What do you do when your toddler refuses to eat what you made?

Question

We do Blue Apron because it’s just easier for us and we just want to try different recipes to get out of our comfort zone! Tonight I made fish and a veggie pasta. But my 2 year old just refuses to eat it. I don’t want to give in and feed him junk food or something else. Hes in the kitchen with me when I cook and sometimes I even involve him to help me but it still doesn’t really entice him. I just don’t know what I can do ☹️
Edit!
I used to be on top of my game and made sure to give him something he liked on his plate but I don’t know why I just haven’t been or why I haven’t thought about it. 
Thank you ladies for the great advice! All very helpful!! 🙂

Answer

Sometimes you've just got to choose your battles, most kids that age don't like fish anyways so maybe just give in and feed him something else but something of nutrition, you don't have to substitute with just junk food. Sorry kids are picky hahah!

Answer

If you’re serving something new make sure you pair it with something you know he’ll eat. Serve it alongside the dinner not as an alternative after the fact.

Answer

I have an extremely picky eater. We always make sure at least one part of dinner she will eat and if it’s new food she must try them before  she can leave the table. If not she goes to bed. She eats what the family eats. When she was under 2, if she ate nothing (which happened often) we would give her a banana just before she went to bed so she wouldn’t be going to bed starving. Then she started rejecting the banana so we stopped doing that, sometime around 2/24m. 
We worked with a dietician and this was her recommendation. 
Never to give in and feed them other foods, always to offer at least one food you know they will eat (though with extremely picky eaters, even food they eat all the time is hit or miss sometimes), make sure their last snack was at least 2 hours before the meal, feed meals and snacks at the same time everyday, always eat family meals at a table as often as possible as seeing others eat food is encouraging and helps them see it is safe, try not to make a big deal out of meals/avoid fights/my kids know the rules surrounding meals and we don’t waiver and they know the consequences for not fallowing them.

Answer

If my LO (2 years old) refuses what I made then that's all. It's my job to chose what to give him but it's his choice to eat what he wants of it and how much. Some days he asks for more and some days he goes to bed without dinner. He has never once woken up complaining he was hungry. My pediatrician said if they refuse to eat then they really aren't hungry and I believe it. Some days my LO eats like I grown ass man and other days he picks at it like a bird. Some days he will eat the peas and ask for seconds and then there are weeks when he won't even touch the peas. With toddlers, every day is different. It's best to just go with the flow and let them regulate themselves instead of trying to force it. It's less stress for you and them. 😊

Answer

Kids have preferences and tastes, just like adults. There are some things I don't like and there will be some things they won't like. On the rare occasion that my three year old doesn't like what I made, I will offer him an equally healthy alternative. That is, if the reason he isn't eating is because he doesn't like the food. If he's just "not hungry" then I won't force him to eat anything. My 16 month old has literally never turned anything down ever, but I'd treat him the same as my 3 year old. 
Now, if it was something they did literally every day with everything, then no, I wouldn't make them something else. And I only offer equally healthy alternatives, never junk food or deserts.

Answer

We offer him other foods if he’s tried dinner and doesn’t like it. Some people don’t like some foods and blue apron tends to involve more bold and strong flavors than kids lean toward. We usually offer yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, oatmeal, and fruit. We try to offer the food again halfway through whatever he is eating so see if he changes his mind.

Answer

All my two year olds will eat all of is hotdogs and bread. Anything else and it's just food fight material.

Answer

tell her your not leaving the table til you eat it 🤷🏽‍♀️
she always cracks fast so i dont actually end up leaving her at the table but the threat usually works.  & depending on if she eats some but not all ill tell her she can have a treat after but she has to eat it now no fuss

Answer

Never force a child to eat something. Just make sure you are exposing him to new foods and try to have something available you know he will eat. If he doesn’t want any of it then make sure he knows there won’t be any food available until the next meal time. Follow newwaysnutrition on Instagram, she’s great!

Answer

I offer something else nutritional high in protein.

What do you do when your toddler refuses to eat what you made?

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