Won't eat Lunch!! Arrgghh!

[N Lou]

The past week or so, DS will not eat his lunch.
Not even a nibble of it.
How can i get him to eat? He just throws the plate across the table without even looking at whats on it!!
However, if we're out and about and i'm not going to get home in time, he will merrily munch away on a sandwich or a fajita in his pushchair? :?

A day or two i'm not worried but i'm concerned that this appears to be developing into a habit.  Any suggestions?
How worried should i be about his intake?

[Mariek]

Hi Nina

Is he still in his highchair for meals? If he is you could try putting him at the table instead (we bought one of those portable toddler chairs that straps to a normal dining chair for Gracie - about 12 quid from Argos I think) and she always ate much better in that than her highchair.

Don't stress too much about his intake, he'll eat when he's hungry.

He's really giving you the run around at the moment isn't he - when you could do with it the least (do you think they have a sixth sense for the worst possible timing?? )

Here's the link to that chair:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3754535/Trail/C%24cip%3D29054.Toys%2Band%2Bbaby%3EC%24cip%3D29108.Baby%2Band%2Bnursery%2Bequipment%3EC%24cip%3D29114.Highchairs%2Band%2Bbouncers.htm


love

[N Lou]

Yeah we have the booster seat and he sits at the table with us.
The funny thing is when i bring the plates to the table he will willingly run over to his chair, gets in no fuss and i move him closer to the table and his arms fly out in front of him and he shouts "no no no".
But we have no problem at dinner time. :?

[Mariek]

Hmmmm..... strange.

Maybe he's just testing the boundaries to see what he can get away with? Is your DH always home for dinner? It could be that he's only trying it when there's just you to see what he can get away with.

Maybe shifting his lunchtime to half an hour later so he's really hungry would help or taking him with you to buy a new plate (tweenies or something) that's only for his lunch?

Just noticed the addition to your signature btw....made me go all squishy

love

[Lana]

Does he have a snack in the morning? 

Maybe he is just not hungry.  I know that we had to eventually cut out the morning snack because Ewan was not eating his lunch.

[N Lou]

Not generally.  Some days he'll have a little box of raisins or help himself to a banana (only to eat half!) but i don't tend to give him anything unless he seems to want it.

Although now i come to think of it, he has been sharing my breakfast.
I haven't been able to eat straight away in the morning when ds has his as i feel too sick.  I've been having my toast/cereal around 10am and he has been having a bit of that.

That might be it then?  Thanks Lana, i didn't even consider that :roll:
I'll try sneaking mine, have it in the kitchen while ds is playing or something!
Cheers! Let you know what happens!

[Deb_in_oz]

some kids appetites are very sensitive.  alex cannot have snacks unless i plan them as part of herday (like take fruit from lunch to give as her morning or aftrenoon snack)  If she has so much as an arrowroot biscuit or some grapes it takes the edge off her hunger and then at lunch or dinner she nibbloes a few bites. if no snack she will eat a good size meal.

i know some kids can eat a whole snack and still eat a meal 2 hrs later but not all.  even a few bites of toast can kill their appetite.

[tylersmommy]

Tyler's the same way...no snacks, unless it's one of those hungry days where he's ready to make a grilled cheese sandwich out of ME. Even without snacks, he STILL skips meals on occasion, and I just shrug it off. That's when I'll offer a snack a couple of hrs later, even though it'll probably throw the next meal off. HTH!

[Lana]

So did it make a difference?  Sorry I didn't check back sooner.  How is he eating now?

[N Lou]

Seems to be improving Lana!
It's not 100%, but most days he will eat a fair amount of lunch with little fuss.
I've chilled out on the whole matter too so maybe I was making too much of a drama over it :oops:
Some days he still doesn't eat but we just move on.  I mean i can't force him to eat so why stress!!!
He's been loving Christmas though, eats snacks & treats all day long AND all his main meals!!

Thanks for the advice!

[Lana]

No worries .  I am glad to hear that he is eating better for you.  It definitely makes a big difference if you don't stress about it :wink: .  Hope that it stays good for you.