They aren't eating...wake up grumpy

So, my boys have recently stopped eating dinner. They simply won't eat what I make (normal food they've eaten before, not something funky) and I really can't forsee feeding them nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets, and spaghetti. As a result, i think, they wake up starving and are not very happy about it. I guess it's really just Matthew. It's 5:15 in the morning and he's screaming bloody murder (which he has done previously but I thought we moved passed that a month ago) and then it continues even when we get him and then he often still won't eat a lot of breakfast. So, I'm not sure what to do. Help!

 

It is actually typical of toddlers to eat only one or two things--ask your ped. What I do, is make something with the family meal that I know Jon will eat. For example, tonight I am making a chicken catchatore(sp?) in the crockpot, but I will make pasta to go with it--Jon will eat the pasta only.

Remember, toddlers pretty much only have control over 2 things in their lives--what goes in their mouth, and what comes out the other end--one of the reasons many resist potty trianing.

Marc went through a phase like that as well, but now he eats everything that DH and I eat. The more you make it a battle, the more they will resist.

 

Right. I don't want to make it a battle, but I also don't want to be making 3 different meals. I guess I'll be making speghetti with everything? lol.

 

Can you get them to eat a piece of cheese or some cereal before bed? Or even drink some extra milk? That might help fill their tummies up. I agree about not wanting to be a short order cook! Mine have been pretty good about eating what they are served, but there are some nights it seems like they hardly eat. I hope it gets better soon!

 

Yes, cheese and bananas are big favorites with matthew. He had two slices of cheese and half a banana for dinner (since he refused the meal i cooked) and they drink a cup of milk before bed. Perhaps it's not that he's hungry. he really just does have an ornery personality. I'm feeling very discouraged. I totally lost my cool with him this morning when the crying just went on and on and on and on. I just feel like I'm not being a very good mother.

 

I hate to resort to it, but I can always count on my girls eating at least a piece of bread and some cheese if they refuse what the rest of us are eating. Easier than cooking pasta with every meal and we go into every meal with the assumption that we're all eating the same thing. I only give them bread if they ask (and if I feel like it ).

 

Mine sometimes refuse their dinner, but I also give a sippy of milk before bed. So, if they didn't eat much dinner, at least they had the cup of milk. Makes me feel a little better about putting them to bed, at least they got something. I also give them fruit for dessert which they always eat. If they ate nothing of their actual meal, I try to beef up the fruit by making it applesauce with some canned peas or carrots in it, maybe some baby rice cereal thrown in too. They will almost always eat that.