19 month-old not eating...

[hannson]

hi,

need some advice here.. my 19 month-old have been eating regularly til recently...

he's lost all apetite for solid food.. and will only eat snacks like biscuits and his milk.

whenever we feed him solids for lunch or dinner, he will chew then spit everything out.

is this a normal "phase" that children goes through?

thanks!

[E.R.N]

Ok, the thing to remember is not to worry too much (that's what I try and tell myself!) Children seem very good at regulating themselves and rarely starve themselves. My 19mth son eats like food is about to disappear for good, but we have had times when he is not keen on eating, breakfast is something he chews and spits out most often! So, this is my approach. He has a breakfast, lunch and dinner time, plus two snacks, morning and afternoon. If he declines breakfast, I do not make a fuss, then at snack time I offer him something usual size, not compensating for no breakfast, I go for fruit, or cubes of cheese, or maybe a yogurt. I carry on like this for the rest of the day.  I encourage him to eat at his eating times, but if he starts to spit it out, I read that as no more. My son has started being dribbly again, might your child be teething? My suggestion is perhaps replace biscuits with other things that are more nutritional, sure he might not like this at first.. but when kids are hungry they are more open to eating what we want. I once caught myself offering alternatives to what I had originally given him when he refused food.. but I thought, no he has to learn.. this or nothing.. so far so good.. when he doesn't eat at a set time, he ususally makes up for it later. Try not to worry. As far as milk goes I stick to the recommended intake so he has milk twice a day

[This message has been edited by E.R.N (edited 12-12-2004).]

[Stay at home Dad]

The best advice a doctor ever gave me when we were worried about the amount of food our youngster was eating was this:

"No healthy child who has access to food will ever go hungry."

Sounds  simple , but it helped us in 2 very important ways. One , it stopped us worrying about how much or how little he ate. Somedays he would eat very little , somedays he wouldn;t stop. And he would ask for food if he wanted it.

Secomdly, it gave us the opportunity to control his diet. At first we were mollycoddling him and he was becoming fussy and picky. So we would provide good, healthy food, taking into account the foodgroups etc.

After an initial period of moaning fussing and the odd night of going to bed with no dinner, he began to eat what we put in front ofhim. And if he only ate half, well we wouldn't make a huge fuss.

He eats well and the plus side is that I eat better now,becuase in forcing myself to provide good healthy food for my child, I found my own diet improved.

[hannson]

thank you so much for both your advice  

good news.. is today he's eating a bit more of the regular food.

thanks!!!

[ex-pat]

Sometimes kids just like to snack or graze rather than eat a big meal.  I used to just leave a plate of something at an accessible level for my son, and he would find it and nibble if he wanted.  Things like cheese, fruit, dry crackers and sultanas, obviously it would have to suit this climate tho.  

[hannson]

thanks ex-pat!

that's an interesting idea!

my child is now eating a bit more.. strange though.. he still seems to be putting on weight. .despite him not eating as much as before...

[ex-pat]

You're welcome!  By the way, this particular son is now thirteen years old, still a picky eater, but hasn't starved to death yet.  The teenage hormones are starting to kick in tho' and soon he will be eating me out of house and home!  I will have to start hiding the food rather than leaving it where he can find it.

[hannson]

hehehe ... thanks again ex-pat