2 year old.. terrible eater.. need ideas..

She just wont even try some things.. she seems to not like mashed up/combines foods! things that arent saucey or covered in something.
I need help.. because i think i have a fussy eater eater who at the moment sometimes goes to bed without dinner (of course has a bottle) because i make something and try to get her to eat it.. she wont.. by the end i am so upset/cranky and making a fuss ( iknow i shouldnt but i stress out that she is going to fade away) that even if i do make her soemthing she will eat (a sandwhich, or pasta or something that has no freaking substance) she doesnt want it coz ive upset her!!

i dont know what to do...:(

Stevie, we are going through exactly the same thing with DD. She wont eat anything at all atm. Im guessing its just a faze :dunno:. I know its hard but ensure that dinner is releaxed and stress free and that all the focus isnt on your DD not eating. I know once DH stopped nagging DD about eating, everything was much less stressful. She still didnt eat much but at least no one was in tears iykwim.

Breathe, relax and she will come around soon. As the saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you cant make them drink. Hang in there :hug:

I have one of those too. I promise she won't starve, but it does suck when you're trying so hard and nothing seems to work.

I'll tell you what works (randomly and never consistently I have to tell you) for us.
The biggest battle is with yourself. I know it's hard. I have watched my sister battle with her 8yo his whole life. He still eats nothing. That's my incentive.
They way we eat our meals is an adult value. Small children don't understand the whole 'this is what you're supposed to eat and when' thing.
If I realise early enough that the day is turning to poo I try and have some frozen dinners I can heat him up for lunch. Then when dinner rolls around and he's either asleep (he does this a lot) or he just can't manage dinner, it's no biggie.
I also make sure he always has a good brekkie and arvo tea.
My DS doesn't do mixed or sauces/mash either. I try to make sure he has 5ish foods - 3-4 familiar and 2-3 that I'd like him to try.
I always only offer half of what I'd like him to eat. Sounds dumb but it's less overwhelming for them and more often than not he'll come back for more. If he doesn't he usually has a good crack and I can praise him for nearly eating it all.
I let him pick (with in reason and from what we're having) what goes on his plate.
He has a couple of segmented plates that work when he's not particularly co-operative.
I let him pick where we eat (again within reason). Usually it's at lunch time but occasionally we have picnic/outdoor dinners too.

Nothing works straight away, but since last year where he refused to eat anything but frozen peas for a full fortnight we've made significant advances.
Good luck.

Another one who had two fussy eaters at this stage. Dd1 has completely outgrown it now and dd2 is improving. I make sure they have a good breakfast and lunch as well as snacks. With dinner I put sauces on the side for them to dip into and make sure there vegies are all apart from each other and that the plate isn't piled high. Often they see us eating things and want to try it and bribery works too, my girls love yoghurt and bananas since they are rare so they can have it if they eat their dinner or try a new vegie.

It's worrying when they don't eat. I know. With DD1 our child health nurse just said to make sure there was ALWAYS food around but in my opinion that didn't help. AT ALL! It just made her a grazer and we have a really hard time getting her to eat a decent amount of anything. She's 3 and has only just started eating what we can almost call a meal at dinner time. She is more likely to eat a vegetarian meal then your typical meat & 3 veg type deal she also refuses to eat red meat unless its mince in spaghetti bog or a hamburger patty. Try starting with food she likes and build off them. You say she likes pasta maybe do pasta bake? That can be nutritious. Am i making any sense? Lol i think it's past my bedtime

The best thing I read was that 'it is your job to provide healthy food, and it's your child's job to eat it'. Your DD will not starve herself. 2 yr olds like to get their own way, a lot, LOL. So don't make food one of her battles. How about for the next week try not to care. Provide breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. If she eats, great! If she doesn't, don't stress, and don't try and force her. See how it goes.

With dinner DD1 might not eat it and then want something later. So I just put her dinner in the fridge and bring it out again when she's hungry. Once that's gone she can have something else.

Both my kids don't seem to eat as much at night, maybe that's just the way kids are, no idea. But they eat a lot in the morning and at lunch.

Thanks for your help girls!! its nice to know imn ot the only one!! Im thinking i might for awhile try and make her lunch the "biggish" meal.. and at dinner if she only eats a toastie i wont feel bad! i dont feel hungry at the end of the day and i guess if imnot hungry why would i eat? point is i guess who should i force feed her!!
and heaven i might just do that, for the next week or so just have it tthere, if she eats it awesome.. if not oh well!! All i can do is make sure the option isthere.

Thanks again for your help..
wish me luck :) lol

Just keep offering and they do finally grow out of it. Both of mine refused to eat tomato based pasta ( who woulda thunk it?) about a year ago and now love it. We tend to put one of each veggie on their plate with whatever they do eat in the hope they will start eating it. We want them to see that it is normal and that is dinner - choose to only eat the meat? Fine but you might be hungry later which is too bad. As a PP mentioned it is important that they get a rounded diet but it is sooo hard. I cooked specifically for the kids for a loooong time, things like if I made pasta I would make it something that they would eat but they have outgrown that fussiness and now will eat what we eat! Both of mine went through that phase of living on air too - everyone told me they would grow out of it and they did! DD eats so much now I never would have believed it when she was 2!