good eater gone bad...will it get better again?

Erin&Rod

I had the best eater up until about 16 months, now it is a struggle to get him to eat anything other than fruit and cheese.  He will a few bites of what we give him and then he says he's done and won't eat anymore.  Even his favorites like mac & cheese and ravioli are a no go these days.  I have tried every food at different times in the day and he just never seems to have the appetite that he used to and he has become so picky.  At his 18 month well visit he went from the 50% to the 25 %.  Has anyone experienced this and could this be a phase?  Any advice? TIA.

addison_clark

My son was similar, except that he never dropped weight percentiles (not that that really means anything in particular anyway).  I think after a few months of picky eating he picked up again.  It was frustrating I remember, hang in there!  (also teach him to dip his food into ketchup/ranch/etc, that helped my DS become more interested in food again)

nsees

Yes, my son goes in spurts.  Sometimes he's a great eater and then we may have months were we can barely get him to eat at all.  His weight doesn't fluctuate that much but at his well-visits, he used to be in the top percentiles for weight and height and that has all plateaued out at this point.  Our dr reassured us that this is the way it is for many toddlers as they start to become more active and lose the baby fat.  She also confirmed that his eating would come and go as well.  Her advice was to keep offering him the foods that he doesn't want anymore and eventually he would come back around and he has.  He was so good at eating veggies when he was younger and it took us about 6 months but he's finally back to eating them again with no issues.  It will get better.  If your dr isn't worried about his drop, I wouldn't be either.  Just make sure he keeps eating whatever it is that he will and offer alternatives but don't force it!  GL