Won't sit down for tea!

So DD is now hitting the terrible 2's and she is really living up to what I have heard about this ever so wonderful phase, LOL!! We have an extremely strong willed/stubborn little girl so we are needing to be firm with her but we can't make any head way on getting her to sit and eat her tea. She refuses to sit in her high chair, won't sit on a booster. She will stand on a dining chair for a few mouthfuls then she is off. She will sit on DH's lap but that's it. We have tried making her sit in her chair but she throws her dinner over the floor continuously. We have tried time out and not getting any dessert the nights she doesn't eat tea. We are really torn between making her sit to eat and her not eating.
So how do I get her to eat at the table sitting down?? I'm completely out of ideas so any ideas/help will be greatly appreciated. She is now starting to do the same at childcare.

TIA

mmm thats a tough one :think: im not sure what to suggest, hopefully someone else will have some answers for you!
by the way...not long to go for you! woot!

We had the same troubles tho mine is not 2!

The thing that worked for us was a booster seat and sitting at the big table but it sounds like you have already tried that.

One of the other suggestions I got (from a BB member...it's so wonderful!) was a small (kid size) table and chair set. That may work.
Other than that...do you think that if she could help with dinner some way that she would be more inclined to eat properly (don't know how age appropriate that is?!)

HTH

GL :)

Oh dear - my approach might be a little harsh (so feel free to ignore!) but we have a strong willed 2 year old DS and this is how we do it;
Tell him "it's time for tea, you need to sit in your chair" (highchair). If he refuses, no dinner given. Always works (sometimes after a bit of carry-on which I ignore or walk away from) unless he is unwell or doesn't want to eat for some reason. That's it. I have never allowed him the chance to refuse to sit in highchair as I feel he is unable to sit still long enough to eat a meal otherwise. So, if not in his chair, no tea given. We have even reduced snacks in afternoon to ensure he is hungry at tea time and more likely to cooperate. Also, if food/plate is chucked on floor I pick it up without commenting or letting him know this has bothered me in any way and calmly say "Ok, you don't want your dinner tonight" and proceed to wipe hands/face and get him out of chair and remove all food. If they are hungry, they will quickly learn not to throw their food away! I will let him hop back in if this happens and he wants a second chance at eating tea as I know that he is just testing the waters to see what will happen (by chucking it on floor).
GL!

Thanks for the tips ladies. I think we might try the firm approach with our little "princess". Fingers crossed tonight goes a lot better than last night.

I guess we haven't given the option not to use high chair or booster. We had a few screaming matches a few months ago but has settled down. Now she quite happily sits there. we use the seat belt if she is a bit up and down.

It doesn't help when we are out though, she is running a muck which people keep telling me she will outgrow :crossfingers:

Well we compromised tonight and made a little bit of progress, YAY!! She had to sit in her highchair but she sat at the dining table. She threw an absolute fit but she stops herself when DH and I ignored her. She then threw her meal on the floor which we ignored so she stopped. We did offer her dinner again after she calmed down and surprise surprise she actually ate some.
A few small steps in the right direction. Thanks for the tips everyone. Fingers crossed it keeps improving with our persistance.

Best of luck, hope it continues

Yay, that sounds like great progress! They are SOOO trying us out at this age. We will look back on these times with fond memories :rolleyes:!

Oh, and we use the strap too with the highchair and also have difficulties when out and about - so very much age appropriate methinks. I reakon another 12mths and they should be sitting a bit better for us....I hope.

our 2 year old dd has one of those little wooden table and chair sets, anyways thats where she eats her tea, unless on the rare occassion she is eating at the same time as us (we often eat around 8pm)...

i am trying to teach her to sit at her little table and not walk away and play and then go back for food but it is a struggle.... when she walks away i pretend she is finished eating to which she cries 'i want to eat it!!!' and comes back and eats, but it goes on and on like this for several times...

anyways for me i try not to make a big deal out of it, as long as she is eating i'm not too fussed how she eats, i know for example she won't be running off and doing little dances after every mouthful when she is 5 - i hope!!!!!!!!!