How to make your 2 years old eat!!!

first pickyness is relatively normal - had the same problem with youngest (still do)have You ever met a kid that didnt Like whipped cream or pudding?? mine hates them both! FIRST & FORMOST - ALL the junk food HAS TO GO.It CANNOT be an option & hiding it does NOT work kids are fast to pick up on hypocrasy. its bad for all of you anyway== what my doc suggested was ALWAYS have fruit.veggies on the table - a snack that they can have anytime of the day all day long.. things like celery sticks & cherry tomatoes too. at meals DONT force anything.. another trick i was taught... use a SMALL plate (child or bread plate size) and only put a few things on it in SMALL amounts (a few bites at a time) - & tell the little one when she is done with that she can have more.. when she is hungry she she Will ask for more. you will be amazed at how much they can put away when they are not being overwhelmed by a big full plate. Serve only have water at the table for both kids.. or they will fill up on the milk or juice and not eat DONT put sauces on anything - not even catsup or mustard or mayo -- let HER choose from dipping cups IF she wants them - surprisingly its these things that are often a problem - AND she learns that you will allow her to make choices which leads to less fighting when you do insist on something. you will have to add additional protiens to her food.. at first i did things like add 2 or 3 eggs & extra powedered milk to pancake mix (she likes pancakes or waffles) or whatever - i imagine you will find she prefers PLAIN food (not mixed up like cassaroles) I keep sliced cheeses and sliced turkey or ham things like that at all times - she likes salads (like spinach & butter lettuce) but no dressing on it tho SHE will add the ONE dressing she likes. i would add tofu to hamburger to make hamburger patties (she liked burgers) things like that as she didnt like COOKED vegies (still doesnt) i had a LOT of raw ones with her meals (like crunchy cauliflower) as she got older i would tell her - ok you need to add protien to that (what ever she was wanting to eat - & would give 2 or 3 choices to pick from making her feel empowered -- this was especially good @ restaurants - you can ALWAYS get a side dish of a scrambled egg! & both kids & i would talk about what was healthy.. i also had both girls cooking with me starting at three (they got to pour in the ingrediants & help stir to start with) they are both now accomplished cooks & the youngest one is healthy in spite of her pickyness because she understands what she needs. it takes time but its worth it:) hope some of this helps

My daughter is eight years old and she has no trouble eating now but I had similar problems with her when she was a toddler. She used to go all day on one slice of cheese sometimes and yet she looked perfectly healthy not too thin and had plenty of energy. I took her to the doctor and he said that she was fine and to leave her and that she would eventually eat. I followed his advice all the while trying not to worry too much. I did little things like mash up vegies and disguise them in some of the things she liked and for a long time she ate very little but eventually out grew the phase and now she is a good eater although she compensates her dislike of vegetables with plenty of fresh fruit. Good luck!

well the first and most important trick is to stop giving her junk food. no more junk food. she can't eat it if you don't allow her to have it. she will eat when she is hungry trust me. but if you allow her to fill up and crap food why would you expect her to be hungry when it comes eating regular music.

hi smileonstar,Kids will eat when they are hungry. In other words, your little 2 year old won't starve even though it seems as if she is not eating enough. It does sound as if she is probably filling up on snacks and so isn't real hungry at meal times. This is where you have to put your foot down. If she does not eat her meal then do not allow her any snacks. I know that is easier said than done but you have to or soon she will have some horrible eating habits that will only get harder to change later on. I found that my kids ate almost everything better if I put a small bowl of ranch dip or dressing by their plate. They dipped their meat in it as well as veggies. Ketchup could also work. I never forced my kids to eat but they did have to take at least a bite of everything on their plate. Eventually they did aquire a taste for things like broccoli and spinach and even onions. Again...no snacks if she doesn't eat a decent amount of her meal.

I read somewhere that one way is to make food fun. For example, put a face on the pancakes in the morning with fruit or cut carrots up in strips so it doesn't seem like she's eating this huge ugly vegetable. Maybe it would be easier for her to accept if it was in a 'smaller' package. How about dips for the vegetables? That might help them to taste a little better for her. Make a vegetable smoothie with a little bit of fruit mixed in to sweeten it up a little bit. That way it might be more palatable for her to eat. I wish you luck in this area. 2 year olds can be very picky with their food. Purrs, Catwoman=^..^= & Mija

Some advice from a mother of ten.... You would be amazed at how little kids need to eat to be healthy. Go to one my pyramid.gov and print out a food pyramid chart for your child's age. Stick it on your fridge, and measure out each meal what she still needs to eat for the day. Then you can relax. And remember - you are the mom. You buy the groceries and bring the junk food in the house. Your child won't starve if you don't have unhealthy food in the house. Eventually she will eat what's good for her. Do some research and find some recipes or combinations for the healthy stuff. You'll save money, doctor bills and frustration.

tough love. she either eats the healthy food you give her or not at all. just make sure she had enough water. she'll eventually get hungry and eat it. with the snacks for your older girl. make it healthy snacks as least. a glass of water and maybe some carrot sticks or apple slices, those type of things so you don't have to worry about the 2yr old eating just snacks. at least its healthy and your older one gets healthy as well. there's no other trick needed. you just have to be the adult and be tough on them. as soon as the habit is fixed she should have no problem eating healthy on a regular basis. you also need to eat healthy as well. eat the snacks with them and don't eat junk food yourself. totally get rid of it from your house.

I would suggest start getting both children snacks such as fruit or something along those lines rather than junk food. Then the littler one will mimic the older one and eat that too.

I know there was a cook book that came out last year about how to feed a picky eater who is young. We fought this battle with one of my granddaughters and she grew into to a healthy woman. But we found the problem was that she was just to sensitive to flavors. Mac and cheese was about all she would eat, we finally gave her a multi vitamin for children that tasted good and would sneak a little bran into her mac and cheese. It the above mentioned cookbook they put pureed vegs and fruit into things like cupcake. Good luck and don't tear yourself to much. Kids grown up despite us.

Has your child had her two year check up yet with the doctor? My two year old is the same exact way!! It's not your fault at all it's just the way they are. They crave sweet things. That is the first thing my doc said when I went in just yesterday..."How's the little guy doing? Eating little for meals and wants all junk food?" I was almost in shock when she said that because that was exactly how it was!! So girl you have nothing to worry about they will out grow that stage.

I had the same problem... and still sometimes do with my now 3 1/2 year old. She'll eat corn dogs, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and pizza until she's blue in the face... oh, and mac and cheese. Now at dinner time, its a rule that she must try whatever I make for my husband and I. If she tries it 9 times out of 10 she likes it... if she doesnt, then I'll make her something she wants instead. I just basically make sure that all the food groups are covered. Fruit is always easy, and I personally don't mind if she wants it out of the can or if she wants it fresh. For vegies I've just been giving her like, cucumbers with ranch or celery with peanut butter or that V8 splash juice. If she doesn't try whats on her plate, then its simple... she doesn't eat the rest of the night. My advise would be to try and pick out a few of the foods (whether they're junk or not) and try and incorporate them into a meal of somekind. If Joslynn wants mac 'n' cheese but she had a corn dog for dinner the night before - I give her some chicken and carrots... and once she eats a bit of them, then her mac'n'cheese is our way of saying "thanks for cooperating" Does that make sense? lol Good luck! Stubborn 2 year olds are a handful!

We have 4 children all under 7 years old and from the outset they were given blended home foods and then naturally moved on to love fruit and veg more than snack or junk foods. Mix up fruits with high quality yoghurts, limited fat, very tasty low additives, children will try to guide the way for you and they will if you let them, put out great foods such as fruit and veg based even cutting the fruit into different shapes make a change for them and a little excitement, give them times where they can simply explore the foods - some jelly some fruit their imagie can go wild and they usually end up eating most of it as they go. all of this will aid the way to ease them into eating a more nutritional diet. Hope it helps

i think you should be an example to your daughter. try not to eat or buy any junk food anymore. buy only fruits and vegetables. also when preparing the food.ask for their help. and be creative in cutting those fruits.cut it in star shape or heart.goodluck