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EAT => Eating For Toddlers => Topic started by: sce on September 02, 2013, 21:28:05 pm

Title: We just don't know
Post by: sce on September 02, 2013, 21:28:05 pm
My 13 month old DD is having some eating issues.  Other than sucking her thumb on and off while she eats, she's always been okay.  If she's super hungry and really excited about her food then the thumb will only make an appearance near the end.

But lately (the past couple of months) she has been fussier than usual.  We thought maybe she didn't like her high chair so we took the tray off and let her use the real table with us.  That didn't do much.  hen we put her in her bumbo and bought a try for that.  That seemed to work better.  It doesn't seem to matter whether we feed her or let her feed herself.  She just doesn't seem interested in eating much after a couple of bites.

Sometimes if I make something new she'll really like it and then the next time she doesn't want it.

Sometimes she takes her full bottle and sometimes she doesn't.  It's totally hit and miss.  We find ourselves trying to give her things to hold and pay with so that we can distract her and have her open her mouth.

She's already light enough for her age, so we're getting concerned that she's not eating a lot.  She's staying up for her activity time and she's napping well and sleeping through the night. 

Could she just have the tiniest stomach on the planet???
Title: Re: We just don't know
Post by: creations on September 02, 2013, 22:28:19 pm
Appetite tends to drop a bit at 12 months so it would work out that's the amount of time you've been seeing less of an interest in food.  It'll pick up again when she needs it to.  Also toddler portions are really small, likely much smaller than most of us think at first, if you kept a strict food diary for a week or so you might be surprised to find she is balancing out her needs across that time even though each meal appears to be very little.
You could also look at how much milk she's having, at this age solids need to take preference over milk and if she is getting more milk than she needs she'll be too full for solids.
Although you say she is light if that's her natural weight and she gains weight and has energy etc there is nothing wrong with it.  My boy is quite petite too, it's normal for him.  I also remember being concerned around this age about his eating, but it's picked up again and now he really enjoys his meals unless he is poorly (but he is still petite that's just his build).
I probably wouldn't go to such lengths to distract her into eating, it's setting up some habits that you are unlikely to be happy with further down the line and she is unlikely to starve herself, the survival instinct will keep her eating what she needs.  Maybe try to relax a bit and enjoy your own meal instead of focusing on her, seeing other people enjoy their food is a great motivator to humans, we are social eaters.  I know it's easier said than done, we all worry about our LOs hey? x
Title: Re: We just don't know
Post by: Hedgehog17 on September 03, 2013, 08:30:04 am
We had the same issues at that age.

It was partly teething, and partly because he was having too much milk!

Make sure you keep her medicated for pain if she's definitely teething - 20 mins before mealtimes and that will take the edge off  :) Try to offer food before milk and leave enough of a gap between milk and meals so she really is hungry, and don't let her have too much milk.

Hugs  :-* it's hard not to worry when they are light (my DS was FTT so I was always worried about his intake / weight gain) but they do seem to manage to eat enough to grow somehow! They are all different - my DS didn't grow from 2yo to 2y6mo, but since then he's sprouted like a tree  :o She'll follow her own growth pattern and as long as she is healthy and happy then you are doing the right things  :-*