Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

How can I get my 19 month old daughter to eat?

My daughter has always enjoyed food. There's nothing I've given her that she hasn't liked and wanted more of. But suddenly she doesn't want ANYTHING! I know toddlers are picky and all that but it's making me crazy! I put her in her high chair so she can't just wander away from her food, I turn the tv off so there's no distractions. She will be fussing because she's hungry, I put food in front of her and she throws a fit & won't eat it! No matter what I give her! I talked to a nutritionist & told her this, and that I've tried if she doesn't eat something I make something else & she won't eat that either. She said never offer more than 1 alternative & make the alternative the same thing every time - a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. That way if she doesn't want to eat the variety that I'm offering she gets a pb&j. Every time. Eventually she'll get sick of the constant pb&j's & start eating the 1st offering. It sounds like an awesome plan, and I am going to try it, but I'm wondering if anybody has any other ideas that have worked for them, or just reassurances that my kid is not possessed by a demon spawn and I'm not going crazy or being mean. Thanks!

Update:

We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together at the same times every day. Dinner also includes daddy, who is at work during breakfast & lunch. We offer her the same thing we are eating also (unless it's like taco's, then she might have something different).

She was eating at the table with us for several months but for the last 3 weeks or so we can not keep her at the table, she keeps getting down & wandering off. That is why we brought the high chair back in & pull it right up to the table with us.

Update 2:

I give her 2 oz of milk when she 1st gets up and then wait a little bit before serving breakfast. I used to give her her sippy cup (watered down juice) and let her have it all day but now I do not give it to her until after breakfast. She is not filling up on milk/juices before mealtimes.

I have also given her choices as to what she wants for breakfast/lunch & she will still refuse to eat her food, even when it's what she picked out.

Update 3:

For an example, a typical lunch for her used to be 4 fish sticks, 2 tbsp. of mac & cheese, a fruit cup and 4oz. of milk. Now she might take 1 bite of 1 fish stick if I'm lucky and she won't touch the mac & cheese or the fruit cup. She may or may not drink her milk. She has all of her teeth in except for her 2yr. molars, so teething is not an issue right now.

7 Answers

Relevance
  • 9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    You know the portion size for a toddler is the size of their little fist, u may be over-whelming her or expecting too much from her. Let her help you fix whatever she wants to eat and if she refuses that's her decision, if your keeping regular meal times she won't starv. I would also make her pratice sitting at the table with u whether she eats or not. You could aim for about two mintues of her paying attention to u at a time. She's prolly just busy and wants to be doing something else. Try to work out some transition cues to help her move from playing to eating. When you do eventually get her to eat something, write down what it was and when it was. That way you can look back and see if u see a pattern of things she likes (certian colors, or textures which is so common at this age). Good luck and try not to be worried or frustrated, it's not personal it's just one of those things.

  • 9 years ago

    Are you eating with her? She should be at the table, on a proper chair, with the family watching everyone eat together. Setting a good example so that she doesn't feel like she's a baby. Even if you cook yourself a few of her veggies so that it appears that you're eating together. Imagine being in her shoes. Plucked from whatever she's playing with, to be expected eat a meal alone in a high chair. I think I would throw a paddy! :)

    I'm not a fan of the sandwiches idea. Toddlers take ages to get sick of a certain food, especially one as nice as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I would offer her some food, if she doesn't want to eat it, then let her make that choice. she will eat eventually because she'll get really hungry! Don't make a fuss, just be calm and know that she won't starve herself to death and that you're not causing her to have a bad relationship with food, which the PB&J approach might do. (she could turn into one of those kids that will ONLY eat PB&J)

    -Make sure meal times are at normal times and that she is offered food at meal times.

    -Don't make a fuss or tell her off for expressing her anger at being told to eat.

    -Do eat a bit of what she's having too, to show her that it's yummy and Mummy loves it

    -Don't feel bad if she doesn't eat.

    -Be matter-of-fact about the situation and know that she'll grow out of it!

    Source(s): Nursery Nurse for years, with a toddler of my own!
  • jlb
    Lv 7
    9 years ago

    You didn't explain how you do mealtimes, but she should be eating the same food at the same time as the rest of the family. Don't fuss at her to eat, just offer a little bit of the meal and leave her be. Make sure you are offering meals and snacks at consistent times. If she doesn't eat one meal, don't reward her with junk btw scheduled snacks/meals.

    As someone else suggested, a booster seat at the table would also be good.

  • 9 years ago

    Children eat when they are hungry, offer her food every 3 hours no more than that.

    Kids will eat eventually make sure she isn't drinking too much milk, 2 year olds are the

    pickiest eaters. Just keep a covered dish with some apple, cheerios, small carrot sticks

    healthy stuff and she will eventually tell you she wants something.

    cut out the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that makes me full all day can you imagine

    what it would do to a 19month old.. no wonder she isn't eating.

  • How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
  • K
    Lv 6
    9 years ago

    19mo is very old to be in a high chair -- bring her up to the table; you may see some improvement in mealtimes...

    ...but it is also VERY VERY NORMAL for toddlers to go through phases -- sometimes long ones -- of eating what seems to be next to nothing. She is still pooing and peeing, right? She's not making that out of air.

    Do NOT fight with her over food; just offer and leave it to her to figure out what to do with it.

    Very useful: http://www.ellynsatter.com/how-to-feed-i-24.html

    The 'nutritionist' may know something about nutrition but doesn't sound like she has a great deal of experience with children; I would say you would end up with a child living off PB&J for a very long time. And why junk like jelly? A PB&J is a poor choice unless on additive-free whole wheat bread with natural, peanuts-only PB and a minimal amount of J. Offer fresh unprocessed foods -- apples, oranges, pears, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.

  • 9 years ago

    i would try eating with her maybe moving her to a boster seat next to you

    having everything ready to serve family style

    have her serve herself and eat with her...have everything at the table...no reason to get up

    talk about the foods and eat meals together...i wonder if she is getting crackers or snacks...or a bottle or cups of milk...those items...make meal time a bust

    i would just make meal time the only time to eat...fruits are a nice filler....and not a lot just a slice or piece of something...

    good luck

  • 9 years ago

    Knock her out and drip feed her...:-)

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.