Not eating phase

[Dray225]

Looking for some advice and to hear other peoples experiences really,

My 3 year old has just decided not to eat tea anymore, he doesn’t want to sit up the table and eat his tea he would much rather play with his toys and I’m not sure how is best to deal with it.

I know he won’t starve if he doesn’t eat and honestly he won’t ask me for anything else all night but might take me up if I offer him something.

How to I get him eating up the table with us again?

[LawsonLion]

I would say to them they need to stay at the table, even if they don’t eat...but this was a few years ago and advice may have changed!!! I’m going to save the post so I can see what other ppl do! 👀

[hydrodad]

We have a almost 2 year old started saying i finished after 2 mouthfuls and pushes food away. We as a family eat at table and tell her she must stay at table. We then turn it into a game to encourage to eat. We think its a phase.l, but our girl does have a brain condition

[RachelModerator Moderator]

Hi Dray225

How is it going with your little one?

Is there any chance of offering a cooked meal at lunch and more of a snacky tea in the evening, some children are more likely to eat at the table if they are not expected to sit for a long time and they can eat a meal that does not involve using cutlery etc.

I think you are doing the right thing encouraging him to sit at the table and setting a good example.

I wonder if it would help to use a visual clue or set the alarm on the cooker etc and he can get down when the timer goes. Maybe build up the time from a few minutes to approx 20 minutes which would the maximum time that it would be reasonable for a 3 year old to sit .

I would also make sure you are giving count downs to when it will ne tea time and they will need to be sitting down.

Hope that helps.

[Dray225 in reply to RachelModerator]

It’s funny you should say this! I started giving him set warnings for how long tea was going to be and allow him to get down when he’s done not wait for me or his dad to finish the first couple of nights he’s have a mouthful and leave but doing that paired with him helping me cook/ set the table and now he will sit and almost always eat all of his tea! Thank you though definitely brilliant advice that someone else now might see and be able to use as well !!