Not interested in dinner

[Chloevalentine]

 My 2 1/2-year-old is not interested in eating dinner he won't even taste the food I put down. He just wants yogurt or cereal and fruit. Should I offer what's for dinner and if he does need it removed him from the table or should I just keep taking it away and offering in the yogurt and fruit?

[Katet]

My DS2 hardly ate Dinner for 2 or 3 years from about 2yo to 5yo,

I was always of the school of thought "it is my job to provide healthy & varied food for my children, it was their job to choose if they wanted to eat it"

At age 2 not having dinner won't be the cause of night waking & it's more important to look at the food across 24 hours (or even a week) rather than per meal time.  In terms of what you "should" do, it's really more about the boundaries you choose to uphold, it is more likely that if you keep offering fruit & yogurt that he will keep choosing just to eat them, but there is a thread on Ellen Slatter (?sp) & model of eating for the selective child, which is kind of what I did with my children - offer at least one thing you know they will eat (at the same time as everything) & then the food you'd like them to learn to eat & essentially what is on offer is what is the meal, so if it isn't on the table at the start of the meal it doesn't go on later, what they choose to eat is up to them.

[Haribo2012]

Like Kate says the 24 hour period of eating is better to look at, my DS has always been a great eater but will always eat more breakfast, fairly good lunch and dinner is always much smaller.

Also if lo is tired by dinner time they aren't often interested....I found anything after 5pm my DS had gone past being interested.

I would offer whatever you chose for the meal with 1 portion of his preferred food, no fuss and no mention of foods just keep chatting away about your day.

[*Ali*]

It might also be worth looking at whether dinner is too early (not hungry) or too late (too tired) and also the timing of any afternoon snacks that could be interfering.

Maybe also look into incorporating the veg and protein he is missing from dinner into his other meals and snacks. So an egg at breakfast and some meat in a sandwich at lunch with salad veg on the side plus some veg sticks like carrot for a snack and he will be covered if he doesn't eat at dinner.

[Chloevalentine]

He's also pretty picky these days. He won't eat eggs or meat or most veggies. He eats mostly Raisin Bran for breakfast with milk and banana snacks are usually peanut butter and crackers lunch half sandwich peanut butter jelly and fruit maybe a smoothie where I sneak in greens and Greek yogurt with fruit at dinner. He used to be such a great eater ugh.

[Katet]

It's normal between about 2yo & 6+ for them to limit their choices of food because their tastebuds are at the most sensitive. I remember years ago reading an article about what the average 3yo ate in various decades through the 20th Century... basically until the 1950's an average 3yo lived on bread, milk & some (not much) fruit, veg & protein & that it was only from the 60's on that more than 20 foods even entered the weekly diet for a 1920's child it ways something like Bread & milk for breakfast, bread & cheese for lunch & meat, potato & bread for dinner. Part of the problem is what is considered normal & what is evolutionary normal. Young children like the same food over & over & are actually more likely to try something new if they are offered it 20+ times before they even eat it. Neither of mine were great eaters as toddlers, but by 7/8yo great improvements & now they will attempt to eat what ever is on offer... my not choose to eat again but will try everything at least once. DS1 at 12yo will try things he didnt' like at 10yo because he says "I may like it now"  It's hard to let go but honestly my nephew (11yo) was the best eater as a 3yo is now much more picky than my 2 boys who were limited eaters & I was a limited eater & my brother was my Mum's best eater as a toddler... he's very limited now as a 49yo... roll with it, offer him plenty of healthy options, but don't pressure it (hard as that is) it will come good