17 month old Appetite

[Appetite]

My 17 month old is very difficult to feed. She has no problem with adequate milk intake but just picks at anything else I give her. She generally takes 3/4 bits of whatever I try to feed her and then just looses interest. I give her a good variety of foods, she loves vegetables/fruit but won't eat much meat. Any recommendations for a high in protein foods that I can try? I have tried reducing the milk intake to ensure she is not filling up on that but she still does'nt seem interested in the things I make her! Every meal time is a battle! Thanks!

[San Antonio Rose]

No meal should be a battle.  Have you expressed these concerns to your pediatrician?  There could be some underlying health issue.  Does her weight fall within a normal range?  Not all babies (or children or adults) have huge appetites.  It does take time for babies and small children to adapt to new tastes and textures of food.  I think it would be a good idea to take this issue to your doc to better understand what is normal and what is not.  All the best.

[Yummy Mummy Wummy]

She sounds fine.  Unless she is losing weight consistently I wouldn't worry about it.  Mealtimes should NEVER be a battle.  Just give her the same food you are having and if she eats if fine, if not then fine.

I would resist trying to force her to eat.  I presume you are putting her in a high chair to eat and she is not allowed to wander around while eating?  This is a recipe for disaster in my opinion, both in terms of table manners and eating a good diet!

[Lili Von Shtupp]

I was just talking about this with friends the other day, and we all agreed that appetites seem to come and go in cycles, and I noticed they go hand in hand with growth spurts.

Sometimes my kid just refuses to eat, and it makes it worse when I've taken the time to cook something that I'm sure he'll love. When he first started doing it I'd get really upset. But now, if he eats he eats. If he doesn't then I ask him, "Are you finished?" and let him know that when it's final, it's final. Then I just take it away and turn him loose. I figure one meal here or there ain't gonna kill him, and he usually eats better when the next one comes around.

I totally agree with the high chair, as well as SAR's advice about turning mealtime into a battleground.


 


   

[Señora Sensible]

Is she a bit tired come dinner time?  Although you didn't say whether it was dinner time specifically.  Sometimes offering the cooked meal at lunchtime can make a difference in amount of food eaten, and a lighter meal for evening dinner.

Also you could try delaying the milk offer as long as possible, and offering the food prepared an hour later if she's hungry if she only picked at it first time round.

I found it took some attempts to build up tastes and for what seemed like a long time, my kids preferred very simple tastes.

17 months is still a bit young but you could also try the reward of milk if she has say '3 more spoons'.  I wouldn't expect her to finish the complete meal if she's not looking interested but a few more spoons each time with the reward of milk may be an achievable target.