my daughter 21 months old eats by herself. i am afraid that she is not eating more.?

Question

i use to feed her and somehow force her to eat more food. but now she is not letting me to feed her and she tries to eat by herself. she keeps playing with the food, spoon and the plate. but wont eat...... and she cant sit in one place and eat.....she gets bored and goes away from the food and does not want any... she then gets hungry and asks milk...... solid food intake is SO less. this worries me. how to make her eat.? or shall i just leave her the way she is and wait for a change in her eating habit...... pls suggest me something.

Answer 1

dont worry, shes going through a stage. she should be taking vitamins. she isnt going to starve

Answer 2

The best advice I was ever given about small children and babies was that they will never starve themselves and will eat when they are hungry. Unfortunately this is never when and what we want them to eat! My son went through this phase (and occasionally still does now at 2yrs.7mths)
The only things I can suggest are;
Strap her into the highchair/booster every time she eats so that she understands that is the only place food is eaten. She might cry but she will 'get it' soon enough.
Don't bother with plates and cutlery unless it is necessary (cereal etc..) so she can use her hands. just put the food straight onto the tray or table.
At 21 mths she only needs 2cups of milk a day (500ml) so restrict that to breakfast and after dinner only
Cut foods into fun shapes and stick to only the foods you know she loves for the moment and then get into new and different foods later on
Be PERSISTANT! the only thing that will encourage her to eat properly is persistance. It may take weeks or months to get her into a proper pattern but eventually it will happen.
Try to stick to 5 meals a day (breakfast 7am, morning tea 10am, lunch 12pm, afternoon tea 3pm, dinner 6pm) so she knows when to expect it. This will also help her be hungry when food is offered. Too many snacks inbetween will weaken her appetite when its time for the important meals.

Overall though, if she is putting on weight, seems healthy and happy then be satisfied knowing that some food must be going in and that when she is really hungry she will eat. Do try to not give her milk as a substitute though because this will encourage a milk addiction (yes there is such a thing) and make her lose an appetite quickly.

Best of luck. hope at least some of this helps!

Answer 3

She will eat when she is hungry and don't give her a lot of liquids to fill her up. If she doesn't eat and then says she is hungry and wants milk tell her she needs to eat some of her food then she can have some milk. Otherwise she can have a little bit of water. She may be protesting you feeding her so long and forcing her to eat more then she wanted. remember that her stomach is only the size of her fist so not much food can go in there. Just make sure that she sits with you at meal times while you eat and that she needs to stay at the table until the meal is done. You should be eating as a family to show her that everyone needs to eat. If she is eating alone then she probably doesn't want to eat and wants to do something else. If she stays at the table until the meal is done then she may get bored and eat.

Answer 4

My 22mth old is sometimes very good about eating, but other times you can tell she'd rather be up playing/running around and those days she pushs the food away and asks to get up after 2 minutes in her chair. Doesnt matter how much you try to push it, she wont eat! Try having finger foods on hand that she can eat on the go. Of course I'd rather her sit down to eat, but occasionally I'll let her eat her banana or whatever it is standing up/in her room. You gotta go with the flow sometimes I think.

Portion sizes are still quite small for this age, so as long as she's having a few bites of her veggies and fruit than I think it's Ok. My daughter LOVES milk too and would skip solids if you let her to have 10 cups of milk a day, so yeah we have to watch that. In the end though, you can't MAKE your child eat if they dont want to. Apparently forcing the issue can actually make the problem worse. So offer throughout the day healthy snacks, and she'll eat when/if she wants. It's ok.

Answer 5

There are no toddler anorexics. At your daughter's age she is curious, independent and fond of the word no.

Do not fight with her or try to force food. If you offer some of all kinds of foods and keep cheerful with her, she will eat.

I would not offer milk, pop or juice between meals(at least for now), it takes away some of her appetite and she never gets fully hungry, so she plays with her food too much.

Your daughter is 100% normal, there is nothing wrong with her. If she lost weight, acted tired, looked pale, etc. that is one thing. But, really she is just fine.

It never hurts to ask the doctor's nurse about this. I wouldn't really take her in, unless you have great insurance and plenty of money. You can ask at her two year old check up time in 3 months.

It's hard the first time you have a child, it's all so new. If you relax, she will too. Kid's have radar, they read your mood and body language and respond to your worry and to your confidence.

One last remark. Force feeding can also lead to obesity later on in childhood. Kid's have a natural approach to food, if hungry then eat. If full then stop. Trust her own body.

Answer 6

My 18 month old is doing the same thing and when we went for his check-up we asked the doctor about it. She told us not to worry that the child has to learn to eat on their own and we shouldn't be worried as long as he is gaining weight and not showing signs of malnourishment. As long as she is eating a little bit she should be fine. I find that I really put too much food on my sons plate so it looks like he isn't eating a lot. Also if you are putting more than one food on her plate try one at a time she may be getting a little overwhelmed. If she continues I would suggest putting her back in a high chair so she cannot get up and wander around. I have found that my son will eat anything as long as he can dip it in ketchup. I hope this helps a little bit and good luck. Patience is the best thing right now.

Answer 7

My son was that way for a while too, just don't give her the milk as often and make sure she eats before having a drink. I used to give him a cup of milk in the morning while i made his breakfast and as soon as i stopped doing that he ate a lot more of his food. If she asks for something to drink give he a snack. Maybe she's just a grazer. Don't worry about it unless she's under weight or loses any weight. Try to find some foods that she really enjoys in the different food groups, so it's balanced, as long as she has a little variety even if it's just a little bit of food she'll be getting what her body need. Good luck.

Answer 8

Leave her the way she is. So long as she is healthy and gaining weight at the proper rate. Toddlers do not starve themselves and forcing her to eat may result in food and/or mealtimes becoming an issue of contention which may create long term problems for her psychologically. Make meal times fun by creating things such as funny faces or animals with her food and then playing at 'lets eat the nose...etc' Give her the foods you know she likes and slowly introduce new ones. I forced my oldest son to eat and food became a huge issue for him, mealtimes where a battle until he was about 7 or 8, as an adult he now has a stomach ulcer and I often wonder whether the stress and anxiety created around meals has anything to do with this.

Answer 9

Let her feed herself, as long as you provide healthy foods. When she's hungry, she'll eat.

You should worry if she starts losing weight, or is seriously below what a normal 21-month-old should weigh. Consult your pediatrician.

Milk is a good food. And if she has good solid food available three or four times a day, then that should be enough.

Answer 10

So typical at this age! When they are hungry, they will eat. You might want to back off a bit on the milk - give her a sippy cup of water, and bump up the dairy solids - cheese, yogurt - just to make sure she is getting the calcium she needs. The milk is a filler. You might want to offer her more choices when she sits down to eat. Are you eating with her when she sits down. If she has company, she'll be more likely to sit there and not get up.

Answer 11

She is going through a stage almost entering the 2's. She's problay gonna lose her appetite. Its normal they hit their growth spout. So don't worry it happens to every toddler sometimes its the opposite, they eat more. In this case they don't eat much.If your really concerned you think she is losing weight. Make an app. with the paediatric. Otherwise she should gain her appetite after her 2nd b-day, mine did. And another thing if you want her to eat more try not to give to much milk. Because believe it or not her tummy gets pretty filled from milk. Well good luck