My 19 Month Old Isn't Eating like She Used to and I'm a Little Anxious?

I think it is normal for kids to start eating like that. Ou daughter did the same thing. She is 2 1/2 and still doesn't really sit and eat everything on her plate. She is what they call a grazer. It is healthier for kids and people to graze eat instead of eating everything at once. That way they don't eat too much. I wouldn't be too concerned with her not eating as much as she use to. If she is still playing, sleeping fine and not losing wieght then she is fine. I would just let her graze.

Toddlers are notoriously picky. She knows how much she needs to eat, and when she is satisfied and doesn't need anymore. Don't focus so much on the exact amount of food she is eating, but rather focus on her over all health.

I think kids this age are built to handle very little food - millions have survived the picky toddler stage and your child will too!

Keep putting new foods in front of her, small portions, and eventually she will try them. Don't make a huge deal out of it, just leave them there and if she doesn't touch them, don't say anything about it.
If I want my daughter to try a new food, I eat it myself - she inevitably wants to eat whatever I am having and will taste it off my plate.

I think this is pretty normal toddler behavior. However, that being said, it's really important to still give her a vast variety of things on her plate, otherwise she may turn into a picky eater! That's what happened with my now six year old. Of course with him being my first I made some mistakes (like letting him have his bottle til he was almost 3, not offering hm enough veggies etc). With my little girl who just turned two, I did thing pretty differently. She stopped the bottle at 15 months (but that was mainly b/c we went on a trip to Mexico and I forgot the bottles. LOL). But I would offer her bites of what my husband and were eating early on (whether it was salmon with oven roasted veggies, or whatever) and I made a huge effort to give her healthy meals most of the time. Now that she is 25 months, she still tries almost anything and eats pretty healthy, while my six year old could live off pizza, mac n cheese etc. Good Luck & don't give up!

welcome to toddlerhood! this is normal and her tastes are changing ... just roll with it. She'll eat what she wants.

This is totally common. Keep offering everything, and for your own convenience, just give her what you are eating so you don't waste tons of food. I know you are worried about her caloric intake, but I'm sure if you are still giving her baba (bottles of formula or milk?) that she will still get enough to grow. really. Just try to have at least one thing that you think she likes to eat whenever you eat a meal. She will be fine!

You can't (and shouldn't) get her to eat what is on her tray. That is her choice. It is our job to present healthy, age-appropriate foods at meal and snack times. And it is the child's job to decide whether or not to eat them. This is horribly difficult to do as a mom (and I'm not always successful at staying within my role), but kids are born with the inate ability to know what and how much they need to eat. By trying to get them to eat, we destroy that ability (and we end up with food issues later in life).

Your daughter may not need as much food right now. And, if you are giving her 3 meals and 2 snacks during the day, she is getting plenty of eating opportunities. If she doesn't each much at one, she might at another. The book that I've found to be most helpful on this topic is: Ellyn Satter's "Child of Mine". You can get a brief introduction to her philosophy by browsing her webpage:
http://www.ellynsatter.com/

She is becoming her own person and pushing the boundairies , be firm and keep giving her foods that you know she likes , plus some new stuff she has not had before , if she doesn't eat then take it away and then don't let her have anything else , unless you keep what she refused to eat and offer it again when she asks for something. This is normal , all toddlers go through this stage and it will pass.

Good luck

Is she drinking a lot during the day or with meals? Sometimes they will drink a lot of milk or juice and then not be hungry to eat. If she likes noodles try adding some cheese and/or tomato sauce to it and she'll have a healthy meal. My mom would mix in cottage cheese and butter with my noodles. You can buy shredded mozzerella or cheddar and add that too. It could also be a phase. My son would eat tons of food when he was having a growth spurt then not eat much for a couple of weeks, then it would start again. Also kids this age are so into learning new things that sitting still for eating is not interesting to them.

Just keep trying different things! Good luck.

I remember this stage-my son would only eat chicken nuggets and corn for about 2 mo-breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then it was hamburger and squash, then beans, then...you get the idea. As her taste buds develop she will go through stages where she will eat the same thing until she literally cannot stand it anymore and she will move on to something else.

The good news is that a healthy toddler will not let itself become malnutritioned. Continue to offer a variety of foods, but don't force. It would be like forcing her to potty train before she's ready. This is a developmental step and she has to do it on her own time table.

As long as she's still active as always then she's fine, if she starts to act tired all the time then there's a problem.
Good Luck