Hi, My son is two and I have this problem with him! Every meal time he throws a BIG fight just to eat! I get his food ready, its always some thing I know he ate befor, I get him and my other son in their high chairs. By this time my 2 year old son is already askin for his bottle. He loves his bottle and i am tryin to get him off it but he steals his brothers.Well when i try to give him a bite he covers his mouth and says "no", he ends up in a time out, but he wont stay in time out,so I put him in his room,when he is done that he will eat just alittle. I don't know how to get him to eat with out him throwin a big fight? any ideas?

Hey Nakita,

My mum had the same problem with my brother aswell he was a little less then 2 and he wouldnt eat and has become addicted to his bottles. He is 2 now and mum asks him what he wood like for tea and he picks something (reasonable not cnady or nething) and makes it and then she tells him to sit in his chair, which he does himself and then gives him his food if he eats it he eats it and if he doesnt mum puts it in the fridge for next time. Sometimes ends in food on the floor but as long as he is keeping his fluids up in his bottles then he will be fine. 2 yr olds are going thru the independent stage and wanna do things there own way. He will come round ands he will eat when he is hungry just make sure u have a variety of foods available for him to eat e.g bananna or apple. healthy and and easy for him to hold and eat while playing or outside.

Hope this helps.

Jacinta x

ok, my advice, pardon me if this becomes a long entry.

Do you have your meal times, at set times. Do you sit together, at the table to eat, every meal?

Do you have a sippy cup for him?

Well, my opinion is that you NEVER make meal time a battle ground.
You need to start a conditioning process. Provide him with a lot of variety of foods. Cut up, and on a plate. Have him in he seat, then bring him his plate, and sippy cup. Leave him alone. Sit down, and have a chat with hubby. Do not focus on your child, while you are eating. And do not yell at him, cause any stress, whatsoever. Just eat your meal. Light chatter is ok, but NO NAGGING. Only positive comments.

You have to make meal times a positive time - a happy time. At his age, he can easily feed himself, and let him make a mess if that is what happens.

When you are finished eating, get a washcloth, remove plate, wipe down child, tell him what a good boy he was. Let him run. Then
clean up mess. Go brush teeth, and tell him over and over, how good he did, and how happy you were, keep chatter positive.

In time, meal time will become a habit, and as long as you maintain the routine, things will work out. NEVER make your child sit there, until he is finished. They will not starve themselves. You just have to provide all the food groups, adequate serving sizes, and present it to him, -----he will eat. No nagging, badgering, staring, threatening, yelling......

Try this, routinely, and give yourself and him, about 1 week, and all will be okay. Do not make different meals for everyone in the house either.

Good luck with that. It works. My youngest son, even though I provided him all food groups, every meal, appropriate serving sizes, he lived on Cheese, and apple cubes, until he was about 5. Everyday, I would make his plate, and that is what he chose to eat. I did not make a big deal out of it. Just scraped it away, and hugged him, for eating so many apple slices. He would tell me how he wanted the cheese next time. We had fun, and he survived. Now, as an adult, we have found, he has numerous food allergies, so I say, they know what is good for their body innately, so do not force anything on them. They will not starve.

I do have a set time to eat, we eat at 5 every night!me and the boys sit at the table and eat together but my boyfriend because he is always at work!,I have a sippy cup for both the boys even my 10 month old who has no teeth likes sippy cups,,but Darrian will take a fit if he does't get his bottle! I don't know if i should get rid of all the bottles in the house cause my youngest is still small,he still likes his bottle at night but could care less during the day! Darrian wants his bottle all day and night!I don;t know how to get him to give it up!I ask him what he wants to eat he always says soup!But i don;t want to make soup every day!My youngest son don't care what he eats as long as you feed him something!LOL.

But, remember, you are the mother, and you need to make adult choices, as to what the child needs - food wise. Trust me, you make the decision, as to what you make for lunch/dinner - whaat food groups does he get from "soup" Focus on raw vegetables, with dip, cheese cubes, cheeze meltaways (1/2 bun with cheddar cheese, melted in toaster oven,) spagetti, with veggies, milk, fruit, meat, meatloaf, scrambled eggs, etc.

To me, 2 year olds do not make decisions as important as "what will you eat". You are the adult, he needs to just be a child - never make a child make an adult decision.

And, if you "talk" to him, and explain the bottle is gone now, he will get it. You made a good decision about that, so now just do it. You do not need your 2 year olds "permission" to do "anything". Thats why you are the parent!

- Genevra

I once read this this thing about how a lady got her 3 yr old to give up her pacifier. She got all of them and put them in a bag and took her daughter out into the garden and hung the bag of dummies in the tree and said the dummy fairy was coming to get them. In the morning the dummies were gone and had been replaced by a new toy. She never asked for her dummy again. Mayb try something like this with your son. Just an idea