Toddler Doing Something Weird

He is probably perfectly fine. If you have recently vaccinated watch him closely for anything else unusual.

I have found that my toddler has "eating days" and "non-eating days". When she is growing she has more eating days and the opposite when she isn't. Its usually two off and one on. I would just go with the flow. IF he wants to eat let him and give him healthy choices and if he dosn't offer it and don't punnish him for not eating. At that age they'll get enough to eat. Not to worry about the crying in the middle of the night. It is a developmental phase, he is starting to develop emotions with his dreams. Its normal and to be expected. He should learn to deal with it soon enough.

Good luck!

My oldest had night terrors when he was about the same age. He would wake up crying, screaming, calling for mommy, etc. He would even open his eyes and look like he was awake. I would try to hug and comfort him, but he would scream and push me away. We would just sit there to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself and he would eventually go back to sleep. Other parents and doctors have said this is common. He eventually stopped having nigth terrors.

oh sweetie...welcome to "2"...they will eat you out of house and home for two weeks straight...then nothing...lucky if they nibble on anything and then boom, right back to wolfing it down again. Relax...this is normal, and it will be worse during a growth spurt.
So, offer the food, let him eat when he wants, he will not starve, keep the fluids available and soon they will graduate from high school and you will know what a grocery bill really looks like!!!

Sounds like typical 2 year old behavior. I'm going through it for the third time!

For the eating, don't sweat it and don't make a big deal of it. Just like how we sometimes aren't in the mood for certain foods, likely it is the same with him which is why sometimes he is rejecting food he usually eats. And a child's appetite can increase and decrease just like ours. Even if he's only eating a couple of times a day, that's fine.

As for the sleeping thing, my little one started having bad dreams/night terrors a few months ago. Probably a couple of nights a week she sits up and screams and cries. But she is asleep so is completely oblivious to my attempts to comfort her. Usually goes on for a few minutes then suddenly she's quiet and restful again. I attribute this to the fact that her imagination has kicked into high gear (both waking and sleeping), and also seems to occur more often if she didn't take a nap that day.

the screaming and kicking in his sleep is called "Night Terrors" . it sounds worse than it is. almost all of my 7 children have had it at one point or another. its nothing ive ever seen that you should be gravely conserned with. the best and only treament i know of is..... when it happens gently constrict his movments by cuddling or holding him , just so he doesnt hurt himself or fall off the bed. SPeak to him and and let him know you are there and he is safe. eventually he will stop and go back to sleep, and will have no recollection of it.

as for the strange eating habits. again with 7 kids ive been through my ups and downs of eating , spitting, crying , and just plain i dont want it or anything else you put in front of me. My advise .... keep trying to feed him the stuff he has always liked . you can check for other things , like is the food to hot or to salty or even spoiled or have a funny taste. if all these are negative then its probably just a preference. he could also be teething , so check for that . New molars can be very painful and discourage any eating at all.as long as your son is a healthy weight you should have no concern if he goes through an eating dry spell.

Ok, when my daughter was 2 she barely ate enough to keep a bird alive!! Shed eat like a piece of cheese & a Graham cracker & that's IT!! she grew out of it & is now a happy, healthy, hungry 3 year old :)

also the nightine thing sounds like nighterrors & I believe that's a stage as well!

Change in food tastes is absolutely normal. Just always offer lots of food on the plate, some to spit out and some you know he will swallow. My friend made the mistake of asking her child what he wanted WHEN he was NOT eating his dinner. She'd get up from dinner table and go make it for him. The child learned he didn't have to TRY anything on his plate, 'cause mom would get up and make him a PB&J. Maybe she could have put a tiny PB&J on the plate every night, but not enough to satisfy his hunger completely, then add some yummy things to try like veggies and fruit!! And DINOSAUR TREES! (That is what I called broccoli when my 24-yr.old was a toddler! I'd tell him that he was a brontosaurus munching the top of a tree - - and it worked!)
As for the night terror/night screams - - here is my OWN theory. I have never read this nor heard it from any authority, so take this advice with a grain of salt. I believe that night terrors start to happen when the child's nervous system starts to make connections between the BLADDER & the BRAIN - - right about the time they are beginning to be in control of their bladder and waking up with dry diapers. When my son was between two and three, just a couple of times, he'd be screaming yet still be asleep. I remember the last time - - he was screaming like he was TERRIFIED. He was "seeing" bees in his room. I got him out of bed and sleep-walked him to the POTTY, he went PEE-PEE - - A LOT!! After peeing, he drifted back into a peaceful sleep. So, after that lucky discovery, I tried to make sure he went to bed on an empty bladder every night and the night terrors stopped!

Kids grow so much during the first 2 years that we mommy's get nervous when they start eating less. But, remember they are going to start growing less. I can look on the marks on my kids walls and see how much they grew from birth to 1 and from 1 to 2 and it's several inches. But, from 2-3 it might just be 1 inch. They will need less food when they aren't growing as much, so I wouldn't worry. Plus, toddlers like to start having some control. I really haven't had much food issues with my kids b/c I never made it a fight. I offered food, and if they ate, great, if they didn't fine, but we didn't have a ton of milk, juice, or snacks in between. Routine works too b/c if they eat at about the same time every day, they know what to expect.

As for the sleeping, sounds like a sleep fit, and doesn't sound like you need to do anything.

You sound just like I did a few months ago. My toddler is a little younger, but has gone through the exact same thing with eating. It truly is just a phase. She will eat just a little bit for a few days straight, and then will eat 3 large meals for several days in a row. He'll be fine. I know it worries us as moms, but since my daughter has been going through this for several months now, I can say that she is just fine.
The sleeping could be night terrors (normal for a 2 year old according to my doctor) or growing pains. Good luck!

It is probably just normal kid stuff, BUT I would have his ears checked. My son started having ear infections on his 1st bday (he was so healthy, he had never been sick a day in his life until then). He, like your son, loved veggies and fruits and ate extremely healthy (and still does). He was also a great napper and sleeper and would occasionally cry out, but keep on sleeping, so we never worried about it. He never had fever and was such a happy boy, that we never even knew anything was wrong. However, we started realizing he would not eat well at all when his was having an ear infection and those times of crying out happened at the same time. So, we started watching his eating habits really closely because it was really the ONLY way we would ever know he had an ear infection. I started taking him to the doctor when we noticed diet changes and I think we only had maybe one or two false alarms, but all the other times he had one. They became pretty chronic, so he had tubes in his ears and now he is fine. Good luck and let us know how he does!

The food thing is a discipline issue. Tell him it is not okay to spit food out. He needs to eat what he spits out. Total consistency is what he needs from you. I would swat his hand if he continues to test you. If you notice this is only consistent with one type of food, you might not feed him that for awhile, but have him try it again every couple months. Kids tastes can change frequently, but they can aquire the taste for something again. And, more specific to your request. Kid's go through eating patterns...as long as he is putting on weight at his well-baby check ups it is nothing to be concerned about.
My son has had mini night terrors for years, but his are more active than your talking about. Just 'ignore' them. He doesn't remember them, and that alone is not a symptom of a negative problem.
Trust me when I say you are not alone with this weird stuff. Boys go through some weird and very odd stages with noises, twitches, etc... For most boys, these annoying things go away with time and very little attention.
Take Care!

I wouldn't worry about either. The night thing happened when my son was that age. He would yell and sit up in the middle of the night, but didn't wake. He never knew it happened. He stopped doing it after a while.

My son is 18 months old and does the same thing with his food. One day he'll eat more than me, and the next day hardly eat anything. He will also sometimes chew something up and spit it out. I think they're just playing with textures of things.

As for the sleep thing, he may be dreaming. Sometimes my son will randomly cry out once in the middle of the night, and go right back to sleep. I figure if he stays asleep and wakes up happy the next day, it can't be too bad. :)

My daughter does the crying out in her sleep and tossing herself around when she has an ear infection. She is also a really happy baby so often I have no idea (she does not act fussy otherwise) until her ears have gotten very bad and the crying out at night gets worse. But sometimes she cries out and stiffens her legs/body (as you describe) once or twice a night without ear infectins, I guess some other growing pains or something like that.

hi L.
my son started doing the exact same thing.......ITS SO FRUSTRATING......i get worried b/c he isn't eating enough yet i know "they eat when they are hungry" but when the he does it all day i get kinda worried. The next day he'll eat normal. The sleeping thing....my son has woken up suddenly screaming and throwing tantrums and just fallen right back to sleep...SO WEIRD!
feel free to contact me if you have any other questions
S.

I think you are a pretty lucky gal. He is probably having a nightmare. I have one child 2 yr old that wakes up cries and goes back to sleep when I scold her. I have a Home Day Care and that some times then wakes up the others. But I do think kids taste buds change and I have one that will not eat much and one that ate baby food for a long time and he pockets food and just sucks it and spits later. He is not eating any fruits or veggies but did when I made baby food. I will puree it and sneak veggies in his meatloaf or speghetti. You are feeding him the right meals. Three meals a day with milk and three or four snacks. God Bless G. W

Mom of 5 here-- as for his eating habits. Don't worry. I've observed from my kids that when they weere in an active growth spurt they ate like little pigs. Nothing was safe. But in between these growth spurts, they went from zero to picky in nothing flat. You're right. Junior will eat when he's ready. Only be concerned enough to call a doctor if this becomes prolonged-say 6-9 months or so. In the meantime he is still eating.

As for the night activity...Are you absolutely sure nothing in his bed or on his person is causing him pain? Does he roll around alot in his sleep and hit things? Have you noticed an exceptionally tender spot on his body anywhere-that he reacts strongly to a touch for no appearant reason? If any of this is true, then maybe you can alleviate the situation.

First thing, don't worry about it. He is probably having changes in his tastes and is testing your reaction to things at the same time. The less deal you make out of it, the better.

Second thing, he is probably having growing pains. This is especially noted because you said he was throwing his legs. They hurt! Try to massage his legs more at night before he gets into bed to help with the circulation.

GL!