Toddler Wont Eat Dinner When at Home!

Hi S.,
I have a nine year old daughter and three year old twin boys so I'm a few blocks ahead of you in this marathon! LOL One thing I have never ever fought about with the older and now the youngers is food. Dr. James Dobson is a very wise Christian child psychologist who has written several excellent books on parenting has suggested over and over (and is agreed with by many many more "experts" that you should never get into a power struggle with your children over food because they will always win. The idea behind it is that children have no control over any aspect of their lives. Their parents make every decision about everything they do so food is the one thing they can control. Dr. Dobson says let them have it. If they want to eat what you have prepared then fine. If not, then fine as well but do not under any circumstances fix them something else or give them "dessert" - what ever that may be, sweets, fruit, etc. Children will absolutely not starve themselves to death. How do I know this for sure? Over my oldest's almost ten years of life, she has chosen countless times to not eat dinner and her little brothers are racing fast to catch up with her. They are learning very quickly that "this" is what we are having for dinner, eat it or not but this is it. Many nights, their cup of milk at dinner is all they get (again, by their own choice). Now, the good news is, they never wake up in the middle of the night from hunger. I don't know why but it doesn't happen. They do wake up ready for breakfast though! LOL So, my advice to you is to stop the struggle on your end. Don't get into the habit of begging or bribing because that will only spill over into other aspects of your parenting and before you know it your son will know he can manipulate you with anything.
And one last thing, be encouraged! My husband was raised by a single mother who had him at 17 with a boy that was whisked away by his parents. It wasn't easy for her, she made lots of mistakes but she raised a fine, caring and considerate son who has grown into a man of great character and integrity. Single parenting is not for the weak, it takes a lot of strength and sometimes great firmness to get these kids to adulthood! Best wishes!

Strawberries sound like a good meal to me! Toddlers are picky.

My son went through a phase like that. I would just say "ok", like it was no big deal...then I would save his dinner in the fridge and offer it again to him later (before bed). I never had to send him off to bed without eating something. Sometimes if I think he has an upset stomach (which makes his appetite finicky) or if I think that he just doesn't like what I served, then I offer him oatmeal instead.

My kids always do better at resteraunts...resteraunts are very distracting for children. You can also try distracting him at home with dinner...Add some background music, add something unusual to the menu. A lot of times I serve something he likes with something he doesn't like and he only gets more of what he likes after taking 3 bites of something he doesn't like. I never make a big deal about it though... just say everything very matter of factly.

Hope you find something that works.

Hello S.,

here are a couple of ideas: play restaurant. go on a "picnic" in your backyard... have breakfast for dinner. He's probably gotten used to the msg added to the foods (which overly excites the tastebuds) and regular foods don't taste good for him. good luck! it's really hard to find a restaurant that doesn't use MSG. ~C.~