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September 2012 Moms
melody921
member
The dog is happy but I'm going to snap
melody921
member
I am not sure what has happened to DD over the past week, but my formerly good eater has become a picky, whiny, tantrumy (is that even a word?) mess at mealtimes. At first, I thought she just wasn't that hungry. Then I thought she didn't like what I was offering her, even though it's all stuff she has eaten before. Now, I'm just getting really annoyed. Dinnertime is a stressful disaster every night. I put food on her tray; she throws it on the floor, much to our dog's delight. I take the food away, she cries. I try to feed her with a fork or spoon and she swats my hand away and cries again. Last night, we were eating tacos, so I offered her ground beef, avocado, tomatoes and some steamed carrots. She literally only ate four small bites of avocado. I really don't know what to do at this point. I keep telling myself that if she's really hungry, she'll eat what I give her (I suspect if I had handed her a cheese stick, she would have chowed down, but I am a big advocate of the entire family eating one healthy meal). She did drink her milk after the lost cause meal. I don't want her only relying on that either, but she does need to get her dairy. I just really don't know what to do at this point, and DH is no help bc his answer is just to get her down from the table. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
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Re: The dog is happy but I'm going to snap
does she go to bed pretty much right after dinner? Maybe she's tired, I know when AJ is tired/overtired he doesn't want anything to do with food. Maybe try moving dinner up a little, or something.
We have this problem as well. It's a mad rush for dinner and then bedtime everynight. LO is always exhausted at dinner and crabby until the minute I put food on his plate. Then he's actually happier. But overtired & hungry = a lot of crying in our house at night.
Other ladies covered teething - how is she eating at other meals? Could she have a cold or sore throat? I just recovered from strep throat, so I've been watching the boys constantly to make sure they aren't coming down with it.
Otherwise - what about having veggies or something ready to eat as soon as you get home, so she can eat while you're making dinner? Then she'll be a little less hungry/cranky by the time you sit down?
Big Kid Jan 2010
Littlest Man Sept 2012
We deal with this from time to time, although DD is generally a good eater. It helps if I don't put too much on her tray at once - if she has too much to choose from, she tends to do the windshield wiper. If I give her a little at a time, and keep some on my plate, she gets excited for more and it seems special because it comes from the MOM'S FOOD place. It also helps to make sure we're eating at the same time, because otherwise she just wants to go back to eating when we sit down.
I also find that asking her if she's all done or wants more (she signs) makes a difference - if she's all done, the tray gets put away. It took a while to master this concept, but now she's pretty clear that "all done" means the food goes away. When she starts feeding the dogs, I ask her if she's all done - either she is and she's let out, or she starts shoveling food into her mouth real quick.
I'm also a big proponent of the "one meal" - if she's not hungry, I wouldn't stress it. Could be teething, like PP said - that always throws DD off for a bit as well.