Do you have a toddler who won’t eat dinner? You are not alone! If this is happening in your house, here are a few simple things to try to improve the situation.
What to Do When a Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner
This is, hands down, one of the biggest feeding challenges when it comes to toddlers and it frustrates the heck out of so many parents. And while it can be a source of daily stress, there are steps you can take to increase the likelihood that your toddler will eat dinner.
The biggest thing to remember is that you have to get into a routine and be consistent with your responses so that your little one knows what to expect. They LOVE routine and predictability, so use it to your advantage…and know that it will likely take a few days to make new strategies their new normal.
Table of Contents
- What to Do When a Toddler Won't Eat Dinner
- Toddler Won't Eat Dinner Tip #1: Space out meals and snacks.
- Tip #2: Keep an eye on milk intake.
- Toddler Won't Eat Dinner Tip #3: Include at least one "safe" food.
- Tip #4: Keep portions small to start.
- Toddler Won't Eat Dinner Tip #5: Let them decide what of their dinner to eat.
- Tip #6: Remember that they are likely tired.
- Toddler Won't Eat Dinner Tip #7: Do not get up to prepare another meal!
- Tip #8: Time any bedtime snacks right.
- Toddler Won't Eat Dinner Tip #9: Make snacks mini meals.
- Tip #10: Keep your emotions in check
Your toddler won’t eat? Help is here!
Sign up for our email updates to get tips and ideas sent to your inbox.
Remember:
- If we want our kids to eat a wider variety of foods, including the foods that we make for dinner, we need to set them up for success. A lot of this can be improved with routine.
- If we want our kids to stop eating the same three foods over and over, it’s our job to make other foods available, easy to eat, and taste delicious. (And to also keep the bigger picture developmental stage of the toddler years in mind.)
- And we absolutely cannot expect a two-year-old to approach eating rationally—they will always choose what tastes best and is easiest to eat—so we need to show them how it’s done on a daily basis.
Click here for a downloadable and printable version of this post.
Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner Tip #1: Space out meals and snacks.
Your toddler may need longer to work up an appetite than they used to. You can try skipping the afternoons snack and serving dinner a little earlier or serving less filling snacks (think fruit and veggies instead of milk and muffins) as another idea. Aim to have at least 3 hour between meals or snacks if your toddler is regularly refusing dinner.
Tip #2: Keep an eye on milk intake.
If you add up all of the milk your toddler drinks in a day, it’s possible they’re drinking half of the calories they need—naturally reducing how much food they need to eat. The same goes for juice. Serve more water and to limit when you serve milk, or how much milk you offer.
Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner Tip #3: Include at least one “safe” food.
Including a food that your toddler usually likes can help them feel happy when they sit down at the table, and that they have something to eat if they don’t love other components of the meal. Try a simple veggie side dish, cut up fruit, cheese, rice, pasta, or bread. This way, if they don’t eat a food they usually like, you can safely assume they aren’t actually hungry.
Tip #4: Keep portions small to start.
It’s easy to forget that toddlers don’t always need that much food, especially since they can be so unpredictable with how much they eat. (Because on the flip side, some days they eat more than us adults!). And starting with a very small portion and offering seconds if needed can go a long way to reduce the pressure they feel when confronted with a whole pile of broccoli!
Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner Tip #5: Let them decide what of their dinner to eat.
So no commentary or coercing. No verbal gymnastics trying to get them to eat more of one thing than another. No tall tales about what a food actually is. You decide what’s on offer and when it’s served, they get to decide what of it to eat, as the well-respected feeding theory called the Division of Responsibility (DOR) teaches. Use their love of power to your advantage and let them make some decision within boundaries!
Tip #6: Remember that they are likely tired.
Dinner is often the hardest meal simply because it’s at the end of the day. Keeping that in mind can help your own expectations. So maybe offer a hug or do a quick activity together before sitting down, especially if you’ve all be in separate places during the day.
Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner Tip #7: Do not get up to prepare another meal!
And do not get the crackers/mac and cheese/pizza that you know they will eat! If the goal is to serve one meal for everyone, they need to know they can’t just hold out for the foods they’d prefer. Include 1-2 foods they usually like and call it good.
Tip #8: Time any bedtime snacks right.
Put at least 1 hour (if not longer) between the end of dinner and a bedtime snack to avoid a situation where your toddler realizes he can refuse dinner and get food that he prefers right away. And keep the bedtime snack super boring and not their favorite food. In our house this often sounds like: “If you’re hungry, you can have a banana.” Or: “You can be hungry for breakfast then!” Both are remarkably effective!
Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner Tip #9: Make snacks mini meals.
Little kids can get into the habit of LOVING certain snacky foods so much more than “regular” foods. To help shift this balance, offer more of the regular foods at snack time and snacks with regular meals. This can help to normalize all the foods as being equally as important.
Tip #10: Keep your emotions in check
I’m not going to tell you not to take their food refusal personally because that is often so impossible, but I will suggest that you bite your tongue with how much emotion you show when they don’t eat something you really want them too. So often, the more we want them to do something, the less they want to do it—so stay neutral about the food and talk about other things!
Remember: You are in charge of the food that winds up on your toddler’s plate, but they are individuals too, with thoughts, feelings, and desires. Those two things might not always line up, but these tips should help get you a little closer to helping your toddler eat the foods you want them to eat.
Related Recipes
Chime in below in the comments with any feedback or questions! And read more about normal picky eating in toddlers here.
I also noticed that those plates with seperated parts are very helpfull. I used to just put the spaghetti with the sauce and the cheese on top in a small bowl. Now my little one of 1,5 yrs will eat anything(so far), but my 3 yr old will litterally eat the cheese and leave the rest. Since i started dividing it he usually also eats some spaghetti and if i serve halved cherry tomatoes on the side he’ll eat those too. Toddlers don’t like their food mixed and mashed. Seperate the components of the meals. It helps