Toddler life

It’s hard. I just let him tell me when he’s hungry. He’ll come up and say eat or grab me and take me to the snack cabinet. But I won’t give him snacks I’ll make him food cuz I know at that point he’s hungry

@Shynel thank you. My son will tell me specifically what he wants to eat (snack or meal) and if I don’t give him a snack because we are eating a meal soon, he will have a meltdown. Even if I give him exactly what he asks for, he will say he doesn’t want it and have a meltdown 😅😆 I guess this is just my life right now?

I used to being a pediatric OT- some strategies we use with our 2.5 yr old son: 1. Try to avoid “no” and offer an alternative or what he can do instead. “Playdough stays at the table.” “We have cookies as a special treat, not for breakfast. We need to eat foods to make us strong to start the day.” 2. Let him make decisions. If it’s time to get dressed, present two choices and say “blue shirt or red shirt today?” “Do you want to use the potty first or brush your teeth first?” 3. Make things fun or funny. I have to be Princess Belle while he’s the Beast (or two other characters he loves). I’ll use pretend play and say “Beast, I’m Princess Belle, time for your bath so we can go to our big library and pick books for bedtime” or “look, it’s your paw patrol breakfast!” (It’s just the usual breakfast). 4. Avoid asking if he “wants” to do things and instead try using “first/then.” For example, “first we will eat breakfast, then we can play that game” 5. Songs/games to make routines fun

Also having him involved in cooking can help with food exposure and is a good way to get them to try the foods while you’re cooking or prepping together. When I make dinner he will eat what we have, but served in a more toddler friendly way (cut up, small portion, foods separate or no sauce etc). Sometimes I include butter pasta or extra fruit if I know he won’t eat a lot of what we made. I also serve him fruit or a smoothie before bed if he didn’t eat enough at dinner time. I offer a lot of snacks and don’t refuse them. Sometimes I will say something isn’t available and give him a choice between two healthier options.

@Lauren same lol it’s tough but they’ll eat when they are hungry. My son wants my food even tho it’s the same so I’ll pretend to give him mine but it’s still his😂

And it’s not even so much getting him to eat. He actually eats pretty well. It’s more the constant resistance to every single request. It wears me down. I don’t want to just give up but often times I just don’t push it because he just won’t bend. No matter how fun or nice I am. Other times I have tried just forcing him but that doesn’t usually end well either. So I just feel stuck 😔

I try to give options a lot like if he needs to wash hands I will ask if he wants to use the big stool or small stool (to reach the sink) or I’ve even washed his hands in a bowl before which he has never refused. But washing hands isn’t optional and I’ve only had to “force” him once (before I thought of the bowl idea) which sounds intense but I was gentle and calm - not yelling and fighting him. If I make food and my son doesn’t want it then I say ok you don’t have to eat. And 100% of the time he eats it anyway so far. But I always eat with him so he sees me eat which maybe helps.