17 MO won't stop to eat! any ideas?

[cliffrose]

I have a textbook 17 MO who used to be a GREAT eater- his first food was avocado and he loves green veggies- not picky- will try almost everything. (I know- you are saying, this woman claims to have a problem???) lol.

In the last week, he has stopped eating. He has been teething and has a cold and suddenly shows no interest in any of his old favorites or anything else, for that matter. He just wants to play. He keeps saying he's not hungry, but tonite we finally got him to eat by placing a plate at kid level with tater tots - he ate three. Otherwise he would have eaten nothing for dinner.

I don't know if this is b/c of the teething, the cold, or what but does anyone have any ideas how to get your kid to stop playing and sit down and eat?

Thanks for the advice,

Elizabeth

[me and bean]

hi elizabeth
when bean (also 17mo textbook) is teething, he doesn't eat much either.  i just go with the flow and keep offering him water, milk and juice.  one thing that peaks his interest during these times, is if i put together a plate of finger foods (looking like it's intended for me) and sit on the couch in front of tv and ignore him.  he'll come over and take half a grape, go back to playing, then come over again.  he won't sit and eat the lot, but he'll go back and forward till it's gone.
he'll come right, don't worry.

[lilmonkey]

I agree with Susan.  I use reverse psychology with dd to get her to eat whenever she's on a hunger strike, teething, illness, or whatever reason only she knows.  I would put food onto my plate and pretend to eat and she would come over to graze from it.  Also, I serve her with regular plates and utensils (just like mommy & daddy).  I think that dd wants to be grown-up and eating out of "babyish" dinnerware is a no no.     Some children can sit and eat a big meal while others need many little meals.  I have learned to adapt to dd's appetite and "mealtimes" have been so much smoother.  HTH

[Katet]

I used to worry about eating with my ds#1 & would go to great lenghts then I read something that is my mantra.

"It is the mother's (parent's) responsibility to provide healthy food options regularly for their child, it is the childs responsibility to choose if they eat it"

I serve up the regular meals /snacks for my 2 boys & tell them it is there if they don't take up the offer of the food, I pack it away (if I can) for later & move on... if they (mostly the 3yo) says he is hungry I offer the food from before & maybe also a piece of fruit if the other is refused... then move on. I do know around the 15+ mo mark they seem able to survive on air & many cut back on what they eat (ds#2 is at that stage now - 1 bite of sandwich & on of apple for lunch today). So for me it has been great to be able to take the "expectation" out of it & just provide the food & actually my 3yo is eating the best he ever has.

remember no toddler will starve themselves, so it is a good idea not to push food on to them in worry they will... they just aren't growing as much at the moment when they loose interest.

[dkjokisch]

I second what Kate said.  I would further argue that if you don't want to feed your lo off the coffee table, floor, etc in the long run, I wouldn't do it now.  Start as you mean to go on.  Dh and I may be weird, but we actually take all of our meals at the table, even before kids.  If dd wants to eat, she has to sit in her chair.  The only exception is her afternoon snack.  If it is something not too messy, like crackers and milk or veggie sticks, she can have it on the floor as she is often at my feet while I do early prep for dinner.

[tylersmommy]

I agree with Kate and Deborah...rememeber that toddlers' appetites vary a LOT. Tyler will go for days living on nothing, then will suddenly eat me out of house and home. His appetite decreases throughout the day too. If he skips dinner, I'll offer a healthy snack before bed. And we did away with mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks around 18 mo. He just didn't want to eat that much food, and even now, he only gets a snack if it's a hungry day. I just go with the flow as best I can and remember that healthy kids don't starve themselves! Choices between 2 things help too. Even if your LO can't verbalize, he can still point to what he wants. And if he wants nothing, you can try again later.

We also have a house rule that all eating happens sitting at the kitchen table. How you offer the food is really up to you...the thought of Tyler wandering around with food in his mouth or hands or having a graze, leaving, then coming back over and over drives me bonkers, so we've never gone down that road.