I do not know how to handle this without causing a blow up

[Krystal44]

My son is almost 2 years old. He does not eat a good variety of foods and I am definitely partly to blame for that. His father and I have 50/50 custody. His father is definitely stricter than me. Today I was visiting my son at his dad's and my son woke up from a nap crabby and acted like a typical 2 year old. He wanted everything and nothing to eat. My son kept telling his dad "no" to everything he offered him. My son's dad said to our son, " fine, I don't care. Don't eat anything. It doesn't hurt me any." I feel like this approach is harsh and invalidates my son's feelings. I also think it's extremely rude. He's a 2 year old. I don't think you should tell your child, you don't care. I don't know how to approach this or how to explain to his dad that this is inappropriate or what how to give a better example of what he could've said. Any help?

[Waylon]

You and the father are in control of the child's diet. If you provide him with a range of different but healthy foods, he'll have little choice but to eat a variety of things.

From http://www.parenting.com/article/7-ways-to-end-picky-eating (http://www.parenting.com/article/7-ways-to-end-picky-eating)


1. You're not a short-order cook.
At mealtime, we tell our three kids, "This is what's for dinner. If you don't like it, that's fine; you don't have to eat it. But there isn't anything else." They can decide for themselves whether to eat the food in front of them or wait until the next opportunity. Of course, it helps to consider their tastes when planning a meal, making sure that—in addition to the new recipe you're trying—at least one or two of the other offerings are tried-and-true favorites.

It was the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that actually gave me the courage to follow through with this idea. Around the time my firstborn, George, was learning to say "No!" I came across this passage in its book Guide to Your Child's Nutrition: "Children will not become ill or suffer permanently if they refuse a meal or two, but parents sometimes act as though youngsters might shrivel up and die." If you've been giving your child alternative entrees up until now and she threatens to go on a hunger strike rather than eat the family meal (as some certainly will), I suggest you try strategies 5 and 6.

2. You can spice things up.
True, kids have delicate taste buds, but that doesn't mean they need to be served a steady diet of pasta with butter (even if that's all they ask for). In fact, it's all the more reason to give them flavorful food; children really notice when something tastes good because of their naturally sensitive palates. I expected my kids to shun garlic when they were babies, for instance. And surely, I thought, they'd hate olives. But a little garlic makes so many things taste better that even a 1-year-old can enjoy the difference (there's a good chance he's already sampled it in your breast milk anyway). Olives can be wonderful, too, if they're the mild, fragrant kind marinated in oil and herbs. I do go out of my way to avoid very spicy foods and funky, stinky things like blue cheese. But other than that, I cook the same kinds of meals for my family that I used to cook for friends.

3. Give vegetables the hard sell.
This food group is traditionally a mom's biggest hurdle, and it's easy to understand why. Boiled and salted, vegetables are typically nothing more than a good-for-you side dish, dumped by the ladleful alongside things that actually taste yummy. No wonder getting kids to eat them requires begging and threats, tactics that quickly backfire. Because once your kids realize that you really, really want them to eat vegetables, refusing to do so becomes a power struggle that they will always win.

I've had success using recipes that integrate vegetables into delicious main dishes, such as eggplant layered with spiced ground lamb, smashed peas and rice and sautéed zucchini with tomato and basil. And I've made lots of vegetable-based sauces for pasta.

Another trick: On the nights that I do serve vegetables as a side dish, I'll often place them on the table first, when my kids are the hungriest. Usually they've wolfed them down by the time the rest of the meal arrives.

4. Try to eat dinner together.
You've heard all the research: Kids who eat dinner with their parents have healthier diets, better vocabularies, get better grades, blahblahblah. I'm not going to guilt-trip you about needing to do it every night. But do try to pull it off when you can. And be realistic with your expectations. Little guys simply can't sit at a dinner table for very long. A toddler may last only five minutes, and 15 minutes from a 4-year-old is a very good thing.

So that our children appreciate family dinnertime without feeling coerced into it, here's what we decided: If one of our two bigger (out of the high chair, that is) kids is finished eating his dinner, he can leave the table, but he can't hang around nearby, playing and talking and distracting the rest of us. He has to go into the living room or upstairs to his room and entertain himself. Usually, it turns out that what he really wants is our company and attention, so he'll stay in his seat. My husband and I have our own rules to obey, too. We don't answer the phone or watch TV during dinner.

5. You have to try one bite.
And no more, if what your child tastes makes him or her gag. Like most parents, I have childhood memories of being forced to eat foods that turned my stomach, and I don't want to subject my kids to that. Some moms I know are so worried they won't be able to tell the difference between genuine revulsion and mere stubborness that they let their kids off the hook too quickly. But it has actually turned out to be easy to tell when a dish is truly nauseating to one of my kids. I'll quickly let him know he doesn't have to finish, and praise him for giving it the old try.

[ocean]

Need to pick your battles. Maybe send him on dad's days with favorite snacks at first to keep things calm and just say here are a few snacks he likes to eat after nap time and during the day. Son just woke up and when he is hungry he will eat. Most (not all) fathers do not parent like a mother especially when the child is very young. Again, pick your battles. Once dad sees the snacks he eats maybe he will start having them at his house but at the same time I like the list Waylon has. You could also ask son's dr for a list of healthy things to eat at his age and give it to dad saying, this is from his last check up, dr recommends xyz. You  confronting dad, depending in the relationship you have, probably will not go well.

[sunbarbie]

sounds like teeth molers, does the child have a low grade fever?  This will pass, sounds like you are doing all the right things.