new and need help

[shellhill]

Hi, I am new to this sight but am in need of advice with my DS eating habbits.

He is 22 months and used to have an amazing appetite but for the past 2 months he is refusing everything but fruit and bread.
Here is an example of his feeding he had yesterday:

6am - 6oz milk
8am - 2 spoons of shreddies, 8th of a slice of toast, fruit juice
12pm - 10 grapes halved, 5 large strawberries, half banana, have half slice of bread - water
3pm - Welsh cake - fruit juice
5pm - 2 spoons of cottage pie, refused it screaming and throwing bowl so ended up having 2 yoghurts
7.15pm 6oz milk.
Should I cut out his milk altogether in a hope to improve his appetite???

He used to eat all the homecooked meals i made him, he has only ever had 1 jar of shop bought baby food in his life, something i was very proud)
He rarely has chocolate or sweets but has recently taken to biscuits and when refusing meals he asks for a 'bikkit'...
he is not underweight but i worry that he is not getting the right nutrients, vitamins he needs... I feel so FRUSTRATED...and doubting myself as a good mother, my mum says it a phase he is going through, i am not so sure as he is my 1st i have nothing to compare him to...
His dirty nappies are getting softer, prob from all the fruit he is eating, or the fact that he is badly teething (he has 12 teeth at mo, 4 coming through for last few weeks...
Any suggestions would be really appreciated on how to improve his eating pattern.....
Sorry for the rant

[rach321]

Just a thought but would it be worth swapping that morning bottle and breakfast around?
My friend is having similar issues at the moment so I know how stressful it can be.  If you are handy in the kitchen could you maybe make some homemade biscuits/muffins together (you can uaully hide a few veggies in muffins as well!) or how about homemade mini pizzas? If he's teething badly though maybe he's in too much pain to eat and fruit and yoghurt are easy choices if you see what I mean - have you tried medicating about 30-45 mins before meals to rule out the pain issue?
I'm not expert but we've been through our share of eating issues - this is what I would try.

[Natalie79]

Hi shellhill

My DS is 16 months and we are having the same problem, although I don't think he is teething at the moment (i could be wrong!), but does have softer nappies now.

He use to eat his lunch/dinners quite happily followed by a dessert of some sort, but the last few weeks he really isn't interested in the healthy main meal and only really wants yoghurt/fruit pot/biscuits. He's not even eating much of his porridge that I do for his breakfast and that's before he has any milk.

Recently, if he hasn't been eating most of his meal, I've actually not been offering him anything else afterwards and he's been going to bed on a relatively empty stomach. (which doesn't always help as he wakes up hungry).

I am guessing that this is just another one of his funny stages and it will pass eventually, but just wanted to let you know that your not alone.

[~*Nicole*~]

I too agree it is likely a stage and also partially the teething issue. Which teeth is he cutting at the moment? If it's the canines they were our WORST and might really affect what he is willing to eat.

Basically, my idea is, offer what you're offering, if he eats-great, if he doesn't-no big deal. Wait until the next meal time and do the same thing. Try medicating 30-45 mins. before feeds and also try to think of foods that would be easily tolerated while having some pain: (eggs-if no allergy, muffins, softly cooked veggies, cottage cheese, yogurt, applesauce, smoothies, oatmeal, etc. You can even puree some veggies and use them as dips)

So long as you don't give in and offer him bisquits or other junky snacks he won't learn any bad habits of holding out and waiting for you to give in. He doesn't need a ton of calories at his age, so as long as he is eating SOME and drinking milk he won't starve. Then wait awhile and revisit if he continues to have an issue for longer than a couple of weeks.