A Thin Line Between Eating and Freaking Out!

Mealtimes have become increasingly tense in our house. My once-content little boy has transformed into a bossy, opinionated toddler who never seems to be satisfied with where he's sitting or what he's eating. The most frustrating part of this change in behavior is its inconsistency. One day, Daniel may be happy to sit quietly in his high chair and devour the pizza and strawberries on his plate. Two days later, you'd think he was strapped into a torture device with a plate of creepy-crawlies in front of him. Sometimes I feel like I'm living with a schizophrenic.

Breakfast is the easiest meal of the day (for me). I usually have no problem slipping Daniel into his high chair, and he rarely complains. He's so hungry in the morning that he eats pretty much whatever I put in front of him (lately, his favorite is "cake and nana" -- some form of Eggo pancake or waffle and sliced banana). By lunchtime, his impatient side has taken over. Even if I do manage to get him into the high chair, he needs some distraction to get him to eat. It's a double-edged sword. If I don't give him something to play with, he'll whine and toss his food around without eating anything. If I do give him a truck to drive around the high chair tray, he has so much fun that he forgets about the food in front of him. I have to sneak bites of food into his mouth (and hope that my finger doesn't become part of his meal). This typically works out pretty well, but I often wonder if I'll still be hand-feeding him when he goes off to college.

Then there's dinner. What used to be a calm, quiet family meal has turned into a battle of wills. I no longer wait until Peter gets home to feed Daniel. Instead, I serve Daniel's dinner at 5:30 and let him play while Peter and I eat about an hour later. Anytime we're all seated at the table together, Daniel completely ignores his food and reaches for whatever Peter and I are eating. Then he'll lean over in his high chair and yell, "Seat! Seat!" He won't stop (or eat) until he's out of the high chair and sitting in a regular kitchen chair (no booster seat tolerated, I might add). Why don't I just get rid of the high chair and make my life a lot easier? Well, he spends most of his time in the big chair standing up and trying to climb onto the table. Either Peter or I inevitably have to spend most of the meal correcting Daniel's behavior and trying to encourage him to eat something. It's truly exhausting, and unfair to both of us.

Going out to restaurants? Forget it, for now. I have no interest in struggling through a meal with a difficult toddler in public, thank you very much. I'm optimistic that this phase will eventually pass. I know that Daniel will eat if he's hungry. No child ever willingly went on a hunger strike. In the meantime, however, we'll continue to strategize about how best to manage mealtimes. And we'll keep the local take-out places in business!