Worried about my 17month old - advice please!

[baileyscommet]

Hi, My son is 17months old and was BLW. He has always been a fantastic eater eating everything put in front of him....until recently. All of a sudden he has stopped eating vegetables, my home cooked meals and even his favourite meal of the day breakfast (normally porridge or a huge bowl of cereal followed by toast with jam or peanut butter and then fruit).

Sometimes he puts the food in his mouth as if he wants to eat but then takes it out - could it be his teeth? He probably has (I know it sounds weird but i can never count them all because he never stays still long enough!) 16 - 18 teeth. So if it is teeth it must be the back ones. Saying this he isn't demonstrating any other signs of teething, no grizzling and sleeping is okay (FINALLY!).

Some days I wonder how he's survived.

Also I'm wondering if he can be 'past' the point of wanting to eat? We have our evening meal at 6pm, which enables us a family of 4 to eat together but I'm wondering if this is too late for him. He barely touches his evening meal.

Any advice or reassurance you can offer would be gratefully received.

[creations]

could it be his teeth?

It does sound like teeth.
When you say they are nearly all through are they cut or fully 'grown'?  I'm just thinking there may still be some movement of teeth that are already through and this could be painful.  Another thing that springs to mind is oral hygiene, if he has had teeth a fair while and they aren't being brushed properly or if he's had juice in bottles etc there could be decay or swollen gums?  I doubt it though.

If it is just short term it could be he is coming down with a cold and has a sore throat putting him off eating, or sometimes a cold makes things taste different and may put him off, or just loss of appetite from it.
Usually if something is putting them off after another few days they suddenly start eating lots again and make up for the lost calories.  If it is longer term then I'd go see your doc or dentist to have him checked out.

Sounds like the evening meal is a different issue though.  Many LOs don't eat much in the evening and 6pm is quite late to expect a full meal to go down.  Mine won't eat beyond 5.15pm and even then it is more of a supper/snack than 'dinner'.  So I make his main meal much earlier in the day.

[cath~]

L went off her food for a week or so recently.  I suspect it was teeth but of course can't be sure   She's eating like a horse again now though!

I'd keep offering as usual, but don't stress if he's not interested.  He will eat when he's hungry again.