How can I increase my son's appetite??

Thanks for the advice!

Claire I couldn't agree more.

I put Dylan's plate of food down and it is up to him. I give him about 30 minutes to eat. If he lifts his bum I take his plate away regardless of what he has eaten, but if he doesn't eat we don't give more food later on so he knows eat at dinner time or you get nothing.

I do understand that like us there are days when we really are not hungry and there are times when we don't feel like a particular meal so if I know dylan really isn't keen on what we are eating I offer him one substitute but that is all.

I actually find that before when I used to fight with him and force him to eat something he would have a very restless nights so it is possible that he just wasnt feeling great and eating made him feel worse.

This is one area where you don't want to fight with your kid. They will use it against you.

I have honestly come to the conclusion that this is an age thing - they are stuck between wanting the comfort from mom feeding them and wanting eat themselves, plus the attention span is not great so they get bored.
Another issue I have / had with my boys is that they are reluctant to try anything new. Brandon is okay now, but Liam...well lets not go there.

The other thing I have noticed with my boys is that the more fuss I make about it, the more they play up.
So now there are prescribed meal times where they have to sit at the table (whether they eat or not) until everyone has finished eating, the TV does not go on until both of them have at least tasted all the food on their plates, and if they choose not to eat, then that is their decision. If they are hungry, they will eat.
I can see on their faces if they REALLY don't like what they just tasted, or if they are taking a chance.

If they do not eat the proper meal, there are no snacks later.

There is no fuss, eat or not - up to you.

Then the time issue - I used to sit for about 2 hours waiting for them to finish a plate of food, now I give them a time bracket - if your food is not finished within ........., then your plate is going into the kitchen - that stops the playing and having to re-heat food 20 times to get thru a single meal.

Once again no fuss, no pleading, no begging - eat or not, up to you.

Hi! Has your son's eating improved? I'm having the same problem with my 18 month old and any advice is welcome! Thanks!

ooo wow thanks ladies!!!

so much good advice that I actually have to write them down

Im going to try do one bottle of water at night and see if it works.. maybe it will even make him sleep through when he wont wake up for water

Im worried the snacks will spoil his appetite for a bowl of food so Ill do his bowl of food for lunch and from there on do healthy snacks. What do you think?? Or would it be better if he was able to eat a bowl of food later in the day so he wont get hungry at night?

He has learnt to eat with a fork.. I help him to poke the food The spoon is still a bit messy since he turns it upside down on the way to his mouth. So Ill just cut bite-size portions for him to poke.

Ill try the nuts too.. Im sure he would like them

He is not in school, he is home with me all day. He def eats better when someone else feeds him!!! That has been proven over and over.. must be some kinda power struggle he has with me

Ill let you know when it improves.. he did eat a whole bowl of cous cous with slightly curried chicken last night!! along with veggies and the works.. weird hey

I agree with Julz - the nightfeeds are problematic.
I also agree with gloeiwurmpie. Check out the weight - if its fine then there is not really a problem. My pead has told me that toddlers are bad eaters, but will never starve themselves.

Is youLO at playschool? Ethan also eats badly at home, but on the one day a week that he goes to playschool they tell me that he has a great appetite! Must be the peer pressure...

I agree, offer healthy snacks and avoid sugar in juices etc.

My toddler sense book advises that if you are really concerned your child isn't eating enough, write down everything your child eats and drinks for 3 weeks or so. take this to your clinic sister or doctor and discuss this with them and let them also make sure your child's weight and growth is correct for his age.