NO desire to eat

[Zoey]

O is 20m and has absolutely no desire to eat anything.  1-2 bites and that's it for him he wants to get down.  I know he wont starve himself, and I'm of the thinking that he knows when he is hungry and isn't and I want to respect that - but it worries me.

That's all, just wanted to vent about it.

[Carter'sMama]

Sounds like an active guy!  I think they get so interested in everything else that eating drops way down on the priority list.  {{HUGS}} though ... it definitely is worrisome    I hope he starts eating like a horse soon    then you'll have a whole other problem on your hands!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Don't worry Z, Colin goes through phases like that now and then too. It always passes.

[Shdef]

Marking my spot. Scotty is the same. 

[Zoey]

See now, dinner - he loves ham and tater and squash.  No, not tonight - two bites and that's all folks.  I know he is hungry, I think?  I mean he can eat a whole apple, but just doesn't want a meal.  This is normal right?

[debo620]

Zoey, I got great advice to cut snacks and we have seen great improvements at meal times. Noah used to have a light snack at 3:30 or so and I didn't think it would impact dinner, but it really did.

so now, because he eats lunch before nap at like 11:15, he gets a bigger snack at 2pm and that it til 5:30. The first few days, he kept on bringing me a snack cup and the snack mix (he gets it from the pantry). but now he seems to have gotten the picture and is not asking for the snack anymore.

[taygensmom]

Yep, same in our house. Our LO only gets a very small snack in the AM (if at all) and then again one very small snack in the PM. It also helps to try to give them closer to the previous meal (i.e. breakfast at 7:30, snack at 9:30 so that the big gap is between the snack and lunchtime or lunch at 12:00, snack at 2:00 so the big gap is between the afternoon snack and supper at 6:00 or so). That way often there is more motivation to eat during the meals, as opposed to a snack at 10:30 or 4:00 which would likely impact the following meal. My LO often wants more for the snack, but is used to the idea that snack time is for a "small snack" and consequently eats well during meals. HTH

[Missy Lou]

DD is doing the same thing zoey.  sometimes she'll eat a lot and other days hardly anything.  i know this is a bad mommy hting to do, but i will let her have a snack in the living room while we're playing or watching cartoons.  she'll tend to eat more then.  for us, i think she doesn't like sitting still to eat.  she wants to down and doing soemthing.   

[franchick]

I also agree that only having a very small snack really helps with mealtimes, just enough to keep them going (e.g. tiny box of raisins, a quarter of a piece of fruit). TBH, if my LO ate an apple for a meal and only wanted a coupla bites of the actual 'meal', I would probably let that go as this is still enough to keep them going - a whole apple is about 2 - 4 servings of fruit for a LO (depending on their age / weight etc).

If my LO is not interested in a 'proper' meal these days, I make up what I call a 'snack plate' which is really just a name that we call it to make it sound more appealing. Basically, I put loads of different finger foods on a plate and try and make it look colourful and fun. She then eats it when we are having our 'meal' - I let her take up to an hour to eat as much as she wants (she is not a quick eater) and she is allowed to go and play for a bit, pop back and eat some more etc etc. After an hour, I just put the rest away or in the bin (by which time she has lost interest anyway). We find that she often eats a lot more than she might have done from the 'meal' and also she gets a lot of variety.

The sort of things I put on 'snack plate' are, for example: cut up pair or apple, cut up strawberries, organic 'animal' biscuits (wholemeal cookies made with grape juice instead of sugar), cut up or grated cheese, torn pieces of ham (and am going to try chicken this week - she has taken a while to get to 'like' meat), pieces of bread and butter, small bits of brocolli or a small tub of peas and sweetcorn, sometimes some crisps, a tub of fromage frais, sometimes small pieces of pizza or sausage, basically anything that I have to hand.

Not saying this will work for you, but it might be worth a try - saves you having to actually cook anything and you can always just put it back in the fridge with a cover and bring it out at next 'mealtime'.

HTH

OH, and Missy Lou - I also let LO eat in front of the telly - not supposed to be good for digestion (at least I have read that in women's magazines), and probably a bad habit all round, but you goot do what you gotta do. We have slowly been moving towards more meals together with music on in the background instead of TV - this seems to be going down quite well.

[em_here]

Same here, Jack seems to get by on minimal food, worries me, but he is otherwise fit and well, so hoping its just a phase ........

[Zoey]

Thanks ladies!  Owen is 32lbs and 34.5 inches tall, so he is a big kid - I am sure he isn't going to fade away (lol) but I just have such a hard time wondering if he is getting enough of everything he needs.  He doesn't love to drink milk either.

This is the age when they thin out a bunch right?  Maybe this is why?

His meals look like this;
8/830am Breakfast - usually a waffle with fruit, or oatmeal/kix with a slice of toast, an egg - he has only been eating a few bites before he starts shaking his head no and tries to get down.  Milk

1115/1130 "Lunch" I do kind of what Frances does - he gets some cut up fruit and cheese and WW crackers, sometimes soup, sometimes a yogurt - whatever it is, it's small cause breakfast was such a short time ago - again, bites.  Milk

230 Snack - crackers and cheese, cut up veggies, raisins, apple sauce, fruit - again kind of a snack plate and milk

530 Dinner - what ever we are having, he gets some.  This used to be his fav meal, eating with daddy and I.  Now, not so much.  Milk.

That's all. 

Last night I tried putting less on his plate wondering if a usual baby plate was overwhelming, didn't help lol.  He does drink a lot of water during the day, could he be filling up on that??  He asks for it, so I figure he must be thirsty.

Thanks for listening. 

[taygensmom]

Can you move his breakfast up a bit, or is this when he wakes up? If it is, maybe move his lunch a little later/ (around 12:00?). You could also try shifting that afternoon snack closer to lunch (about 2 hrs after lunchtime) and keep it really small amount wise.

As far as the water, I think it's great that he drinks it during the day, but you might consider limiting it for the hour before a meal, so that he doesn't fill up on it. It is obviously not going to fill him up like drinking, say, milk right before a meal, but really if I drank a big glass of water right before I ate that would affect my appetite. This is why they actually tell adults to do this before eating if they are trying to slim down....

[aisling]

The only time Nello has gone off his food (even his fave's) and just picks is when his teeth are moving or beginning their "descend" so like a month before the actual "popping through."  Just thought I would mention.


A x

[Zoey]

Can you move his breakfast up a bit, or is this when he wakes up? If it is, maybe move his lunch a little later/ (around 12:00?). You could also try shifting that afternoon snack closer to lunch (about 2 hrs after lunchtime) and keep it really small amount wise.

As far as the water, I think it's great that he drinks it during the day, but you might consider limiting it for the hour before a meal, so that he doesn't fill up on it. It is obviously not going to fill him up like drinking, say, milk right before a meal, but really if I drank a big glass of water right before I ate that would affect my appetite. This is why they actually tell adults to do this before eating if they are trying to slim down....

Thanks.  He mostly sips the sippy,  like over time - he never guzzles one big cup at one time.  I will try to limit it more.  His nap is 12-230, that's why I have the lunch snack before and after it.

The only time Nello has gone off his food (even his fave's) and just picks is when his teeth are moving or beginning their "descend" so like a month before the actual "popping through."  Just thought I would mention.


A x

Thanks A - Maybe it is the molars.  This food thing has been for about 2 weeks.    I don't think he has a favorite food now. 

He has never been one to show he is hungry - like, he came from from the hospital eating every 4h.  I have always had a hard time figuring out when to feed him, I swear to you he could go all day without food as long as he had his sippy cup of water.  I guess I'll try not to worry so much, I'm sure this too shall pass 

[aisling]

Wow, that would be tough to gage.  I on the other hand had a baby from hopital that would eat every hour if you let him! 

A x