Refusing to eat
gajumper
member
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this...maybe its a phase?
My little guy has never been a GREAT eater...he would eat but not shovel it in like some of the kids you see.
Last week he started refusing to eat everything...unless it was a puff or cracker. Even his fav green beans he will shake his head at and refuse to even touch them. Daycare is having the same issue...the only thing he ate the entire day yesterday was a few banana chunks and some yogurt.
I'm at a loss. At our 1yo check up yesterday I mentioned it to the Dr and he said keep trying...he was sick a few weeks ago and had a sore throat, so, the Dr thinks maybe he associated eating with pain when he swallowed. He offered no other advice other than to keep trying.
At some point he has to eat right? Hes waking at night now, I am sure because he is hungry...I just dont know what to do. He will suck down those fruit/veggie pouches but if I offer those he will just expect that and not eat his real food, right??
I'm at a loss...any other Moms have some advice?
Re: Refusing to eat
DD has gone through several phases of not wanting to eat, and yes its frustrating!! My pedi said its just the age. They are exerting some independence, plus not growing as fast so not really as hungry as we think they should be. They will not let themselves starve, and WILL eat when they are hungry.
A couple tips you could try - cut out ALL snacks if he's refusing to eat at real meal-times. Offer 2-3 items you would like him to eat (ie, no puffs) on his tray at the same time and let him pick (gives him some "power"). If he refuses, then that's it. He's not that hungry and just being picky. Try giving him food in a bowl with a spoon to feed himself. Possibly cut back on the amount of milk he gets per day, he may be getting full on that. I don't even offer her milk cup until she's eaten (or tried) at least half of what's on her plate.
Its frustrating, but try not to let it become a battle since we'll probably always be the losers! All toddlers seem to go through this, just keep on offering healthy foods and DON'T become a short order cook. What is offered is what there is, if he refuses then he's just not that hungry. If you keep offering item after item, he'll just keep refusing until he gets what he wants, and that's not the precedent you want to set.
Its a sucky phase, try to stay patient & good luck!
I thought about the milk today on the way to work...thinking I should cut that back. I know his old daycare teacher was bad about giving him snacks if he didnt eat what was offered, so that did not help...now he has moved into the 1yo room and I told his new teacher today to NOT do that...he gets snack at snack time and its whatever they offer.
Last night I offered carrot sticks and spinach ravoli...I think he ate 1 carrot stick and half a ravoli before refusing to eat another bite.
I would just keep trying everything at this point - will he eat from a spoon? Drink a pouch? Eat by himself? J goes through phases where he'll only feed himself, or only want to eat off a fork, etc.
I'd rather have him be addicted to pouches for a week or two and get the nutrition than not offer them to avoid a habit.
He will eat from a pouch...he sucked down a full one last night after he refused dinner.
I went down to DC to check on him and his teacher said he ate two bites of cherios for breakfast and about half a cracker for morning snack, but that was it....
I am at a loss...he is tired and cranky from not eating well, I can see that...but filling him full of puffs and ritz crackers all day is not going to work...daycare wont do that and I certianly cant while I am at work.
If I revert back to baby food and feed him purees from a spoon he will eat about half of a small jar...which again is better than nothing I guess. I have tried feeding him is "normal" food from a spoon or fork and he is not interested...gave him a spoon to try himself and he was not interested..he just realized he could scoop up his food and fling it on the floor better with a spoon.
I really dont know what to do...
He does currently have 3 molars trying to come though.
So, would you just send pouches to DC and tell them if he wont eat to offer them at meals?
During and after a cold my son goes through phases of not eating anything really solid (and this from a champion eater and it usually lasts about 2 weeks for us). I try and make tons of soup, give him some pouches, homemade purees while still offering regular solid food.
After an illness its almost like I have to retrain him to eat solids and there are always some foods that drop completely from his palet
“I’d marry again if I found a man who had $15 million and would sign over half of it to me before the marriage and guarantee he’d be dead in a year.” - Bette Davis
My 14month old son used to be a fantastic eater, but over the last few weeks has become very picky. I have figured out that he will eat three things pretty much without fail. So, until we get through this picky phase, I'm playing with those things.
1) Anything from a pouch. Those pouches were starting to get expensive, so I ordered some reusable ones from www.littlegreenpouch.com to fill with homemade purees, yogurt, smoothies, etc. They just came today, so I'm excited to try them!
2) Anything served on bread or in a sandwich. Bread with peanut butter, hummus, cream cheese, etc., grilled cheese sandwich (and I hide some turkey or roast beef in the cheese sometimes). Today I discovered he will eat chicken salad if it is smooth like hummus (run some cooked chicken breast through the food processor till it's chopped fine, add a spoonful of plain yogurt or mayo, plus pickle relish or mustard if you want, then serve as dip for bread or in a sandwich).
3) He just figured out straws and loves them, so I've been making a lot of smoothies (froz strawberries or blueberries, some banana, some raw spinach, plain yogurt, and milk - blend). I'm thinking of trying some with silken tofu for some extra protein, and I may try putting his smoothies in pouches if he gets tired of the straw.
He also likes to feed himself applesauce, yogurt, etc. from a spoon. It's messy, but I do let him self-feed with a spoon at breakfast or snacktime most days.