18 month old not eating at all! :(

spinning_hamster_wheel

Hello all,

my ds has always been a bit funny with his food, he is currently getting over a bad cold and cough but atm he is refusing his food altogether, saturday, nothing but milk, yesterday all he had to eat was a fruit pot and half a slice of toast before bed, today its been a slice of apple and two cherries off my fruit salad (I don't usually let him eat cherries cos of the stones but he spat them out and I was so grateful to have him eating). I've just made chicken, potatoes and veg for his lunch and he's just shaking his head and when I gave him a mouthful he spat it out. He doesn't seem hunrgy either, is this normal?

KarensKraftyBits

I dont know what to suggest except maybe trying some fun food to try and get him into eating again, maybe cut the toast into cubes, spagetti shapes, vegetables covered in melted cheese, maybe try baking some cakes with him?
Rice crispie cakes maybe. I know its not the healthies but it might perk his energy up a bit and get him eating, soz im not much more help im lucky my girls wil eat anything lol.

rio

Have you given him any medicine? I always find my little one's appetite perks up about 1/2 an hour after a dose. Don't worry too much, just make sure that he is taking plenty of fluids, and is weeing every few hours. You could try him with something sweet instead of savory as well, he may be more inclined to nibble at a biscuit or fruit. Quite often we like to just pick at food for a couple of days if we're unwell, so it might be the same for him. Any concerns ring NHS Direct.

purplepatch

Bless him, my nearly 4 year old is a complete pain with food - always has been, but I'd say in your case that he isn't fully recovered yet and hasn't got his appetite back. I'd keep giving him plenty of liquids, and offering him quite bland food, toast etc until he shows interest again. He'll probably be back to normal in a few days

However, obviously keep a close on eye on him though, could it be that he has got a chest infection from the cough? - may well be worth a trip to the doctors to rule that out. I phone my gp for advice sometimes rather than traipse down there - could you do that?

Carmina_Piranha_3

some children do go off their food for a while when they've been ill. if you're worried you could ask the health visitor. i remember buying 'minadex' tonic for DS1 on the recommendation of the health visitor.

my 18 month old stops eating if he's ill, just has water and maybe some milk at bedtime. the first time it happened i was so glad he wanted something when he pointed at sunny delight in the shop that i bought him a bottle

spinning_hamster_wheel

thanks for your quick replies )

he's just eaten some potato, I know I'm probably worrying about nothing but this is the 4th or 5th day of it now, he's still having loads of dirty nappies (sorry TMI!) so maybe his tummys a bit upset. I'm meant to be going out to the cinema later but I don't want to go if he's still like this.

Carmina_Piranha_3

has he had medicine? calpol etc. can cause tummy upset, so can decongestant, antihistamine etc.

spinning_hamster_wheel

Carmina_Piranha wrote:

has he had medicine? calpol etc. can cause tummy upset, so can decongestant, antihistamine etc.

I spoke to the pharmacist at boots who advised Tixylix, when I think about it the not-eating has been since he started on that. He is taking wee bites here and there, but it doesn't help that I have over-anxious grandparents looking over my shoulder worrying that he's starving to death:o

kate1976

My 11 year old DS hasn't been eating at the moment either and he's just getting over a viral infection and being a skinny little thing as it is he looks terrible but advice has been to just let him eat what he feels like (he says everything tastes funny) when he wants and just to keep his fluid intake up so luckily he isn't off water!!!

it is worrying when a child doesn't eat but their appetite will soon return with a vengence if anything like my DS, I'll be complaining that he's eating me out of house and home when he's feeling 100%!! kids, who'd have em?! :rolleyes:

abbecer

Have you checked his throat? My DS2 didn't eat for a few days with a cold. His appetite still didn't improve but it turned out he had developed an ulcerated throat.

Rebecca x

Carmina_Piranha_3

is the tixylix the cough and cold one? i don't think it contains painkiller, so maybe he has a sore throat and eating hurts.

my ten year old is like kate's 11 year old and looks terrible at the moment. he underweight and waif-like anyway but when he goes off food for a couple of days he looks even thinner if that's possible. he says that things taste funny and he just isn't hungry. it used to worry me because nothing puts me off my food :rotfl: but we're all different.

milk will feed him anyway if he's not gone off the milk it might be all he needs. you speak to nhsdirect if you're really worried. the grandparents should know better - did it never happen to their children? lol!

the GP could look at his throat if you're worried it might be tonsillitis. good luck, hope he's better soon.