Author Topic: At my wits end with his eating  (Read 5406 times)

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Offline Skadiver13

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At my wits end with his eating
« on: July 01, 2013, 18:48:16 pm »
I honestly don't know what to do at this point. I throw away so much food it's ridiculous. It's a wonder this child doesn't wake up from hunger at night. He's 13.5months and barely eats anything at all. He's always been a light eater. I don't say picky because he'll eat a wealth of things but one day he'll like it the next he wont. One day he'll eat great the next he won't eat anything. But when i say great I don't mean normal I just mean great for him. I've been looking at food pyramids for a 1yr old and I know he's not getting enough servings of almost everything. A Typical day he'll eat

Breakfast
1/2 an egg if that
2-Tb of fruit like blueberrys or raspberries. I don't offer the fruit until he refuses everything else or he wont eat anything else at all and just the fruit
1/2 piece of bread with butter crusts cut off cut into small pieces.

formla 8oz

Snack of maybe 3oz yogurt or a 4oz packet of veggie/fruit/grain puree

Nap
Lunch. This is his worst meal. I'm lucky if I can get him to eat anything.
Today he ate maybe a 1/4 cup of elbow pasta that's 25% veggie with a little tomato sauce
Steamed yellow pepper (which he usually loves) ate 2-3 small bites
Steamed carrots maybe a few bites then he refuses to eat anything else. I end up leaving the table and letting him just play with it otherwise he starts throwing the food at me.

If he doesn't eat much lunch I try and offer a fruit/veggie puree an hr or so  later in the day but not always if it's too close to dinner

Dinner
1 deli turkey slice (nitrate free) I'm lucky if he eats the whole thing
fruit like 1/4 cup of cut up blueberries
maybe a carb like a 1/2 slice of bread or something like that

This morning I offered pumpkin pancakes and turkey sausage. He ate 1/2 a pancake and 1/2 a link of sausage (that's only like 10 calories)

I just don't know what to do. He'll eat a lot of things but not much of it if that makes sense. He just gets frustrated wants to get down doesn't want whats on his plate.

I eat with him most times, we're at the table etc. I've tried distraction which used to work but in the past few days not at all. I know i've posted on this before but things have gotten worse.
My dreamed for Angel Baby DD (other than dreaded 40min naps) Born 4/30/16
Reflux, MSPI, Love my Spirited,textbook little munchkin DS Born 5/17/2012



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Offline michaeljacknnugg

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2013, 18:59:28 pm »
I'm not an expert on how much he should be having, but I am sensing a lot of your frustration is due to throwing food away. Is that right?

Unless he has any problem with weight gain, isn't the advice to follow his appetite? Sure we can get a plan together that meets both needs.
My 'little man' - kind-hearted Spirited whirlwind, 2008
My love, my everything - BabyTwo, Nov 2015

Offline Skadiver13

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2013, 19:01:48 pm »
Oh god no I don't care if I threw away a bucket of food as long as he would eat even a small amount of it. He does have a problem with his weight gain. He dropped from 25% to 5%. GI had me keeping a food log and he thinks he's not getting enough calories for his age group. He's active and walking/running etc. so i know I shouldn't be too worried. He's not lethargic etc. but I just worry he's not taking in enough calories to gain weight with the amount of activity he does. He does NOT stop moving from eyes open to eyes shut. Never sits still.
My dreamed for Angel Baby DD (other than dreaded 40min naps) Born 4/30/16
Reflux, MSPI, Love my Spirited,textbook little munchkin DS Born 5/17/2012



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Offline Lolly

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2013, 19:02:44 pm »
Where are you with the reflux at the moment? What meds and what dose? My two always eat less when they are having a flare up or as babies/ toddlers when their meds needed increasing.

Laura


Offline Skadiver13

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2013, 19:05:04 pm »
His reflux is fine. I think he's outgrown it totally. This is a behavior thing I think. No pain issues etc. He's not gagging/vomiting or anything like that. He's on 10mg zegerid once a day but only reason we haven't weaned him off is I'm doing a dairy challenge right now and didn't want to do both at the same time. He was weaned off his morning dose 2 months ago. He drinks his 2 bottles just fine.
My dreamed for Angel Baby DD (other than dreaded 40min naps) Born 4/30/16
Reflux, MSPI, Love my Spirited,textbook little munchkin DS Born 5/17/2012



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Offline michaeljacknnugg

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2013, 19:15:56 pm »
Ok, getting the picture! So it is his interest in food that needs a bit of help?

And getting some higher calorie food into him?

I hope I can help on the first one and others will chip in for the second.

I too have a very active young boy who at some stages has preferred to move than eat. There are a few things we've done to encourage his interest in food:
When shopping, sit him in the trolley and show him some of the foods you are buying. Let him feel and explore them before putting them in. Same with when cooking - involve him as much as you can in an age appropriate way. Hand over hand you can rip up peppers and mushrooms etc.
Grow stuff together. Peas are fab and I remember DS at your guy's age being so excited to explore inside an open pod I had given him and munch a few raw peas. He'll need help at first but can help water and sow.
My 'little man' - kind-hearted Spirited whirlwind, 2008
My love, my everything - BabyTwo, Nov 2015

Offline Shiv52

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2013, 19:37:16 pm »
I don't think he could be hungry for lunch which is why hes not fussed. He'd be hard pushed to be hungry for a good few hours after a big 8oz bottle plus 3/4 oz of solids. I'd cut that snack and see does that make a difference to lunch. Or cut the bottle and offer formula in sippy along with his snack which is probably the better option given his age. You really do what to be replacing milk with solids at this stage.

What are the timings of your meals? 

How much formula is he having in that second bottle? 






Offline Shiv52

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2013, 19:46:39 pm »
I found this:

Milk intake - what you can expect between 6 months to 12months +

So at 1yo you are looking at a minimum of 12oz of dairy, average probably being 15oz across milk and solid foods.

So if he's having an 8oz bottle at bed plus 3oz of yogurt you are pretty much hitting the minimum which is great. I'm sure the other oz is easily made up with pancakes, butter on toast etc. 

So based on that I definately get cutting that mid morning bottle way way down and offer it in a sippy.  He'll be way hungrier for solids if his tummy isn't full of milk.





Offline anna*

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2013, 19:51:26 pm »
It doesn't sound THAT little? That's about what Audrey will eat for breakfast, on a good day. We don't do a mid-morning snack at all, else she won't eat lunch. Dinner is hit and miss, if she is tired she will literally eat 3 bites and then she's done, other days she'll eat more.

I don't wish to minimise, because I know you're really worried. Maybe as Shiv says cut out the morning yoghurt and formula and see if that helps? Audrey has a BF after her nap (lunch is before her nap) but we really can't do snacks else the meals just don't happen. She has maybe 10 raisins for one snack, or a couple of cucumber sticks.





Offline creations

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2013, 19:53:38 pm »
It actually looks pretty good to me.  I have a listing of toddler portions which I copied down way back when I was concerned about how much my DS ate, the thing to remember with the portions is that toddlers comes a long time, and what a 1yo eats is not the same as a 2yo or a 3yo.
I've just worked out the servings and balance of what you listed and it honestly doesn’t look worrying to me.

I will say that the morning snack matters, when they don't eat a huge amount then every mouthful counts and based on what your LO ate in that day, if it was me, I wouldn't give fruit puree or yoghurt for the morning snack I would make it a veg or carbs snack (maybe combine the two with a sweet potato mini muffin or something like that).  Some LOs (like mine) do love their fruit and I'm afraid rationing it was the only way I found to ensure the diet is totally balanced.

On the day you gave as example if the snack had been a grains snack he would have fulfilled his portion need in that day.
If you offer an afternoon snack (you say sometimes some puree depending on how lunch went) of veg his veg portions would also be fulfilled.  I found with mine I really had to be strict with measuring fruit for a while to ensure he took the veg. He likes veg but given the option it's usually fruit he'll go for.

Quick run down then:
Milk needs 4 servings (1/2 cup milk is 1 serve) so this is fulfilled by 2 bottles of formula.  That's why I say yoghurt as a snack isn't needed, it would be better to offer grains/veg.  Or better yet, drop one bottle and offer the yoghurt.

Grains needs 6 servings (1/2 slice bread is 1 serve) he had 3 servings in your example plus if the morning snack had been 4oz grains this would bring it up to 7 servings, more than needed

Fruit needs 2 servings (1/4 of a fruit is 1 serve) he had 2 tblspoons twice, fulfilled. That why I suggest not giving any more fruit mid morning or mid afternoon.

Veg needs 2 servings (1 to 2 tblspoons is 1 serve, at this age I would say 1 tablespoon is fine).  He ate perhaps 1 tbl sp of veg plus some tom sauce.  So a little low on the veg portions for the day.  If he took extra on another day this wouldn't matter, look across a week rather than a day, but this is why I recommend the morning snack being grains or veg and no extra fruit so increase this food group.

Protein needs 2 servings (1 to 2 table sp of meat, fish, poultry or beans. Again at this age 1 tbl spoon is fine) he had half an egg and almost a piece of deli meat, fulfilled.

Even at almost 2.5 I only look to get my DS to eat one egg or one sausage or one fish finger or a couple of spoons of beans per day.  He might eat 1.5 or even 2 fish fingers at times if he is very hungry, other days he goes protein free so it's a balance.

I don't really see how it's a behaviour thing tbh, maybe he is just full?  LOs don't generally let themselves go hungry.  I think you'd only  need make a minor change to what you usually offer across the day to make his diet perfect and I'm sure there are not many babies with a perfect diet.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2013, 19:56:27 pm by creations »


Offline creations

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2013, 20:00:20 pm »
I just read Annas post about cutting the morning snack, I agree with that too as an option. Mine always needed a huge morning snack at that age (more like lunch but very early). So either way that food intake is either at snack time but important what is offered or is moved to lunch time and equally as important what is offered.
Hope that makes sense.


Offline Skadiver13

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #11 on: July 01, 2013, 21:19:05 pm »
I'd cut that snack and see does that make a difference to lunch. Or cut the bottle and offer formula in sippy along with his snack which is probably the better option given his age. You really do what to be replacing milk with solids at this stage.
I can't cut his bottles yes as he is MSPI so while we are doing the dairy challenge he needs to keep his formula up a bit? He wont take milk from a sippy at all only a bottle. He'll take water from a sippy. He's only getting about 16oz a day? Is that too much given he's not getting dairy anywhere else?

If I cut the snack I guess I was worried he'd wake hungry from his nap? Should I not be worried about that?
So at 1yo you are looking at a minimum of 12oz of dairy, average probably being 15oz across milk and solid foods.
Given he's MSPI he gets 16oz of formula as his dairy and doesn't get dairy anywhere else. The butter on his toast is non-dairy. The yogurt is coconut. Does that count as dairy?

maybe 10 raisins for one snack, or a couple of cucumber sticks.
I was worried about him waking from his nap hungry so maybe I can do 1/2 lunch before and 1/2 lunch after instead of the snack?

Thanks all for your thoughts I guess I have a hard time visualizing exactly what he's eating. I'll keep track for the next week of better portions sizes and report back and see where we're at. I'm eather telling you he's eating more than he is becuase i'm over estimating what he's eating or I'm underestimating and shouldn't worry so much :)

I guess I give him the fruit/veggie puree because I know he'll eat it. I will say most of hte puree's I give him have a grain like quinoa or oat in them which is good.

I'll keep good track and get back to you all. He ate 3/4 an egg for dinner with 1/4 small blueberry muffin  and 5-6 raspberries so that's good right?
My dreamed for Angel Baby DD (other than dreaded 40min naps) Born 4/30/16
Reflux, MSPI, Love my Spirited,textbook little munchkin DS Born 5/17/2012



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Offline creations

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #12 on: July 01, 2013, 21:33:21 pm »
He ate 3/4 an egg for dinner with 1/4 small blueberry muffin  and 5-6 raspberries so that's good right?
I'd say that's amazing!
Honestly until just recently mine has only been able to eat half an egg and half a slice of bread (I'd make eggy bread for example, 1 egg, 1 slice bread and he'd eat half).  I even stopped making eggy bread because I needed him to eat a full egg (when he was eating less than 1 serving of protein and only a couple of times per week), so I moved to omelet for breakfast and he would eat the full egg but no way could he fit in a piece of bread too.  He could manage a little fruit of course, as that goes into his fruit stomach not his 'real food' stomach ;)  but sometimes I could see he was struggling to get the fruit in and sometimes he'd end up pushing it away.  Honestly to eat 3/4 egg plus 1/4 muffin plus fruit at only 13 months that's loads!


Offline Emami

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #13 on: July 01, 2013, 21:37:15 pm »
I have no experience of MSPI so I'll stay out of the dairy part of the conversation, but agree they look like reasonable meals!  I bet you're right and if you write it down he's probably eating more and better than you think.  It's easy to forget how little toddlers really need to eat. It's tough not to stress though. Dd has days where she hardly eats 2 bites of anything and days where she eats everything I put in front of her, and of course I'm happier on those days!  But over the course of a week it balances out.  I also agree with others re snacks. DD eats much better meals without them.  Of course I will give her a snack if she asks, but otherwise I just leave it until the next meal.  Wrt waking hungry, I don't think he will.  I used to do as you suggested, and lunch was split either side of the nap when she first went to one nap, but now she goes down around 1pm so has a full lunch first. 
I think you're doing fine, good luck with the dairy challenge!
Emma






Offline Shiv52

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Re: At my wits end with his eating
« Reply #14 on: July 01, 2013, 21:47:12 pm »
Do you see a dietician?  My DD2 was MPI and we saw one and she recommended a supplement from 1yo.  Its obviously better to get calcium from foods but it did take the worry out of it .    we had a cereal that was dairy free and was calcium fortified and i'm sure weetabix is milk/soy free.  I did spinach and sweet potato and salmon dishes.  From my googling coconut yogurt is higher in calcium that dairy yogurts. 

Id be inclined to split that morning bottle and do cereal with half and the other half in a cup.  Can he drink from an open cup?  Mine much preferred that at this age.  How long did you offer the sippy with milk?  i found it took well over 6 weeks before she was taking any sort of volume from it.   So that would mean just offering the sippy and not offering a bottle for a good chunk of time. 

If you are worried about waking early from the nap then I'd keep the snack but then after the nap just expect him to eat a similar amount again and then do dinner later on. 

Hugs.   I'd try not to worry.  Has he got his molars yet?