Not eating dinner

My son is refusing to eat dinner just dinner. He calls the food ‘ yuck’ or ‘ eww’ & what he does is either throw a tantrum or pretend to cry & be tired so he doesn’t have to eat.
There’s been a few times where I’ve had to hold his arms down & feed him myself but sometimes that doesn’t work. At first I thought it was him not wanting to be in the high chair but it’s not because he still refuses dinner.
I’m usually the type of person to just go ‘ oh well as long as he has some food in his stomach it’s fine’ but my partner ( first time step dad ) wants my son to eat all of his food & if not it’s straight to bed.
He was good with eating but within the last 2 weeks he’s been fussy. One day he will eat meat, the next he won’t & will eat just veggies, ect.
What’s your opinion?

Also this my first baby.

Read more on Peanut

The views expressed in community are solely the opinions of participants, and do not reflect those of Peanut.

Learn more about our guidelines.

Add a comment

2 in sept

My son has also started doing this. We’ve recently gotten him his own ‘big boy’ table and chair to sit at and I give him a warning like ‘in 5 minutes it’s time to sit down and eat’ and we hold him to it. I never force him to eat but he has to stay at the table until he is told to leave. If he gets up I bring him back each time and tell him it’s dinner time. He’s also at daycare so we’ve limited the amount he eats at daycare to 2 servings each meal. Maybe it’s the time ur feeding him dinner?

This is definitely an age thing. My boy will be 2 in August and is doing the exact same thing. My older son was the same. This is all really normal. Try to make meal times as positive and calm as you can, trust me they will not starve. Please don't force feed as this can lead to food avertion and try not to worry too much. My only advise is try to avoid creating bad habits, i.e., giving snacks later on or removing specific foods from his diet.
Hang in there, this will pass!

I feed him around 6:30pm. At day care he has like 2 servings

He’s hardly had anything today. 2 pieces of toast, a packet of cookies, a few hot chips & a donut. The last thing he ate was around 3. It’s now 7pm

he does have his own lil table & chairs but it’s just hard when the step dad tries to over rule me

Are you guys eating all together? That can help.

usually one of us misses out but I make sure I’m eating with him. There’s 3 adults in my house

They’re starting to get bodily autonomy and want control over themselves, the more you make it into a battle by force feeding or punishing surrounding how much he eats etc the more likely he will want more control, it’s usually just a phase, ive found it really helpful to have no expectations, if he’s full and doesn’t want any more or like the food then they can be done and move on, if he wants to get down and move, give him a 5 minute break before coming back and trying again. Usually passes after a while when they realise they don’t need to fight so hard as they don’t need to eat when they don’t want to

If he’s eating lunch and breakfast and snacks I wouldn’t worry too much, I know we like to know they’ve eaten enough etc but they all go through these phases

you may need to have a chat with stepdad then. I know it’s not my place to say that but it might be confusing for ur son to have two different expectations at this stage. Have a talk and get on the same page, get some advice from family or friends with kids or even his daycare educators. It’s a hard time and it’s really a trial and error time to figure out what works. The important thing to remember is that you’re doing amazing, this will pass so try not to stress too much because he will pick up on that and he’s not gonna stave if he gets hungry he will eat. U got this hun xx

thank you so much I actually needed this & appreciate it. I’ve tried to have a talk to step dad & he’s just stubborn on trying to make my son eat his dinner. I’ve talked to family members & they said not to force him to eat as it could cause an eating disorder

in our community

Really bothered by this

A friend posted this and it really bothers me because that is exactly how she parents her kid, and it's rather unfortunate because when our kids hang out together, her kid has a meltdown at least 5x within an hour. We have know them for years and it's only gotten worse. My kids will concede to hers, because they don't want to see their friend crying, but it sucks because they give up so much of their toys and enjoyment to keep the peace. We aren't hanging out as much anymore but it's rather sad to think she doesn't intervene more in her child tantrums and just let's it slide

Is this normal

Let’s say you’re at a softplay with your 2 year old, and some friends & their toddlers.
You buy your 2 year old a kids meal - chicken nuggets, beans, and chips. They’re very happy with it and have almost eaten it all.
They’re sat at the table, fork in hand, consistently eating, and have one chicken nugget left.
Your adult friend comes over from behind you, picks up the last chicken nugget, and eats it.
There was no indication that your child wasn’t going to eat it, and they didn’t ask. They just took it with no warning and ate it right in front of you and your toddler.
How you reacting?

Are these men ok?

I get so sad seeing all the posts on here daily about women dealing with partners who are treating them horribly. I know it seems over represented because those of us with great partners don’t need to write posts asking for help, but I really hope most of us don’t have these kinds of men in our lives!

I tell my husband about these posts I see sometimes and he’s even shocked by some of the things these guys say/do.

Nobody’s perfect, and every relationship takes work. And becoming parents is a stress test unlike any other for sure, but seeing how many women get stuck in these relationships with men who aren’t interested in being better is so so sad😞

But is/was your partner helpful, loving, and supportive during your pregnancy/PP/etc? Was he a wonderful person but changed for the worst after becoming a parent? Has he put effort into becoming the partner you need him to be, even if he struggles?

Friends with shitty husbands

Does anyone have a close friend with a shittv husband?

My best friend of 14years married her high school sweetheart (minus the sweetheart.) He was always a POS growing up, had an on and off relationship and eventually from what I was told, they sorted their shit out and got married. I moved countries and her and I drifted apart for a while so I didn't know too much about what their relationship was like but assumed all was well since her social media alluded to that.

We both had babies within a year of each other, she had hers first and when she gave birth I found out I was pregnant. I had a rough pregnancy and we weren't in contact much but after my LO was born we spoke a lot. This is when I found out that she was struggling with PPD etc. She opened up about how useless her husband is, I would go as far as to say abusive. She's a SAHM who basically does absolutely evervthing & is being financially abused She's completelv touched out and is about to have a second child in a week.

I absolutelv cannot stand her husband. I hate how he treats her. I hate to hear about him. She posted on social media all the time about how lucky she is to have him as a husband and father to her babies yet cries to me on the phone in private about what really goes on.
I'm at a point now where I want to tell her that I don't want to hear about it anymore. I feel guilty that she's going through this but she's also allowing it to continue in a sense. I'm so emotionally exhausted with her problems and just want to shake her.

How do you/would you navigate this situation?

Car issues

Idk if I’m in the wrong. I have a full time job. My husband takes care of the kids while I worked. Today was the day I was supposed to get us a car. But I couldn’t cause of the down payment. So now he’s texting me saying I’m wasting his day to be alone at Walmart so he can spend his tax return. I really want to say go ahead. Leave. Leave the kids and me alone. While you go out and spend money. While your at go ahead and buy urself your drugs and a bitch to go fuck.

Lucky I’m even thinking about him about the car situation if not I would’ve been buying me and the kids a car small enough for us!

Activities with baby

I’m so tired of not finding enough things to do with my 10 month old baby boy. What do you guys do to keep them engaged. I’m not giving him any screen time actually he’s not interested either in watching tv.
Any ideas and tips what to do with them I’m so tired 😣