Advice on food to tempt 18month old

RustyFlange

Thats bizarre, My daughter is 13 months old and she is loosing her appetite, fri/sat she screamed and screamed whilst both my partner and I tried to get some food inside her but she was having none of it. I am starting to think that she just doesn't want feeding anymore and that maybe I should let her start feeding herself. She has had finger foods from about 4 months old (she was weaned early) but she will not attempt to feed herself with spoons etc so may just do finger foods and see how she gets on.

Psykicpup

I was also going to suggest the toddler 'buffet' too - it does seem to be a stage they go through - hopefully it wont last too long for any of you

jackomdj

My 16 month eats loads - so long as I do not try to help! If I interfear she won't touch it. So she feeds herself everything, I let her make mess on her face & just wipe her off when she has finnished. She is now quite acomplished at even the messiest foods - I just have to be on hand as she will go to push her plate away off her high chair when she has finnished.

We even went out for a Chinese on Sat lunchtime & she ate more than her big sister (3 1/2).

All that said some days she does not want to eat much & I do not make an issue of it.

Good luck, let us know how the tests go.

Nicky

RustyFlange

Psykicpup wrote: »

I was also going to suggest the toddler 'buffet' too - it does seem to be a stage they go through - hopefully it wont last too long for any of you

Toddler buffet, that could be interesting .... What kind of foods could we do? obviously veg and fruit can all be used but other things like chicken etc?

onlyroz

You have to trust that they won't starve themselves. Sometimes my son eats loads, and at other times he won't touch a thing. I just have to assume that he'll eat if he's hungry.

What probably isn't a good idea is to offer one thing after another. If you prepare a meal and it's refused then I don't think it's a good idea to go off and prepare another. By all means take note of what is preferred and what is not liked, but I think that lots of faddy eating habits can arise because parents are too "soft" when it comes to letting the child decide what they eat.

My boy has amazed me recently by starting to eat his meat and vegetables. Normally, if he's given a bit of meat, some veg, and some potato (whether chips, new potatos or mash), he'd ignore the meat and veg, and then scoff down the potatos. But in the last week or so I've actually caught him munching on a few green beans...

RustyFlange

I never prepare new meals if the first one has been refused. My son learns that all the time when he refuses to eat his food. He is 5 and has always had eating problems.

I remember my doctor telling me that babies can go for upto 6 months (or was it weeks) without any food providing they are getting enough fluids ... that shocked me!

aligerdie

Thank you again for all your advice, I was so happy last night when I 'accidentally' left a jacket potato mashed up with corned beef on the side....Came in a few minutes later to see dd eating it with her hands, she managed to eat half of it!

You've all given some great ideas, and I really appreciate them...god i love this site!

Thank you all xxx

wes_cov

after seeing all the bad stuff on the news this sort of thing puts a big smile on my face with everyone trying to help

aligerdie

wes_cov wrote: »

after seeing all the bad stuff on the news this sort of thing puts a big smile on my face with everyone trying to help

I know! if I hadn't posted this yesterday, I would still have been tearing my hair out now...:D

elona

Mine used to like "french toast" cut up into fingers and sprinkled with a little bit of sugar or else melted cheese on top.

Little cubes of cheese with tiny grapes and little savoury biscuits were popular too.