2.5yo making herself vomit up food.

[WindyCityMom]

My 2.5yo has been complaining of hunger all day today and yesterday. She has been insisting on eating various forms of junk food- and is refusing to eat dinner breakfast lunch etc.

Whatever I give her, she says "blaghhhhhhh!" NO EAT NO EAT!!! I"M NOT GONNA EAT!! If I do end up getting her to try it, she starts making herself gag (still yelling at me blaghhh no eat no eat) and eventually vomiting. With or without the food in her mouth. She's been drinking water and the only thing I could get her to eat today has been a cheese stick

Someone help me save my sanity.

How should I deal with this and let her know that it's NOT okay to demand food, complain of hunger, but NOT eat what's in front of you and instead vomit all over your plate? I'm at a loss.

[ssh]

Have you tried letting her get herself something to eat? If you don't buy junk you could just let her eat whatever she wants that you have.

We've always let our DD self regulate her food intake. Since we don't buy junk foods very often we don't care what she decides to eat. She's been getting her own food out of the refrigerator since before turning 2. She does usually eat meals, but no one makes a fuss if she doesn't.

It sounds like a normal 2.5 year old power struggle. Your DD is just trying to see how much control she has over things that involve herself. That's why she's making such a big deal out of it. I suggest you stop letting food be an issue, because as you've noticed a person can't make another person eat something. Also letting food be an issue can give people issues with food later on or even cause obesity. Let your DD eat when and what she wants and just offer her healthy foods.

[WindyCityMom]

It would be wonderful if she would get something to eat herself. I encourage it all the time... but she always refuses to do so and demands that I get her some food.

She can open the refrigerator door, she just chooses not to. She has access to fruits and tons of healthy snacks. She just won't do it herself.

It's just worrying me that she won't eat anything. I usually don't really care if she eats her meals or not because she grazes throughout the day. She won't even do that, though.

The only unhealthy things in our house are probably store-bought cereals, but they're not the fruity dye and sugar laden kind, they're corn flakes and honey bunches of oats. No eye-catchers there. She's just demanding things like cake, donuts, ice cream, chips, etc. Which we don't even have in the house! So I don't know. I really want to continue letting her have freedom in what she eats, but the fact that she's saying she's hungry and not eating anything is worrying me a little.

It usually goes something like this:
Her: Mama, something to eat/Mama, I want food
Me: Okay, N, what would you like to eat?/Okay, N. There's XYZ in the refrigerator/Ok, N, if you want you can check the fridge
Her: I WANT DONUTS!!/CAKE!!/ICE CREAM!!/CHIPS!!!
Me: Sorry N, We don't have any of those things right now. Would you like a XYZ instead? Let's go look at what we have to eat.
Her: NOOO! BLAGH! I"M HUNGRY!!

And this continues. Even if I get her to agree to something (apple, for example) she decides (as soon as she takes a bite) that it's "BLAGGH" "NASTY!!" or "I WANT DONUTS!!!".

She hardly eats junk food! Really! I don't know. I can't wait until the toddler power struggles are over and done with.

[JanineRivera]

I just thought I would throw out some reassurance that she will not starve herself. We have a survival instinct that will ensure that we eat when we need to. It sounds to me like it is just more about choices and wanting to know that she can choose to eat or not to eat . I totally understand your concern and if it didn't resolve itself in a week or two maybe you could call your ped and just see what they say to at least put your mind at ease.

[ssh]

Under those circumstances I would just tell her that "I can't eat for you or magically put food in your tummy. If you are hungry you have to eat something yourself.". You can talk about how food is fuel for her body, eating keeps her alive and helps her grow. Also talking about what different things eat and how plants don't have to eat because they make their food from sunlight, etc., could help. We've always had talks about how some things at the store aren't 'real food' because they don't have the things our bodies need or they have stuff that's bad for our bodies. My almost 5 year old picks up things and asks me to read the ingredients. She's been doing that for about a year.

While your DD is being picky, have you tried making smoothies? Is your DD turning down berries? Blackberries are pretty nutrient rich for a fruit http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...-juices/1848/2 .

[mamazee]

There are two potentials. One is that there is some physical problem and that she needs a visit to the pediatrician. Do you think she has a physical issue making her unable to eat, or sensory issues, or something like that? If so, or if you later find she's really losing weight or something, I'd take her to the doctor.

Otherwise, she won't starve. If your mommy instincts aren't telling you there's something physically wrong, I would back completely off, just say here's something and eat it or don't. If she later starts becoming lethargic or loses weight, then go back to the earlier suggestion. But if she's healthy, she'll eat, and you won't have to buy her donuts to get her to eat. She'll eat something that's available. I wouldn't engage in power struggles, which this probably is, as kids that age are desperate to get into power struggles and love them and therefore will usually win, or at least they'll enjoy them while you're driven crazy. So just relax and don't get emotionally involved in how much she eats. I wouldn't punish, I wouldn't get harsh, I wouldn't say "you can't do this until you eat", or anything like that. I would just leave some food out for her, maybe a few small bits of things that can sit out in case she gets hungry later, and just leave them out where she can see them. If she has a tantrum, she has a tantrum. That's normal for her age and is part of the power struggle thing. I wouldn't get upset about tantrums etiher, or punish for them, or give into them, or get emotionally involved in them. I'd just wait them out.