Why Is My Toddler Refusing to Eat?

The sheer number of articles about how to get your kid to quit asking about food is a testament to how it’s normal to have kids constantly asking for food. This is not really a bad habit, but it’s usually expected for children to display this type of behavior when it concerns food. However, what if instead of asking, your kid is refusing food?

Why Is Your Toddler Refusing to Eat?

They Are Super Busy

Play is essential for a kid’s neurological development and self-expression. When they run, play and explore, they learn about rules, boundaries, socialization and creativity. Such activities also help them in gaining healthy emotional development because it allows them to express their conscious and unconscious experiences regarding what’s going on around them. However, when they are taken up with such activities, they don’t really want to take the time out to eat.

It’s Too Long

No matter how tasty the food can be, children cannot be seated for too long. Again, if you ask me, it’s not a bad habit, it’s just unnatural for them to sit still; children need to move like they need to breathe and they are just not designed to sit still. So, one of the reasons why your kid is rejecting food is maybe because he/she doesn’t want to sit at the dining table for a very long time.

Too Many Junk Food

Even if you are a big believer in traditional old-fashioned healthy diets and made sure that your children never touch anything that is not homemade and wholesome, this will only last until kindergarten. Once they hit kindergarten, it is impossible for them not to be aware of junk food and be tempted by it. So, if your kids gobbled up lots of snacks and candies between meals, it’s obvious that they’ll reject lunch or dinner.

Too Many Liquids

When children drink lots of milk and juice, the calories in those liquids are believed to keep a kid’s appetite satisfied, which eventually leaves less room for the dinner or lunch you spent so much time making.

Too Much of Food

The best way to raise healthy kids is to serve them a variety of foods. However, it is important to keep in mind that, unlike adults, kids tend to eat less as their little tummies fill up fast. For example, research shows that a one-year-old may consume around 900 calories while 14 to 18 year olds may consume up to 1800- 2200 calories. This is why many adopt the “one meal a day” technique.

Is It Teething?

Molars, for instance, usually make their entrance when a kid is between 13 and 19 months old and during that painful phase, a kid becomes less interested in food.

Picky Eaters

For all children, picky eating is about one thing…control. Kids are very smart; they learn very fast that they have control over what goes into their mouths and what doesn’t. They also learn what they like and what they don’t like. Children can become picky eaters for a number of reasons and this selective eating habit can make them refuse what you cook for them.

Why does a Toddler refuse to Eat Anything?

It’s completely normal for kids to refuse to eat based on the above-mentioned reasons. However, there are some cases when toddlers would refuse to eat anything. This is quite different scenario and cannot be caused by the factors that were previously mentioned. One of the reasons might include the difficulty of transitioning from baby food to real food. Or, it could also indicate an underlying medical condition that’s making it impossible for your kid to have an interest in food and this case, I strongly recommend a visit to the hospital.