Toddler eating problems?

Question

My 16 month daughter has always had a wide range of foods and loved fruits, eggs, sandwiches, dinners and basically everything we offered her she would eat. Now over the past couple of weeks she seems to have gone off food altogether she won't eat things that she loved before and she will eat her meals very slowly and with encouragement whereas before she would really enjoy eating. I have never offered her sugary or junk foods and I'm not going to start. Shes not ill just the same as usual so I don't understand why she has suddenly gone off food

I have not bee forcing her or persuading her to eat just gone back to feeding her with a spoon at mealtimes a bit more.

Answer 1

My 20 month old has done this a couple of times. The first time was at about 14 months and it lasted for about 2 weeks and then bam, he started eating great again. He just started the whole now wanting to eat much again about a week ago. My son also doesn't get lots of sweets and junk food and I'm not tempted to start. He will eat when he's hungry. I offer him the veggie's first and let him eat as much of those as he wants. Then I go with the main course. If your not sure how much your daughter got and don't want her to be hungry you could try and ofer her yogurt. My son will always eat yogurt. It's a filler, it's a dairy product and it's overall pretty good for your child. Another idea is take peanut butter and spread it between two crackers and see if she'll eat that. The peanut butter is a filler and a great source of protein.
Good luck! P.S. I also work at a daycare in the toddler room, 18 months to 3 years old. Some of the parents of the kids I watch gave up with the eating good foods.In these kids lunches, they now eat, chocolate pudding, nutty bars and oatmeal cream pies. No fruits, no veggies. The kids may eat those foods good, but there not getting the proper nutrition they need anyway, so it's not really helping.

Answer 2

Hello. Relax and stop worrying. There is one GOLDEN rule when feeding a toddler. YOU decide what you will offer your daughter, and when - SHE decides how much she will eat. If she refuses the meal, show no reaction. Babies and toddlers thrive on attention, even negative attention, and this behaviour pattern that you want to stop will continue if you give your daughter attention. Calmly remove her plate from the table, wipe her hands and mouth, if necessary, and then allow her to return to playing with her toys. Do not offer anything to compensate for the meal that she has not eaten. No toddler will starve themselves and, eventually, your little girl will begin to eat again. If this takes several weeks, don't worry. Everything will come right if your attitude is calm and positive. Good luck. A friend of mine has a grand daughter who, at the age of eighteen months ate nothing more than one pea during 14 days. Today, at the age of eight, she is a healthy, up and coming gymnast with a really healthy appetite. The turn around came because her parents, encouraged by Granny, remembered the GOLDEN rule.

Answer 3

Kids will never starve they will eat when hungry I learned this the hard way here's my story.

At age 2 my daughter refused to eat anything but pizza, cereal and yogurt, Any other food would be ignored to the point where she had nothing and went hungry, I tried games, disguising food with colouring, bribery all the tricks I could think of.
After a visit to the doctor who said she was getting all the nutrients she needed I gave up.
At age 4 I nearly fell through the floor when she announced one day she would like sausage n mash for dinner, she is still a little fussy over food but is now aged 20, fit and healthy.

Answer 4

All kids go thru stages of what they will and won't eat. There's kids that live for weeks on peanut butter and jelly because they're not interested in anything else. Keep offering her foods - especially if you are eating the same things. Kids learn by example and like to mimic others.

Answer 5

Great answer by mixemup -- I would say the same thing, especially the part about not making a big deal of it. That will only make it worse. Both of my kids have done this, and if they don't eat, they don't eat, and I don't say anything. They come around. It's all about establishing their independence, and it's just a phase. You're right on not caving in and giving her whatever just so she'll eat..that's a slippery slope.

Good luck!

Answer 6

At this age kids go through phases. Sometimes they eat like pigs other times they don't want to eat at all. If it continues for a long time I may get a little concerned. If it passes, she was just in a lull. When they go through a growth spurt the eat and sleep a lot. When they aren't sometimes they don't eat well.

Answer 7

The same has happened to my 2 year old, we actually used to joke about how much of an appetite she had but now it's gone and she is a very fussy eater. i think it must be an age thing that hopefully they will grow out of.

Answer 8

My little boy did the same for a couple of months, but for some unknown reason started eating as normal again. We put it down to us changing his bedtime routine due to work patterns. Good luck

Answer 9

Been there!
lasted for years... worrying that my son wasnt eating enough, or the right things!!
Tried force feeding him(bad decision, that just set us back further)
tried making faces/shapes out of food, tried ignoring it... tried games..
just let HER decide... if she eats she eats, if not... well.

dont pander to her whims, feed her what you are having... dont make special concessions, DONT give choices... choices just confuse the issue..

It will get better..
just take it a day at a time!

She wont STARVE herself, kids are too clever for that....
Now, at 16, hes a human dustbin... But he wont go OUT to eat!

Answer 10

don't make a big deal over it, and if you do, do let her know that you are doing it. She won't starve herself, let her eat what she wants, but don't beg her to eat more... she will eat what she needs. If she starts losing weight, and not eating at all, then take her to her doctor, but for now what she is going through sounds normal.