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If it is sickness, I don't worry about it, I just make sure they're hydrated.

If it is pickiness, there are a ton of strategies out there, you kind of have to pick a method and stick with it. Personally, I wanted to avoid toddler pickiness so I introduced a lot of food and it went well until about 18 months. So you never know.

@hilsy85: I offered other stuff and kept the stuff I knew he'd eat on hand. If he didn't eat much at all, I'd bring out some of the stuff I knew he'd eat. But not a whole lot, and if he started scarfing I'd try and sneak in some other things while he was eating. But usually he just kinda picked at it.

@hilsy85: From months 6-18, I offered a lot of variety in the foods I served. The list of things that weren't eaten was so short, like literally just a few things. I thought I had avoided the toddler pickiness completely. Then one week, at around 118 months, I threw out scrambled eggs and shredded veggies every single morning.

As for amount of food, I always provided the same portions and let him decide how much to eat. My son mastered the spoon from very early on, so there was no feeding him past 1 year.

@hilsy85: at 18 months, he started refusing things he had eaten with gusto! I used to make him either scrambled eggs with shredded veggies and cheese or oatmeal with fruit, and he would scarf it down. Then, it just stopped and he only ate oatmeal reliably until he quit that as well, around 2 years of age.

My ped and I got into a bit of an argument about this, because she said that I created the problem because I catered to his pickiness, but I am not comfortable with letting him go to bed without at least eating something! So, I sought out the help of a nutritionist and we are slowly working to introduce new foods. It has been a process, that's for sure!

LO is 12 months and we have only had a few instances of food refusal. It usually helps if he sees me eat it too. For instance, he turned away when I tried to give him raw green beans until I ate some.

If Chloe refuses dinner, I don't force her to eat. I'll offer her other options that are quick for me to make, and she's pretty good about telling me yes or no.

I don't like her to go to bed with an empty stomach, either! She's more inclined to eat if we let her be a part of the cooking process or letting her help choose a meal/snack.

I offer E what I'm going to offer him for dinner and that's it. His big thing is to take two bites then ask for a cracker, so I've had to stop giving him a piece of graham cracker as a "treat." He usually pitches a bit of a fit and I will take him out of his chair and calm him down, then try again. If that doesn't work, dinner time is over. Because he doesn't understand that not eating dinner means he will be hungry later, we offer a snack before bed like @Mrs. Jump Rope.

I offer and then ignore. I don't want to do any negative reinforcement of food behaviors.

@hilsy85: Until I see a child is dropping off a growth curve, I'm not worried about them "starving" themself. Usually the kids who will restrict to the point of weight loss are kids that have been in previous power struggles about food. As soon as a child knows that you are highly vested in their eating, they will use it as a way to control. So we offer and then ignore. If we do have to feed a before bed snack because they've forgone dinner, we make it super low-key and an exception rather than the rule. "Ok, here's your cheese sticks. Now we're going to have to brush teeth again." And that's it.

I offer and ignore with my 10mo. Most of the time he eats well, but if he doesn't eat what I'm offering then I just try a final time and then end the meal.
Usually he makes up for it at the next meal!

I don't know if you can really avoid it though, I mean, they control so little if you think about it and the one thing they do control is what goes in their mouths. So for me, it was important to acknowledge what was happening (mentally) and then come up with strategies to deal with it.

IME, it wasn't something I did or didn't do that caused this situation.