urgent advice for under two, who doesnt eat hardly anything

[angel1967]

hi good afternoon everybody,
i am not sure if this is the right bit, i just need some urgent advice, about my 19 month old baby boy, he just doesnt eat hardly anything, have tried lots and lots of different food, colours, textures etc. no luck, he doesnt even manage a sandwich. my daughter was total opposite and was a good eater.
i am now concerned he is not getting any vitamins at all .
anybody been in the same or similar situation?
any advice gratefully received.

[tanith]

angel I know its worrying and frustrating you have to just keep trying different things, but as long as he is getting plenty of milk I would try not to worry too much.... kids can exist on milk alone if they have to but I know u can't help but worry , one of mine was like this for around a year or so and existed on cereal alone... but I just kept topping him up with cups of milk and he is now 30yrs old and a healthy 12stone... :rotfl:

I meant to say have u tried just giving him a bowl with cubes of cheese and chopped fruit like apples and grapes, strawberries etc....

[angel1967]

hi tanith,
thank you, he doesnt drink alot of milk and have tried him with lots of fingerfoods, maybe its a boy thing

[tanith]

angel if he is not drinking milk either then maybe it would be a good idea to see the nurse at your GP surgery and ask her advice or even the doc if there is no nurse... he's not getting a lot of nutrition if he is not eating or drinking milk and u are right to be concerned..he is most likely getting enough as its not likely he would starve himself but best to be on the safe side and have the doc check him out....

Make sure what milk he is having is full fat and not semi-skimmed ....

[nuttywoman]

My son was exactly the same, he`s now 21 and still only eats `dried`food, like a bowl of cerial with no milk etc.It was a nightmare to get some goodness into him, but luckily he loves cheese and used to drink milk.He`s now over 6ft tall even though he still has his strange eating habits.

[Toothsmith]

This can be a bit of a vicious circle, as kiddy gets used to the attention that 'not eating' gets him/her.

Also, as he eats less and less, more and more tasty things start being offered at any time he snaps his fingers - just for the relief of getting calories into him.

I would suggest that first of all, you cut out all in between meal snacks. This is very good practise as far as his teeth are concerned anyway.

He's probably not eating much at mealtimes, as he's had enough with stuff in between.

As soon as he realises that food comes at times when you say, and not whenever he wants, he will start to eat then. He will not starve himself to death to prove a point.

It might take a few days, but it's improtant not to stress over it. The fact that it's affecting you will cause him to play up to it.

Meals come at meal times, if he eats, he eats, if he doesn't, then next chance is next meal.

It is important to keep him hydrated, but again, milk or water (And not too much milk within an hour of the next meal time either). No sugary tooth rotting cordials, or enamel erroding fruit juices. (Any drink is fine with a meal, just avoid acid/sugar between meals for he sake of the teeth)

He'll soon decide that eating is a good thing!!!

[BigMummaF]

A very wise GP once told my pal(she was the first of us to have children) that a child will not starve. They will have cravings for a particular food, & want nothing else but that for every meal until the next craving emerges. But if you were to keep a food diary, you would soon realise that the child is having a balanced diet over a period of approx six weeks.

For example, this week it's cucumber; give plenty of cucumber but also add little bits of cheese, or perhaps a yoghurt 'dip', other salad veggies cut into interesting shapes. Next week it's sausage, but again offer small portions of sweetcorn, jacket wedges, carrot sticks etc.

It's also best not to make a fuss if they do eat something extra, besides not stressing when they don't eat 'enough'. Once they realise that they cannot get a reaction from the food battle, things should settle down, & then you could begin with simple recipes to make together & they can eat the product of their hard work.

Just my opinion of course, but it has worked amongst our bands of offspring!