My daughter has reached that point where she wont eat anything. The only thing that she will eat is Sliced Turkey and only two slices. I have tried giving her all the things that she loves but she REFUSES to eat. Will drink her milk and juice so I put her daily vitamins in her milk. And now she is losing weight...out of despiration I have started suplamenting her milk before bed with formula in her sippie cup instead.
I am starting to worry about the weight loss and DESPRATE for a solution.
Any advice on how long this lasts? Is the weight loss in the phase normal? Any advice on what to do to encourage eating.
For two weeks all she would eat is two slices of turkey lunch meat and her 24 oz of milk & 4 oz of juice a day. She lost about a pound or so.... She just had surgery to remove a birthmark on her leg right before this so I was told that children who have been put under tend to do this. Because she was in a splint and burning more calories to get around then getting in and the loosing weight was concerning me. Since she wouldnt let me feed her anymore and wouldnt eat anything else. I just continued to give her what I know she would eat and variety of other things. I also suplemented a before bed milk with formula. She gets a daily vitamin before all this so instead of putting it in her food that I fed her I put it in her milk until one of the other moms told me I should put it in her juice (Thanks for that! I didnt know that milk would cancel out the vit D)
She is eating more now! Some day's she will eat what I give her other days she wont she is still FICKLE but she is eating again and I am THRILLED. Every day is a new challenge but variety is the key! Every once in a while she will let me feed her but most of the time she wont. I dont push the food on her...she may only eat two bites and then she is done. If she doesnt eat much that day I suplement with formula before bed. But she is doing MUCH better. Thanks to all for your help!!!!
How much weight has she lost?
Is she happy and involved with those around her?
Has she changed to being less involved or lethargic?
Dr. Cindy L. Russell
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Unfortunatley, I don't have any advice for you - other than my son is about the same way ... I feel like half the time the only thing he eats are cracker type foods. :-(
I do think a lot of this comes with age ... just be sure to continue offering new foods and food that she can feed herself as they are wanting to be independant.
That's pretty typical for the age. She is discovering more independence and is realizing that she can choose to eat or not. My son has been on a huge berry kick (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc) but hasn't been too interested in meat or veggies. Try not to stress too much. Kids go through eating phasesn & are fickle. She'll eat when she is hungry. Just keep offering her other foods at mealtime or you can try to offer healthy snacks during the day such as peanut butter crackers, cheese or yogurt. Even ice cream can be a good-for-you treat for a toddler! You can supplement nutrition with Pediasure as someone else had mentioned. Or, our pediatric nutritionist also suggested as another option to try good old Carnation Instant Breakfast drink mix. Mixed with whole milk, it has more calories than Pediasure and still has lots of nutrition.
You might want to try cutting back on milk and for now subsitute with water. Milk makes them full and then not hungry to eat. My son was the exact same way and would eat very little or nothing for stretches at a time. I was panicked, but always thought, "well, at least he is drinking milk". Now I cut back on the milk. He can only have milk with breakfast and then milk with dinner and water or juice/water during the day. This has made his appitite MUCH better. The get full on milk and don't wan to eat. Good Luck! :)
My daughter is 2 now, and she had and still sort of has the same problem. It's so frustrating! My pedi told me to just keep on offerring her different choices (she would only eat chicken fingers). That honestly hasn't really worked very well, but I found that she will eat anything off of my plate, even things she hates, so I just put a little extra on my plate so she can eat it. ALso, I try to be really positive about new foods and tell her how yummy they are before she even eats them. Hope this helps some :)
Ummmm - If your child is losing weight, call your pediatrician immediately!
I think it's very normal behavior. I went through the same thing with my now 3-year-old. What I learned is that she often (still) doesn't have an appetite if she hasn't had a bowel movement. Also, she eats great when she is in a growth spurt, but not when she isn't in a growth spurt. My daughter is a big girl - 85 percentile for height but only 50% for weight (I sort of envy her there!). I don't think you should make an issue of food. Your daughter is not going to let herself starve to death. She is simply listening to her body (something we should all do) and only eating what her body needs at that particular time. Sometimes I'll sit down and eat something in front of my daughter (sort of ignoring her) and she'll get immediately interested in it since I wasn't pushing it on her. Then she'll often confiscate and consume whatever it is! Just keep offering (but not pushing) healthy foods. Don't even keep any junk food in the house. Make whatever small amount she is eating a healthy food. Also, my pediatrician said juice bags are very bad. They cause constipation, tooth decay and fill up those little tummies too much. She has 3 young kids of her own.
My daughter likes some rather odd things and I let her have them since they are not unhealthy. You'd be surprised what a kid might like. My daughter loves pistaccios and other nuts. Not a bad substitute on days she won't eat a meat. She loves black olives (go figure) so I'll let her have a bunch of them. She loves thinly sliced and peeled Gala apples (but not other varieties - go figure again!). I discovered she has a slight intolerance of milk and it actually makes her tummy a bit queasy. Since I switched to Lactaid, she eats more food. Just make sure your daughter is getting a good multi-vitamin. Another thing I learned, avoid the vitamins that contain iron. They constipate and upset those little tummies more often than not. Have you tried turkey bacon? Some kids like it. My daughter loves the blueberry muffins you make from the mix. They actually have vitamins in them too.
Good luck!
I agree w/ keep offering her foods. When ya'll sit down to eat, offer her new foods, but don't push them. Put them on her plate, but don't make a big deal about her not eating them.
Some weight loss around this age is normal, as your toddler becomes more active and loses a bit of that baby weight. If she's lost a significant amount of weight, then you should take her to her dr to make sure there isn't a medical reason for it.
If she only eats turkey slices, then at the next few meals try giving her one piece of turkey and other options (even if it's just bread or crackers, or cut up fruit) and then after a few meals take the meat away. If she's hungry, she'll eat. Don't allow her to fill herself up on juice and milk b/c those are just empty calories.
If you're giving her a multi-vitamin w/ iron in it -- then don't put it in her milk. Calcium inhibits the absorption of iron, put it in her juice (preferably a juice w/ vitamin C) b/c the vitamin C helps the iron absorb more completely.
She may go on a hunger strike for a few days if you take away the turkey, but eventually she'll get over it (and get hungry) and eat other things. Just try lots of variety, you're bound to find something she'll eat, lol. Also, let her choose. At this stage she's also trying to figure out how to assert a bit of independence, so put the food on the table and allow her to choose a few to try. Or take her to the grocery store and let her pick out what she wants (within reason of course). She may seem a bit young for that - but she obviously knows what she wants (or doesn't want at this point) to eat.
Good luck to you!
--S.
My son has been having a lack of appetite also and I have been giving him Pedisure to try to substitute the food he isn't eating. It is much cheaper than formula and he seems to enjoy it. Just try not to stress over it too much, they will eat when they get hungry. Good luck.
I have a five-year old daughter. And now I know that phases like those just always happen. My daughter goes through cycles of not eating much at all, followed by pigging out!
Whenever problems like this arise I always go to my mother. She had a really great pediatrician for my sister and I. He told her that if children continue to eat at the same rate forever they will basically "explode." Well not really explode, but they will grow too big. Think about the exponential rate children do grow at. He explained that these phases are normal.
If the phase does persist longer than you think is necessary, then I would consult your physician. Just remember to always trust your "mommy instinct." You usually know what is right and what is off-without any kind of medical degree, right?
Trish~
I can only imagine how stressful this must be for you! I have a tiny daughter (7%) too so I can relate to fears of weight loss! Our pedi told us to expect food refusals in the upcoming months...it just started to begin... foods that my daughter once ate she now refuses. This is a developmental phase where our little toddlers are trying to assert their control and independence! The biggest thing that our pedi told us is to not force feed anything! If she won't eat...she won't eat right now. Try to see if she will drink pediasure or Carnation Instant Breakfast to up her calories...your Pedi can give you some great options! Won't it be great when this phase is gone!!! (Obviously if it continues way long, I would consult your Pedi to make sure it isn't a medical condition that keeps her from eating...)
My son is the same age, and is doing the same thing, and we have discovered a decent fix....we let him dip anything he wants in ketchup, or ranch dressing. He discovered that he likes whole wheat bagels (we get the mini ones) with some strawberry Brummel and Brown spread. He will dip brocolli in ketchup, or honeslty just about anything!! It can get messy as most of the time he wants to do it himself, but it could work out well for you too! We even let him dip waffles in yogurt and he loves that too. Best of luck to you, this is a crazy age of new found independence! ~A.~
