toddler's eating is driving me crazy!

[autumnfairy76]

I'm sure there are probably a ton of threads on here about this, but I really just need to vent.

DD is almost 3. Eating never was a big issue until recently and I think it may have something to do w/ a new baby in the house. I have always tried so hard to NOT make eating a big issue.

But now she is picking at her food, will take a bite and not chew or swallow it and say she is done with her meal and want to leave the table. Fine, for breakfast, I just let her leave and she can come back and finish it later if she wants. But lunch and dinner she drags out for HOURS and then it's time for nap or sleep (we eat late here in france).

I will ask if she is done with her meal because she hasn't touched it in a while or is sitting and not swallowing. She says yes, so I say "OK, time for nap/ bed" and suddenly it's "NOOOOO I'm still hungry!!!!" And say ok, then take a bite and she maybe will put another bite in her mouth, but still not swallow or really show any signs that she is really interested in eating. So I will send her to bed. Many times I KNOW she has to still be hungry, yet is still dragging it out. and screaming in bed about how hungry she is.

I am feeling totally manipulated here. And I don't know how to stop it. I've tried the timer at the table and it seemed to work until she got to bed and is still yelling she's hungry. Sometimes we will let her back out of bed to finish or sometimes we will give her a squeezable applesauce in bed as to not "reward" her w/ allowing her back out of bed once she's in bed. Nothing is really working, though. Advice please!!!

[mkksmom]

It's definitely a dance. Does she do better if she is involved in food prep/choices? Sometimes with my older dd, I remember at that age, having a fork for her and one for me and sneaking bites in when I could and keeping her so interested in conversation that she didn't notice. I also added some play to it. Like pretend your a ____ and I have to feed you. Another trick was to play "Mommy says" and tell her mommy says take 3 bites of ___. Like Simon says. Or eating a rainbow. Can you find a red food to eat? Now the next color is green. I never did it, but cut up pieces of construction paper of each color on her plate in a bag/hat might be fun. She could pick one to see which color is next. Maybe have another bag with numbers 1-5 and that's how many bites.

I'd also try talking with her and tell her that you'd rather not struggle with her at meal times. That you love her and love spending time talking with her and playing games. So instead of talking about whether or not to eat, let's play a game.

I know the battle can change day to day, but hopefully there is something in there to help you. Even now that she's 6, my older dd goes through these picky phases. The baby just throws it on the floor if she doesn't like it. *sigh* :)