Ideas please - dinner time battles

Liam used to be really good at eating pretty much whatever was put in front of him but lately dinner times have become a major battleground .

There are very few meals that you can guarantee he'll actually eat. Last night was casserole, mashed spud & pumpkin with grated courgette & carrot in it. He ate a few mouthfuls then wouldn't touch the rest. He is now 18 months old with 12 teeth & I don't think I should still be mashing everything up like he's a "baby"

I realise that this is a very common problem in toddlers but I am really struggling to get any veges apart from potato into him. Not sure what else I can try??? I have tried mixing them with gravy, grated cheese & cheese sauce but he still won't eat them.

So what are your never fail meals that your toddler will eat?

And do you still offer dessert if they don't eat much of their main course? I have been but wonder if I should stop so he learns that if he doesn't eat what he's given then there's nothing else.

I find if I put salad dressing (balsamic vinegar type) on any sort of veges that DS will eat them.

Try raw veges dipped in hummas or some other sort of dip for a novelty.

I'm a mean mummy - we never have dessert in our house...

I'm not sure what to do on this one I'm lucky so far but i realise it might change..we dont do dessert either and I would probably stop offering it cause he at the moment is realising he will get it regardless(though i realise you want to get some food into him so it's a hard one!)

I have been having the same issues with my daughter who is 17 months.   I was really stressing about it and it would wind me up that she wouldn't touch any of her dinner some nights.    Now when she refuses to eat I leave it for awhile and then try again as sometimes I think its timing and she isn't always ready to eat when I first try. If the second attempt is rejected then she gets nothing. When she is hungry she is a good eater and will eat almost anything that is put in front of her so I figure she just isn't hungry. Like Cuppatea's child she has a good breakfast the next day if she hasn't had much dinner.

Sally, I am hearing you!

Pasta Bake is a guarenteed eat here as is homemade pizza and vege fritters. The pasta bake and pizza I add veges too. DS loves playing wth the dough for his pizza and spreading the "getti" and "eese".

I still offer yoghurt and fruit if he doesn't eat his dinner but often he won't eat that either.

DS is at DC though and they get a hot lunch (with veges) which he eats quite happily so often he has a nibble platter for tea e.g cheese, luncheon or ham, a cracker, fruit - fresh and dried etc.

Maybe try giving him his dinner at lunch and lunch at dinner and see what happens?

DD is not a spuds girl either...

Recently we had a couple of nights of tanties and we realised it was highchair related rather than food, so now she sits up at the big table with us and has been better.

Never fail meals are:
- yellow and red curries with rice and veges (cut up small)
- lasange, bolognaise and other pasta and sauce things (with cut up veges) (sometimes she picks the green veges off her fork - sigh)

Cous cous mixed with peas and corn goes down ok

Also, we've had good success with soup for lunch (esp pumpkin and tomato), but am going to try vege and how we go. there is a book she likes with pictures of soup which has helped with her eating soup.

If she won't eat something that I know she usually does, then no desert.
also sometimes you need to try things quite a few times before success - eg baked beans took about 10 attemps and now she loves them

Ella normally eats soup the same way we do- just in a round bowl with a normal toddler spoon. It used to get a bit messy, but now she is pretty good about getting most of the soup in her mouth.

Alex went through a stage of not eating vegies and i had pureed vegies left in the freezer so mixed them into pasta bake and rissoles etc and then he didn't know they were there which meant no stress. I knew he was getting some and i also increased his fruit intake. I pureed super vegies like spinach and broccoli which are really good. The rissoles and pasta bake also have onion, carrot and mushroom in them so actually end up with heaps of vegies in there.

I'm really into not having dinner time be a battle so did the sneaky tactic. If he was older though i would consider having some rules about eating vegies but you can't reason with a one year old.

Hi!

My PAFT lady gave me a handout on this, and its actually a stage. It says to just ignore it and not struggle with them. Kylah used to be the same. Shes now 23 Months and eats whatever is put in front of her if shes hungry. If not, then she doesnt eat and thats it.

My no fails are peas! She loves peas lol

I know! She LOVES peas.

She can eat a whole bowl!
That and yoghurt! You should hear her say yoghurt, its so cute!

I find if you sit at their table and eat with them making chomping sounds and go one for you and one for me.. they get into it too. Well it works for Kylah. Like a say yummmm mummy is eating her potatoes and let her see me eat it and then say 'Some for Kylah' and she eats it too.

Or rename it something she likes. All veges here are called peas lol and she eats them all apart from Kumara, she just doesnt like it.