help you make it, give her dips for everything, etc. Also, the more you stress about it and beg her to eat, force her to eat, or otherwise draw her attention to it, the worse the problem will get.

In my house, we have a one bite rule. My kids must eat one bite of everything I serve and then they can choose how much of it they eat after that. If all they eat is one small bite of each thing, I do not try to get them to eat more... it is their choice. It is very important to allow your daughter to listen to her own body about how much she needs to eat. Otherwise, she will grow up learning to ignore her body's signals about hunger and full and will overeat.

You DON'T make her eat. She'll eat when she's hungry and a couple of bites fill up her tummy just fine at this stage in her development. (Her stomach is the size of her little fist and she's not growing the way she did when she was a baby so she just doesn't need the calories right now.) I would serve her a small portion of everything you make for regular meals but do NOT make her a different meal. It is totally and completely normal for toddlers to go through lulls in their appetites, but oh my GOSH are you setting yourself up for HUGE mealtime problems in the future.

I'm really worried that if you keep going down this path, you'll be posting in a year or two about being at your wits end that your oldest won't eat anything other than chicken nuggets/peanut butter and jelly, etc. and you're tired of being a short order cook and worried about her poor nutrition!

I completely agreed with what Michelle said about teaching your daughter to ignore her body's signals if you MAKE her eat. Just serve nutritious meals and snacks at regular intervals, limit the juice, and don't stress or make food a power struggle. There has NEVER been a record of a young child starving herself - when she's hungry I promise she'll eat!

Oh, yes. Most of the time it is a phase. They go through food jags and then growth spurts. I think sometimes toddlers survive on cheerios and air. It sounds like you are keeping a good eye on her. I hope she isn't sick and this passes. Some days my kids eat more than other days. The only other thing I can think of is to make it fun. Maybe make faces out of fruit on a plate??? Best wishes!

Two things come to mind - 1: she could be getting ready for a growth spurt. My son will go through phases, one day eats like a bird and then some days he can't seem to get enough food. When my son get's ready for a growth spurt he gets clumsy too, constantly falling and tripping over everything. 2: It could be the heat. The other day when it was really really hot (I want to say Thursday and Friday) my son didn't really eat much...mainly fruit. I pushed the fluids like crazy though. When it's hot you don't feel like eating a lot of food sometimes.
If you daughter is still active and her personality hasn't changed - I wouldn't worry to much about it. If she's acting lethargic and sick, then yes I would be more concerned. I hope this helps.

Totally normal!!! My three year old is the same way. Word of advice before she gets used to it...Dont make the different meal for her. She will expected it all the time and it may not be a time when you can stop everything and make her a separate meal. She will eat when she is hungry. It baffles me because I have a 17 month old that can eat me under the table alot of the time. He can chow down two pieces of pizza or finish his mac and cheese and everyone elses. So every kid is different. SHe isnt growing as much so she doesnt need as much to eat. Does she snack alot during the day and inbetween meals? or take in alot of juice? That was my mistake with brody is he was snacking too much and I never realized it and he would want juice constantly which would fill him up. Now he has to wait until he has eaten al least half of the food on his plate before he gets juice. He wont drink just plain water and wont drink milk but before naps and bed. So anyways I wouldnt worry too much and see if you can rearrange so of her snack times and what not she will come around. If she is losing a good amount of weight do to her food strike you should take her to the doctors. SHe could have an underlying problem she cant tell you about because she herself doesnt understand it.