Toddler food help

[minismama]

Do you know about how many ounces he is drinking of milk a day? Is it whole milk? I would mention your concerns to the pedi. Is he like this every single day? When I struggled with DD's eating me pedi advised me to look at the weekly amount of food vs. the daily amount. Some days she ate, some days she didn't. If he really eats barely anything ever, I would feel the same as you. Especially if you are continuously offering new things to try.

Guess what I'm trying to say is I think your concerns are justified and I would ask.

[mamaalysson]

The Chipotle bean thing makes me think more picky than medical issue, but clearly I am no medical professional. Have you tried changing up where and how he eats? DS started throwing everything on the floor and shouting "NONONONONO!!" the second anything touched his highchair tray, but he would climb up on his sister's chair and happily finish off whatever was left on her plate. So, we moved him into his own "tall" chair, and now serve him exactly like we serve DD, and he eats. Toddlers are weird.

[gastro]

Sorry I'm not much help but DS was still nursing at 16 months and barely ate a thing. He just drank bm. He was well past 18 months before solids took center stage. Now he eats everything - he only dislikes spicy foods.
His weight dropped in percentile but nothing alarming so my pedi said not to stress. The only thing he had me do was give DS a liquid vitamin which I had to force feed with a syringe.

[Deleted]

Do you sit and eat with him? I find that DS is more inclined to eat food if me/MH is eating with him and eating the same thing.

Also, are there any foods that he will consistently eat? Could he have sensory issues with the food?

Have you discussed with your pedi his growth?

[Deleted]

omg, I know how you feel. Mine will only eat sweet potatoes right now. So frustrating! Maybe you could try switching to toddler formula, I think it has more calories and protein than milk.

[feffy]

That does seem like a tiny amount of food for a whole day. DD was on bm at that age too, so I really can't remember.

Will he eat if he's distracted? DD will read a book at the table and if she's looking at it I can sneak a bite she might have otherwise refused. Does he always eat the table, or is it more of a grazing situation? Does he ever get super hungry and yelling at you?

Another thing, DD hates plain food. If she sees I have something better, she will refuse her kids meal for my entree (restaurant example). Maybe he just has good taste? :-P

[leselia]

I have no advice. DD also loves Chipotle beans so they must have crack in them or something. My MIL found a copy cat recipe on pinterest. Also 22 lbs doesn't seem that small, A is 26 pounds and almost 2...so is that just his curve?

[usm]

Jan 28, 2015 18:17:39 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

He's always been small. He lost a few pounds when he had rsv but put them back on.

He drinks whole milk. I'm afraid to cut it completely or to 2% bc he's so small and he doesn't eat. I've had days where I only give him 1 cup of milk and he still doesn't eat.

I think he's over his high chair. I take the tray off and push him up to the table.

Around 12 months he had a thing where he wouldn't eat if I sat next to him so I typically let him and A eat together. He also eats a few more bites if I let him run around and play but that's not sustainable for most things bc it's messy and not a habit I want to start.

Thanks. I will bring it up to the doctor. I'm not sure if this behavior is normal. He definitely only eats bites of food all day and all week. yesterday was the first time he ate a lot of anything. He had about 2 cups of beans.

DS1 was a grazer. He had reflux as an infant so he would eat smaller amounts more often. When we started solids (BLW) we did the same thing. I would offer elements of a meal as a snack and he would eat it like that. We now only eat at the table but he does usually come back to his plate a few times in an hour or so.

DS2 has feeding and sensory issues related to food and is in feeding therapy. Does he refuse certain textures right away? What does he do with something he doesn't want, does it ever go in his mouth? How does he react?

[Deleted]

Im sorry! I'm glad you're going to ask the doctor. It almost sounds less like he is picky and more like an eating issue or something else going on. He doesn't sound small for his age but I would also be worried about lack of calories and/or nutrition so I see why you are concerned. Some kids are just big eaters and others not so much. That being said, you have offered a wide range of foods and the fact that not one grabbed his interest warrants looking into it further.

On a side note, have you tried chicken nuggets or tater tots? Kinda cliche but usually a picky kid might try those. I'm sorry, it must be stressful! Hope you get some answers!!!

[beantrees]

I only read half the thread so this may have been mentioned.

But I would keep a food diary of every single thing that he eats for at least a week. Then talk to your doctor. I feel like "my kid isn't eating enough" is a common concern from parents that a doc mine brush off. Plus keeping a diary may help you too in some way.

This sounds silly but have you tried cutting things in little tiny pieces? I'm talking the size of a pencil eraser. For some reason that seems to help my kids eat food that don't necessarily love.

[beantrees]

I only read half the thread so this may have been mentioned.

But I would keep a food diary of every single thing that he eats for at least a week. Then talk to your doctor. I feel like "my kid isn't eating enough" is a common concern from parents that a doc mine brush off. Plus keeping a diary may help you too in some way.

This sounds silly but have you tried cutting things in little tiny pieces? I'm talking the size of a pencil eraser. For some reason that seems to help my kids eat food that don't necessarily love.

[mamaalysson]

I use the app "mySymptoms" to track DD's food and related stomach pain and eczema flair-ups. Might be overkill for you, but I thought it was really easy to use.

[feffy]

Would he lick something yummy off your finger? Sour cream, ketchup, ranch dressing.... just something to get him to open up?

[lala]

I wish I had more advice - but I agree with the food diary. Then when you do meet with the pedi, you have the facts ready. I'm not well versed in the sensory stuff; but it sounds like he has in the last few days eaten crunchy things, puréed things & mushy things. So some variety there.

I definitely wouldn't switch out the whole milk for lower fat.

There are all kinds of ways to add more fat, using olive oil, butter, avocado, cheese, etc.

I know it's hard but I'd refrain from feeding him yourself & forcing him to take a bite. Do you all eat together at night?

[lala]

That's more than enough for one meal! It's so hard, you can't make them eat.

Do you think he just likes your reaction when he throws food? Cleaning up accidentally spilled food is bad enough.

[mamaalysson]

Jan 28, 2015 20:10:32 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

Jan 28, 2015 20:07:24 GMT -5 lala said:

That's more than enough for one meal! It's so hard, you can't make them eat.

Do you think he just likes your reaction when he throws food? Cleaning up accidentally spilled food is bad enough.

It's his all done sign. Instead of waving his hands in the air he waves his hands across the table. Drives me insane. He's done it since he learned all done at 8 months. I try not to make a big deal out of it. Sometimes he gets down and eats some food of the floor before I clean it. So gross.

Oh my god, DS used to do that too - throw everything on the floor and then immediately eat it all off the floor. Maybe this is flameful, but I just made sure I kept my dining room floor clean and let him eat like that. We also put his plate on the floor next to the table and he would eat that way...like a puppy. Whatever, at least he got food in him.

[usm]

It sounds like it may be a control issue. Neither of my boys will let me spoon feed them once they realized they could hold things and bite off of them.

When introducing new food in feeding therapy we have DS2 lick it for the count of 5. It's less of a struggle because he knows he can't stop when he get to 5 but more often then not he realizes he likes it and trys to take a bite. It has really helped with the control aspect of his eating.

The food journal sounds like a good idea so you can ask your dr about it with hard facts about his eating.

[dizzycooks]

So you're saying he probably doesn't need a whole meal himself on Saturday?

[ashb62]

I agree that what he's eating doesn't seem sustainable and it's definitely worth bringing up to your pedi. Unless he drops hugely in percentile, I wouldn't be too concerned about his weight. Some kids are just small. He's about the same size as my 16 month olds. In the meantime, have you tried something like pediasure to help fill in the gaps?

Food issues are so frustrating. If he'll eat sitting in the floor, I would probably just let him. One year olds can't be reasoned with.