I am getting really tired of fighting this battle every single evening. The same every night. J won’t eat!! Sure, he has his staples, like Spaghetti, Pizza and Macaroni and Cheese oh and corn. He will NOT try meat, any vegetable, barley any fruits (just bananas and apples). This is all not for lack of trying on my part. I have tried force feeding, the dessert ploy, sit at the table until you try everything (finishing is not even an option) and counting bites. He gags, makes himself puke and gives these hysterical crying fits. We do not make anything seperate for him to eat unless we are making something extravagant for ourselves.
I am at a lose of what to do. I guess I continue on with the nightly battle… I’m just exhuasted today and not ready to face the ugly battle ahead.
My 4Bits 
Girl, I hear you. We have the same battle. We too have tried everything. I now put a reasonable portion in front of EM. Thats all she gets for the rest of the night unless she finishes it. If she finishes it she can still have a bedtime snack or desert. If she doesn’t..tough. She has to sit there until we are all done with dinner. After that it’s up to her to either sit there till it’s gone, or to get up. If she gets up, the plate sits there till bedtime. If she says she’s hungry I point to the plate. It’s her choice. I’m done trying to be forceful. I think it’s actually working a bit. Or maybe it’s not, but I’m not freakin stressed out about it anymore…lol.
Honestly, Hollie, I gave up the battle. At least fighting it to Evan’s face. There are soooooo many foods he won’t even try because he can tell they are “yuck” just by looking at them. After talking with his pediatrician about it, he just wanted him to have some fruit in his diet, whole grains, and dairy. And he was happy.
He’ll eat a lot sometimes, just not what we eat usually.
And I try to tailor my meals so it doesn’t look like I’m giving in. Picky eaters are a force to be reckoned with!
It’s a power struggle they will win EVERY time. Which in reality is not something they truly want, kids like order and discipline (I hope this makes sense). You can control WHEN, WHERE and WHAT they eat, they control if they eat it. So keep offering it and let him decide, he will eat when he is hungry. Don’t be a short order cook (which it sounds like you are not doing) but offer at least one thing you know they will eat and don’t give snacks after dinner if they don’t eat.
I know how frustrating it is, I have a two almost three year old. But once I started being more casual about eating it got better for all of us (me especially).
Hope this helps!
(A STL lurker)
Hey baby dirl, hang in there it gets better. Then something else will take its place.