are your toddlers too busy to eat?!?

I know people talk about this alot. But I STRESS when the girls do not eat! eh!! Is this normal, i know they are busy bees, but they normally have a good meal every couple meals they would eat a good one. BUt for abotu a week straight they dont want to eat!

do you give your kids something different if they are refusing what you are giving them? or do you give them that option and thats it. latley the girls dont want to eat things i know they like, and then i will offer something else and they will eat it?

how do you get your kids to eat new things? we havea very limited window?

how do you keep from stressing and thinking your kids are hungary all the time when they dont eat a their main meals?

how much do you think is good enough for a toddler portion?

our meal schedule is
breakfast: 8am
small snak: like goldfish soemtiems
lunch 12:30
snack: 4:30
dinner 6:00

TIA TIA!

 

It's hard not to stress about what toddlers eat or don't eat. The way I looked at is that me and my DH are not short order cooks and the kids, even at 18 months ate what they were served. It was up to them to decide to eat the food. What I would do with meals is make sure that there was at least one thing I was guaranteed that my kids would eat. So if we were having roast beef (which I know my kids will eat), then I would have tried a new vegetable and served a side dish that I thought the kids might like. Also when you throw something new for them to try, it can take several tries for them to develop a liking to it.
The way I tried not to stress about their eating is reminding myself that they will not starve themselves.
I believe I read about toddler portions was that it was 1 tbsp for each year of age.

 

We get the girls to eat new things by eating it first. They see it on our plates and want it. Then we share and they eat it. Most times they will take a few bites before spitting it out. Other times it is instant rejection. But, we keep reintroducing it and we have slowly worked new things in. But we're also adventerous eaters and expect the girls to be, too.

When the girls don't eat what I cook (stir fry is often rejected) I offer a back-up food, but it is more a snack food like blueberries. This way they don't go hungry, but they also don't get a new meal.

I have learned not to stress when they don't eat because usually my girls will get crabby when they're hungry. And when they're hungry, they eat.

Our schedule is:
7:30 breakfast
10:00 snack
11:30 lunch
2:00 snack
4:00 snack
6:30 dinner


We do a lot of snacking, but it's mostly fruit.

 

I've noticed lately mine are doing this too...I think it's a combo of teething and them being so busy they can't sit for a couple minutes to eat.

I also make sure every meal has a food I know they will eat, but I offer that food last. This way they will try new thing and hopefully expand their foods. And if they are really picky on a particular day they might survive on goldfish, yogurt and fruits.

I really thought by now they would eat what we eat...one day, hopefully!!