And there's no telling what they're going to decide the game is, either. (in this particular case, it looks a lot like she's figuring out that food is a behavior lever for making parents do what she wants.)
One of the things my sister found out is that small children may have no reliable idea that thus-and-such a sensation means that they're hungry, and that a big time gap between hunger-sensation activities (coming down from exercise, waking up) could lead to a pretty comprehensive disconnection and disinterest in food (despite being low-blood-sugar cranky).
If the primary driver of eating behavior is social -- family meals -- you get those days when the toddler doesn't care what the grownups are doing, their own bright corner of the universe is holding all their attention.
And Alex knows there's something serious going on, she couldn't not. There is no controlling strong reactions so that they're invisible to your small child; there's controlling them so that you don't act on them, or so there is no clear signal to the toddler, but the kid will know something's up. Tons of selection pressure about that.
Rather than trying to do some sort of Zen dis-interest in Alex's food intake, are you sufficiently petless to do something like leaving food out? Bowls of nuts, and like that? Take some from them yourself, and see if she starts connecting being hungry with eating?
If you make things a game...
And there's no telling what they're going to decide the game is, either. (in this particular case, it looks a lot like she's figuring out that food is a behavior lever for making parents do what she wants.)
One of the things my sister found out is that small children may have no reliable idea that thus-and-such a sensation means that they're hungry, and that a big time gap between hunger-sensation activities (coming down from exercise, waking up) could lead to a pretty comprehensive disconnection and disinterest in food (despite being low-blood-sugar cranky).
If the primary driver of eating behavior is social -- family meals -- you get those days when the toddler doesn't care what the grownups are doing, their own bright corner of the universe is holding all their attention.
And Alex knows there's something serious going on, she couldn't not. There is no controlling strong reactions so that they're invisible to your small child; there's controlling them so that you don't act on them, or so there is no clear signal to the toddler, but the kid will know something's up. Tons of selection pressure about that.
Rather than trying to do some sort of Zen dis-interest in Alex's food intake, are you sufficiently petless to do something like leaving food out? Bowls of nuts, and like that? Take some from them yourself, and see if she starts connecting being hungry with eating?
-- Graydon