Toddlers and fussy eating (merged)

Honeybee_2

My dd is 5 years old and is very small and light for her age.

I spoke to the health visitor who said to me that given my daughter's genetics, she's not going to be a big girl and as long as she's developing correctly in every other way, that's what matters.

I can't remember what my daughter weighed when she was 2 years, 8 months but she was still in 12-18 month clothes at that point.

bluep

Again, no experience with an underweight or premature child, but we also have a very willful toddler.

2 tactics have worked ok:

1) get her to cook with me (takes some thinking about) but if she thinks she has made it and chosen it, she's more likely to eat some of it

2) we have certain foods which we (mum & dad) do stuff if they get eaten i.e. bouncing brocolli, turnaround carrots, potatos (run around and bark like dogs) BIZAARE I know but hey it worked -devised after 5 days when all she'd done is drunk milk and stuck her fingers in food and licked them before pushing the plate away. De-stressed us as she was giggling away, mealtime was fun and at least we all got some exercise jumping up and doing it all!! Needless to say we don't do this every meal time anymore!

buxtonrabbitgreen

One of my DD's was low birthweight four and a half pounds. I breast fed her and I was doing it all the time. She always ate little. I came to the conclusion that she must just have a small stomach and could only eat very little and very often. She was at the bottom of the percentile line both in height and weight, and had to have regular check-ups and x rays of her wrist which show if they are developing normally. I gave up trying to give her proper size meals and just let her eat when and if she wanted. She is still petite but as a teen now eats very well and quite un fussily. To tell the truth I wasn't all that worried as my OH is 5ft 2 and 8 stone which I kept telling the hospital and health visitors. Eventually she was discharged as she was at least keeping on the percentile line. I hope your little one starts eating soon. At one point I was conteplating giving her complan. Though now I have to limit the cakes or she will end up the same width ways as upwards.

mintymoneysaver

Both my daughters were very small but the youngest did not ( and still doesn't really!) like eating. The health visitor suggested I forget about meal times for a while and just leave food lying around the house e.g rusks on the arm of a chair, raisins in a bowl on the table. If she felt hungry she knew she could find something to eat without having to sit down and eat. She is now 10, still underweight and still eats very little compared to others, but that got us through a really difficult time.

mallard

Hi

Had experience of this with own daughter but am also a children's nurse so have some knowledge.

It is hard work and particularly if professionals arent helpful. First thing is that centile charts are helpful but it is more about how your daughter is progressing rather than one off weights etc.

Dietitians are okay but you should have access to a paediatric one and preferably one who is skilled in working with children with eating problems. Just changing their input doesn't necessarily help and neither does sticking a tube in (the one into their stomach). Alternatively if it is becoming a real problem then she could be referred to a child psychologist as they work with play specialists to develop eating habits.

At this stage in her life and particularly as prem it is obviously important that her input is 'good' so the dietician should be addressing that.

If you want to pm me and tell me where you live i might be able to point you to someone, otherwise good luck!

Mallard

bonnie_2

My daughter was tube fed for 2 years and was always a picky eater, but she is 9 now and going the otherway.
I would suggest to stop the milk before food, as this will fill her up and sit her up the table with the same food as you. whatever you do don't bribe her to eat or shout or make an issue of it. Calmy put the food in front of her and leave her to it, if she dosen't eat, don't give her anything else.
My dd was also prem and had a cleft palette.

geordiepaul2001

Hi all,

Just adding to this thread.
Since I last posted my Daughter has been admitted to hospital twice.
The first time was to monitor her food intake.....at the end of the hospitalisation they advised us that her problems were all psychological and that there was no medical reason for her lack of appetite.
We have persevered, having one good day amongst lots of bad.

The trouble has really started since our last visit to the hospital, where they advised not to bribe etc.
Now she is hardly eating anything, and wakes up around 5 times each night asking for water.
If I say no, she screams.
If I say yes, and just go back to bed, she falls asleep waiting for me to come back.

On top of this she seems to now have an indigestion problem, whereby after eating she begins retching, then belches and then throws up everything she ate.

Sorry to sound like I am moaning but this is getting worse by the day.

Anybody got any pointers?

play2day

I have no practical advice for you geordiepaul but I wanted to wish you all well and say I am thinking of you. I hope the situation resolves itself soon.

Ophie

Hi My daughter is 2 and is in 9 - 12mth clothes for height but for her waist even 3 - 6 mth clothes are too big.

Anyway, she is on the 0.4th centile for weight she is currently 19lbs 4oz. I have stopped her drinking her milk (Infantrini) as she refused to eat at all when she was drinking the milk.

Now although she won't eat a meal that is for a 'normal' toddler as its too much she will eat. She won't eat if I am worried about her eating enough, I have also started to take her food away from her when she starts to 'hold' it in her mouth. I want her to 'feel being hungry' that way when she eats she really wants to eat.

Its hard not to worry about the amount she eats but it really does help if you don't pressure or tell her to eat.

Yesterday she ate:

breakfast: some sugar puffs and a fromage frais

Lunch: half a pitta bread with grated carrot, cheese and mayonaise (I was impressed with this) and a packet of pom bears crips (although she didn't eat until about 2:15pm)

Tea: fish and chips and a couple of mouthfuls of cake. (eaten at 6:15pm)

I know what I have written sounds like loads to you, but believe me its not, not at all. If you can add things like extra cream or sugar in to what she eats without her knowing that may help her weight gain.

But first and foremost don't worry about how much she eats.

Have you tried her on constant snacking or even as I do making her wait between meals so she really is hungry? Find what works for your child.

My daughter goes to sleep between 7 and 7:30pm and sleeps until 8:30am - 9am and rarely wakes during the night.

I send my daughter to bed with her cup and she can drink as and when she wants. Some days she eats loads and I end up stopping her from eating cos I worry she will be too full and other days she doesn't eat at all. She also tries to make herself sick although this has decreased loads now. I just ignore the wretching and tell her no and carry on feeding her. If she is sick again I carry on feeding her after I have cleaned up.

Js_Other_Half

geordiepaul2001 wrote: »

Hi all,

The trouble has really started since our last visit to the hospital, where they advised not to bribe etc.
Now she is hardly eating anything, and wakes up around 5 times each night asking for water.
If I say no, she screams.
If I say yes, and just go back to bed, she falls asleep waiting for me to come back.

On top of this she seems to now have an indigestion problem, whereby after eating she begins retching, then belches and then throws up everything she ate.

Sorry to sound like I am moaning but this is getting worse by the day.

Anybody got any pointers?

Have you been assigned a paediatric dietician? One of my friends is one, and she works with children with eating issues, as well as babies in hospital etc.