You serve your toddler their meal and they refuse to eat it, what do you do?

Usually what I do cause my son acts like that sometimes I'll just leave it on his chair for a little bit and he'll eventually eat it. Or sometimes I'll just put it in a container and save it for later. And give him a small snack in the meantime like crackers or fruit

I tell my twins I’m not making anything else for a while so they can eat or wait. And sometimes leaving it for a bit helps. They’ll come back and eat it.

Not same meal later, unless that’s what everyone is doing and the food is in good condition. That turns food into a punishment. We don’t want punishment or power to be a part of mealtimes. The standard idea is to not offer an alternative food and serve her plenty at her next meal. This works well for most kids. Sometimes they just aren’t hungry. In our family we assign a safe alternative food as we have someone with an eating disorder. If someone wants an alternative dinner they can choose yogurt and a piece of toast and a veggie, but that’s a rule set in advance. You May want to have kiddo help you pick out what veggies go on the table or help to stir cheese sauce. In our house our kids can change the menu till the food is on the table. If I have a helper in the kitchen they have a lot of choice- that generally- but not always-leads to less waste and more peaceful meals.

My toddler will 100% eat it after I get her down from her chair.

nothing, I leave it out & if she’s hungry she’ll go back to it. They don’t need as many calories as you’d think. As long they have even one good meal a day they’re set for the day! even the things she specifically requests sometimes she doesn’t eat 😒😂

I usually communicate with my daughter before I make it.. I mean I’m sometimes not in the mood for something I’m not gonna make her sit through a meal she hates

I’d give it to her later but if she wanted nuggets I’d give those to her then 🤷‍♀️ if my son asks for a specific food I give it to him tho

I just tell my toddler "this is lunch, I'll leave it here in case you get hungry" then when she's asks for a snack 5 minutes later i say "it's not snack time but your lunch is on the table if you're hungry" We don't serve the same thing for dinner because that's not what we are eating. I will give it for lunch the next day if there's enough leftovers for both kids.

Maybe not put the broccoli in. When my daughter sees the broccoli she won’t eat it whenever I mix it in. But usually for lunch and breakfast I give them options and they’ll tell me what they want and that’s what they eat. So for breakfast I’ll say do you want cereal or oatmeal and they decide. For lunch I’ll say do you want pizza, chicken nuggets or corn dogs, then they decide. For dinner they don’t really get a choice most of the time, I cook everyday so they have to eat it. Most of the time they will eat it and if they don’t I just tell them they don’t get their usual popsicle. But I always give them fruits after dinner so if they eat most of their dinner then I’ll let them get a popsicle.

@Amani You’re the first person I’ve seen mention their needed daily calorie intake. I’m going to start keeping track of their calories and see how it goes. Definitely would help me stress less when they’re not eating, if I know they’ve at least eaten enough calories (& of course nutrients). I also use toddler formula, but they don’t like the natural flavor (order vanilla), but vanilla is sold out everywhere near me. So I mix a bottle of formula and slip a little into each of their bottles/sippy cups when they drink whole milk.