softmommy80

I have been fighting with my little boy for the last 3 years everytime we have lunch or dinner. He will have a great breakfast, with yogurt, cereal, brown bread and fruit but then lunch comes around and he is not hungry or refuses to eat anything that I make. I am really tired of fighting for everymean especially after I have finished preperaing it and would just like to sit down and relax.
Any suggestions?

Kaytee

I say as long as he is not just eating junk food all day and that is why he won't eat, then let him be. He just doesn't need the food. Now if he is snacking all day, then that needs to stop.

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Trina

Don't fight. Serve healthy meals and snacks. If they eat, fine, if they don't fine. No biggie. I noticed my kids ate much better once I stopped making a big deal out of it. Also, look at what they eat over several days as opposed to on a daily basis. My DD will appear to just nibble for several days and then she'll eat like a cow for a day or two. Our doctor said that's totally normal.

Kids' Picky Eating: Natural or Learned?

To further reduce the chance of picky eating, don’t let mealtimes become a power struggle. Behavior scientists see control issues promoting picky eating at least, in some children. Let there be a division of responsibility: parents and caregivers should decide what foods are offered and when. Kids should have sole responsibility for deciding how much to eat. This teaches them to use internal hunger signals to eat only what they need – something many adults raised in the “clean your plate” style find difficult

anyavanr

Make sure he's not eating snacks and junk between meals. If this is the case, stop it, or at least try...If not, don't worry too much about it. He'll eat when he's hungry.

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musicmom

HappyMomma

One thing to remember is that they won't starve themselves. As long as you are providing health food, they will eat what they need.

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Father Of Three

My DW and i have been battling this with our eldest boy for about 5 years with this. His Autism does not help as he gets into a routine of what he wants to eat and what he will not eat. He does snack during the day which we have reduces in the hope that he will eat. We have got him eating only a couple of different things at the moment but it is still an up hill battle.

softmommy80

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I have totally cut down on the snacks after lunch and he has eaten so well over the last week. It actually feels nice to cook and know that he is going to enjoy it(for now).

fallon

glad to hear things are going better for you

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Momoes

I had the same problem with my daughter. I didn't understand how she could still be growing on 2 bites of food a day. Turns out she was eating 2 servings of lunch at school everyday. So I stopped offering her food at home and she never ate at home for a few months, but now if she's hungry she tells me exactly what she wants and I don't have 100 different snacks out on the counter trying to get her to choose one.