Said It Here

Why does my toddler refuse to eat anything I cook?

Toddlers suddenly reject home-cooked meals and hand their plates back full, leaving parents feeling miserable when mealtimes become a battle. This makes it impossible to rely on regular meal routines and leaves children eating only a very limited selection of foods.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Turning eating into a silly game where eating food makes a parent do funny actions
  2. 2
    Switching snacks to be more meal-like or eliminating snacks entirely
  3. 3
    Serving smaller portions according to the child's age
  4. 4
    Blending vegetables like broccoli and spinach into pasta sauce
  5. 5
    Ask the child to help get ingredients out and direct the process
  6. 6
    Let the child do pretty much everything themselves
  7. 7
    giving him a multivitamin
  8. 8
    incorporating fast food favorites like taco bell or kfc into healthier meals
  9. 9
    trying rotisserie chicken

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

3y/o: No I wanted a grilled ham and cheese.source ↗

DarkAngelReborn · r/Parenting · 172 upvotes

Okay, we’ve reached the point where my girl is handing her plate back full, no matter what I cook.source ↗

CapQueen95 · r/Parenting · 7 upvotes

I just need help to get him to eat more.source ↗

I just want my kid to eat more and i am lost.source ↗

Express_Espresso1 · r/Parenting · 3 upvotes

God it’s so miserable when they won’t eat.source ↗

Fit-Fun-5150 · r/Parenting · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised