It's so difficult to get my 15 month old son to eat. He has been going to daycare last 2 months. All other kids eat their food so well. My little guy eats some, plays some, throws some - never finishes his food. We always end up giving yogurt or baby food once he stops eating table foods. Yes he still eats some jarred baby food :( He eats baby yogurt everyday. And also eats his snacks - there are few which he loves.He points to the box and asks for those. So most of the days he ends up eating the same favourite foods - we do offer different food both at daycare and at home , he doesn't eat enough so I give him his fav foods once he stops eating.Do any of your kids do the same? If I give him anything he doesn't want to eat(even if he is hungry) he throws it on the ground or spits it out. Grrr!
He drinks milk just fine. But water - only sometimes. I am worried he might not be drinking enough water. He simply turns his face when I offer it to him. He has enough wet diapers though. I give him Pediasure(1/2 bottle) on days I feel he has eaten only his snacks and nothing more nutritious.
I just feel my life would be so much easier if he ate well. Not like he doesn't eat anything at all, but he doesn't eat enough. He is not a kid to sit in one place and play, he is walking all over the house all the time. Where does he get the strength, I wonder. Yesterday he had fever and I couldn't even guess he had fever. He didn't feel very warm too, I took his temp in the night and I was shocked it was 100.6 F. He doesn't eat well as it is and when he is sick, it's even worse.
Anybody faced this with your kids? Did it get better as they grew older? How did you get them to eat? I feel like a bad mom when I see other kids eating so well on their own.
He will be moved to toddler room next month, where he has to eat by himself, if he doesn't finish his food they wont try to feed him. I am worried he will stay hungry until he gets home.
Any advise for me?
Ditto Dawn. He is just not hungry. They will sometimes be where they hardly eat anything and then eat so much you cannot believe it.
Try not to compare him to other kids and follow his lead.
Only serve him healthy foods and milk.. he will do great.
Young children eat when they are hungry.
Agreed that if he is hungry, he WILL eat. Even if it seems to us he should be hungry, he may not be. They have strange appetites sometimes at this age. Just keep offering healthy foods. Also, watch his milk intake.....some kids drink too MUCH milk and won't be hungry enough for meals. Put him on an eating schedule and offer foods at those times (three meals and snack times in between) and if he doesn't eat, don't stress and wait til next meal. Generally at dinner time, if my son still isn't eating as much as I would like, I try to give him one other option I know he will like (a true standby for him is grilled cheese or fresh fruit.) - but I do NOT do this at every meal because he would just hold out for that food! I only do it at dinner time because I feel a little better knowing he goes to bed with at least something in his belly :) Good luck - meal times can be so stressful!
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NEVER battle over food. The adult job is to make food available, the kid job is to decide if/ how much to eat.
The Sparkpeople 10 Commandments of Healthy Eating for Parents
is what is on my fridge and what I'm TRYING to live up too! You can find it here:
Yes, both my kids were/are like this (Ages 7 yrs and 21 months). It's extremely frustrating. And yes it gets better as they get older. My 7 yr old will not sit and eat a meal with us nicely! Hoorah! So, hang in there. My daughter will sit in her booster seat at the table and eat the tiniest amount. Then she is all done...and nothing you do can make her eat more. My son went through the same thing when he was little. They are kids who would rather move and do things than eat...Always! It's nuts! Anyway, I have my daughter sit with us and we encourage her to eat till it's obvious she is refusing food and getting upset. Then we let her be all done. I feed her again after bath time at night while letting her watch a cartoon she loves. She sits and watches the cartoon and is distracted and will eat an entire plate of food. During the day I offer her snacks...she's just a snacker! I know this will not teach her bad habits or ruin her in any way bc we went through the same thing w our son and he eats with us just great now. As far as your daycare goes, that's a tough one. Don't they get other toddlers that are movers and snackers? Some kids are just like that. If it were M. I think I would not be too worried about my child's time at day care bc he will eat if he is hungry. Then in the evenings I would make it a point to try to fill him up (by doing the watch a cartoon method).
