speaking of eating... toddler question

3003girl

If you are still breastfeeding your toddler, how much do they eat? 3 meals a day? Snacks?

I am still breastfeeding at 2 years and my kid does not eat much at all. I go through stages of saying it's just a stage to worrying if she will ever eat well at all.

A typical day consists of a few bites of something for breakfast (cereal or toast), a few bites of fruit, maybe a smoothie, usually no lunch, unless it's mac and cheese, then she will eat a bowl of it, and then she picks at dinner. I generally offer her cheese and crackers or yogurt before bedtime and she will have a few bites. 

We offer her a grain, fruit and veggie at almost every eating chance. 

She still breastfeeds 3+ times a day, sometimes more. If I'm not around DH says she eats a little more, but not much.

I don't think it's a texture thing because she does eat a variety of textures - or at least she has. I am beginning to think it's a power thing. For example, if we suggest she eat something, she unilaterally refuses. But if we just put it on the table she will generally pick at it or try it.  

tokenhoser

If you're in the mood for an uplifting read, I suggest:

My Child Won't Eat

I haven't read it, but I'm reading his other book and it's pretty awesome (although the tone is a bit off because it's translated from Spanish, I think). 

Anyway, my kid is younger than yours and lives on breastmilk and air. I try to offer 3 meals and 2 snacks. He often doesn't eat much for breakfast (because he breastfeeds when we wake  up) or supper (because he breastfeeds like a fiend when I get home from work). 

3003girl

I saw that book - and read most of it on amazon - but it seems geared towards younger kiddos - like 6-18 months, from the parts I read. I do really like his approach and MOST of the time I can go along with it - ie kids will eat when they want. But then she goes for 2 weeks without eating anything close to a full meal and I get really frustrated. This is one of those times...  

LouiseB2001

solidio:

I don't think it's a texture thing because she does eat a variety of textures - or at least she has. I am beginning to think it's a power thing. For example, if we suggest she eat something, she unilaterally refuses. But if we just put it on the table she will generally pick at it or try it.  

DD doesn't eat much at all either. I don't BF anymore and for a short time after weaning she did seem to increase the amount of food but it could also just be me being biased. I have worried about it before, actually mostly when she was still BFing but I made a conscious deal with myself to stop thinking too much about it. (doesn't mean I don't worry occasionally) She is clearly healthy and in no way underweight although she is in a low weight percentile.

What you wrote made me realize that this happens a lot too. Today I was like 'would you like some mellon?' and she refused 4 times. Then I was in the kitchen and took a slice myself and just gave her one and she tried it. (she spat it out and went eww but that's besides the point :-)

She definitely needs many small meals and she had great diverse taste but she really nipples and eat two bites of something. So I don't think it has much to do with BFing but if I were you I would of course be grateful she does get great nutrients from that. Stop worrying and keep offering healthy snacks :-)

 

 

tarahnpaul

Well mine is a year younger than yours, but eats almost no solids.  And she's almost 30 pounds, so that's a lot of weight to maintain on just BM.  A typical day would be a few bites of banana late morning, maybe a graham cracker a few hours later (although I don't want her eating these all the time b/c they're pure sugar) or a few bites of avocado, and a few Tbsp of whatever we're having at dinner, usually meat and veggies.  She still BF at least every 2-3 hours 24 hours a day. 

celiabwatson

My son doesn't eat either. When he was in daycare he had cut back on nursing to once a day since about 18 months. Then the baby was born and he started nursing like a newborn. He's back down to 4-5 times/day now and it's usually shorter sessions but the boy doesn't eat.

One thing I've discovered is that he's usually willing to eat in the car on the way home from the playground/an activity. So I'm working on having healthy car snacks. I have refillable pouches for fruits/veggies, cracker type items, raisins and sometimes yogurt in the pouches. He also eats better standing up so I have a stool pulled up to the kitchen counter for him to stand and eat. He's gaining weight just fine (went from 24-29 lbs between his 2 year old appt (which was at 2 years and almost a month) and his sister's 6 month appt (which was at 2 years and 5 months or so) 

3003girl

Thanks ladies. I guess I just keep thinking that some day she will eat. 

She is growing taller - she just popped up from 31 to 33 inches in the last few months. But she is SKINNY. She weighed 21 lbs at her 18 month appt and I don't think she is more than 22 lbs now. She is wearing a 6-12 month top today. lol. I don't think she is unhealthy because she is super active and growing in height and, I think, head circumference, which is what the Pedi said to pay attention too. She is just fine on the WHO charts.

I guess I just worry about her becoming a healthy eater and when that will happen, if ever.

Thanks for sharing your stories. She is around 2 boys a lot and they eat anything and constantly, so it is good to hear that other people have kiddos with similar eating habits.   

sucredee

DD is 25 months and usually BF about 5 x a day (sometimes more if we are at home). We did BLW and although she would try many different things it took a long time for her to start eating much quantity wise (like well after a year). Now she is a much pickier eater and still doesn't eat a ton. She was just sick with a cold the past few days and pretty much didn't eat any solids and just nursed many times a day (some of it for comfort obviously). I don't really worry about it. She is little (34" and 22#14 oz today) and is happy and healthy and doesn't look emaciated by any means. She is in the 50th% for height and 5-10% for weight. I don't push anything on her. She typically eats what we eat although if she doesn't want something and we have left overs I will offer her that. I offer her a lot of fruit as she likes that usually. She used to love yogurt and sweet potatoes and now she won't touch those. I figure at some point she will get over her pickiness and eat more as she won't have a choice . I have also noticed that she will refuse something and then when no one is looking she nibbles on it anyway. 

I find it sort of interesting how many people are so worried about their kiddos not eating/weighing enough on TB. Kids do not need much food and I think we often feel like they should be eating more but in reality their portions are very small (I think it is like a TBSP per year per serving or something like that) and so more than likely they are eating enough. Kids are very good about knowing how much they need to eat, unlike the rest of us who will eat because we really like something and keep eating even though we are full.

I am a PA and I see so many young kids (including toddlers) that are already overweight.  I also see kids who are perfectly normal but are thought of as underweight/too skinny because a lot of their peers are overweight and so that is seen as normal. 

At least BM is still nutritious for your kiddo. So just keep offering and your LO will get there at some point. Trying to force food is just going to backfire.  Unless your pedi is worried about their weight I wouldn't worry about it . I also think it is easy for people to blame BF for their "lack of appetite". I have no idea how much BM DD is getting but even when little she would take only  ~3 oz by bottle at daycare and I did a pre/post weigh a couple of times and it was about 3-4 oz, so even with her feeding 5x a day she is probably taking 15-20oz a day which is fine. And some days she will eat a bunch out of nowhere. 

DD usually has oatmeal for Breakfast (sometimes a lot, sometimes just a couple,of bites). She will have some fruit mid morning and then for lunch it is left overs from dinner, lunch meat , avocado, fruit (not all together). She usually does not have a Pm snack since we eat dinner at 6.  She does get a treat after dinner (a small cookie or small piece of chocolate) since we all do that as well. She does not get any juice unless we go out for breakfast while on vacation.

Try not to worry bout it unless your pedi is concerned 

tlew12778

I recommend reading Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter. 

My DD ate solids voraciously once we started offering them at 6m and she still nurses at 3.5y. At her 18m WBV she was 22 lbs. She is now 3'2" and about 31 lbs. She's very healthy. 

I woud try to set limits on nursing. After 18m I no longer nursed while out and about. After about 2y I only nursed in one spot at home. She now nurses before bed, and sometimes when she wakes up and before her nap, but not always. 

3003girl

sucredee:

I find it sort of interesting how many people are so worried about their kiddos not eating/weighing enough on TB. Kids do not need much food and I think we often feel like they should be eating more but in reality their portions are very small (I think it is like a TBSP per year per serving or something like that) and so more than likely they are eating enough. Kids are very good about knowing how much they need to eat, unlike the rest of us who will eat because we really like something and keep eating even though we are full.

I am a PA and I see so many young kids (including toddlers) that are already overweight.  I also see kids who are perfectly normal but are thought of as underweight/too skinny because a lot of their peers are overweight and so that is seen as normal. 

At least BM is still nutritious for your kiddo. So just keep offering and your LO will get there at some point. Trying to force food is just going to backfire.  Unless your pedi is worried about their weight I wouldn't worry about it . I also think it is easy for people to blame BF for their "lack of appetite".

Your whole post makes sense, but the parts above really hit home for me. Thanks!

I find people saying to me "if you stop bfing she will eat more" all the time. I think it just gets to me sometimes...

And I just hope that when she gets older she will not be so picky. My ex was a picky eater and it was so unhealthy... I hope her not eating veggies now doesn't mean she won't eat them later.  

For myself - I try to eat when I am hungry and not eat when I'm not hungry. I want to try to do that for her too, so we never "force" food on her, just offer it. I also find that I crave things like meat or dairy at different times - I feel like your body craves the things it needs. So maybe LO just needs BM right now. LOL.  

funchicken

My DD is 16 months old and nurses 2-3 times during the day and 1-2 times at night.  We did BLW, but we had a slow start because she had multiple food protein intolerances until she was about 10 months old.  She has always been really interested in food and was totally on table food by 12 months.  She doesn't usually eat much at breakfast, lunch or snacktimes, but she usually eats a big dinner. 

I would just keep offering regular meals and snacks.  Don't try to force her.  If her weight is okay, then I really wouldn't worry about it.  Toddlers don't need that much food, and from what I've read a serving size for them is 1 Tbs/year of age.

ETA: My DD only gained 5oz between her 12mo and 18mo appts, and my pedi wasn't concerned at all.  She weighs 20lbs now--it's normal for them to slim down a lot in their second year.

 

FancyFrenchie

I thought my DS never ate enough for a long time. Around 18 months it got better and then in the past few months, most teeth having come out, him being around other schools, and he now eats much better meals. However, there are still days that he doesn't want to eat much, or only wants fruit or yogurt, but I try to go with the flow, because it used to stress me out a lot. As somone mentioned, they'll tell us when they're hungry and just keep offering and if they want it, they'll eat it.

nosoup4u

solidio:

At least BM is still nutritious for your kiddo. So just keep offering and your LO will get there at some point. Trying to force food is just going to backfire.  Unless your pedi is worried about their weight I wouldn't worry about it . I also think it is easy for people to blame BF for their "lack of appetite".

Your whole post makes sense, but the parts above really hit home for me. Thanks!

I find people saying to me "if you stop bfing she will eat more" all the time. I think it just gets to me sometimes...

And I just hope that when she gets older she will not be so picky. My ex was a picky eater and it was so unhealthy... I hope her not eating veggies now doesn't mean she won't eat them later.  

All this!

If you are really, truly worried, start a food diary and keep track of what she really is eating. The Ellyn Satter books are great, she has a website, too:

https://www.ellynsatter.com/how-to-feed-i-24.html

My first son only ate fruit, yogurt and bread products until about 15+ months, and then slowly became less and less picky. He's now four, and eats a good variety of stuff. I would maybe see if she wants a snack if she's asking to nurse a ton, I know DS2 will want to nurse and nurse and nurse when he's hungry for people food, but I have to suggest it first, usually. hth!