If you cherish your little one, you want them to thrive. But getting them to eat dinner can often feel like a Herculean task. My son, for instance, begins his daily hunger strike around 3 PM, refusing food until morning. Despite my friend’s well-meaning advice to simply serve “food they like,” I had to remind myself of the struggles I faced with my younger sibling, who would rather sleep at the table than take a single bite. Memory can play tricks on us.
Here’s a guide on how to tackle toddler dinner time in 18 straightforward steps:
- Start by preparing a meal you know your child enjoys—think buttered noodles (hold the sauce!), chicken that doesn’t resemble actual chicken, and peas (which must not touch anything else on the plate!).
- At the last moment, in a moment of misguided hope, you decide to add a minuscule piece of salad to broaden their horizons and promote growth.
- Set the meal in front of your toddler and immediately regret the salad addition, praying to the toddler deities—Dora, Daniel Tiger, and Elmo—that they won’t notice the greens. Please, just ignore the salad!
- Naturally, they spot the salad.
- A mini meltdown ensues, and you’re faced with two options: A) Flee and preserve your sanity, or B) Stand your ground and attempt to teach your child that exclamations like “Yucky! Gross! Call Grandma!” about dinner are not acceptable.
- Opting for the latter, you channel your inner disciplinarian because you know abandoning ship would lead to a lifetime of lessons on why they might turn out… less than ideal.
- Sticking to your guns means your toddler spends the next 45 minutes in timeout, and just as it seems like dinner is over for you, it’s time for the rest of the family to eat. Perfect timing!
- As you try to enjoy your meal amidst the hiccuping sobs—painful yet oddly satisfying, as you hold onto the hope that perhaps they’re learning something.
- You grimly remember that you tell yourself this every single night.
- Meanwhile, the rest of the family finishes dinner, cleans up, does laundry, and unwinds, while you’re still in the trenches.
- Your toddler, having deemed themselves full, suddenly demands dessert, sweetly yet insistently.
- You glance at their plate, noting they’ve consumed approximately zero food.
- You find yourself saying, “You must eat three bites and try that salad before dessert.” Why do these phrases escape your lips? Sometimes, your mother just speaks through you.
- Your toddler, not comprehending the concept of counting, defiantly declares, “No, five bites!”
- Your older child begins to say, “But five is more than…” and you shoot them your best “handle this wisely, or your iPad is at stake” look.
- The rest of the family carefully avoids eye contact with the toddler, who, like a bashful giraffe, refuses to eat while being observed.
- Eventually, your toddler successfully consumes five bites (and even tries the salad!) alone at the table, three hours after everyone else has finished their meal.
- Miraculously, they might just earn that dessert, thanks to the oatmeal you snuck into the cookie, ensuring they’ll get some nutrition to keep them going for another day.
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In summary, feeding a toddler can be a challenging yet humorous adventure. With patience and a bit of creativity, you can navigate this nightly quest and hopefully encourage your child to embrace a wider variety of foods.