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Behaviour/development

AT OUR WITS END!!

14 replies

jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 03/10/2006 07:56

DH and I are about to have nervous breakdowns!!

Jessica is 2.2 and for the last 2 weeks has hardly eaten and is not sleeping well at all.

On an average day she is eating half a slice of toast, 2 yoghurts and maybe 2 mouthfulls of dinner.

Sleep wise, she goes down at 7.30pm, and last night was awake at 2.30am, back to be until 4.10am and then wanted to play. Took until 5am to get her back to sleep until 7am. The past 2 weeks she has been up no later than 6am.

She was refusing her naps but has started having them again - usually an hour to an hour and a half.

Its the eating thing we are really worried about - Jessica loves her food usually and all of a sudden she isnt interested - even offered chocolate buttons yesterday, she had 3 or 4 and left the rest.

We are so confused, we are sure she isnt sleeping because she isnt eating, yet she refuses breakfast. Today she has spat it out all over the floor.

Someone give us some ideas to try please!! We have never made eating an issue - if she doesnt want what she is given, we say thats ok, and take it away, but im starting to worry.

TIA xxx

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Munz · 03/10/2006 08:02

no advice hon but (((hugs))) and to let you knwo someone's out there! lol. does she have much to drink etc as well?

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HauntedsandCastle · 03/10/2006 08:06

DD did this kind of thing when we first emigrated. I have much sympathy. I used to have to lie with her at night whilest she asked where her dog was, or where her friend was .

Is anything major going on at the mo? Anything that co-incided with the changes?

There wasn't much we could do for dd, no help I know, she settled better once we had our own place. Try to keep as calm as possible (again, easy to say) but if she even senses something is "up" she will react.

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Twiglett · 03/10/2006 08:10

Kids do this sometimes as they get older

Part of it, I'm sure, is exhibiting control over their environment and is reinforced by the obvious worry you and her dad are exhibiting over her lack of eating

ignoring her as you're sitting at the table and eating and chatting yourselves and making a big fuss over rebecca eating might help

She may also just be feeling a little off

But also she's through some major growth spurts and they never eat as much again as they did in the first couple of years

remembe it doesn't matter if she eats little and often and stops eating her 'mealtimes'

at 2 children tend to eat 1 proper meal in 48 hours .. and around 11 tbsp of food a day (all food counts towards it including treats) .. this is averaged over a week to 10 days

HTH

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adevilknownasheavenis · 03/10/2006 08:10

It could be that she is coming down with a bug or cold. Ds2 has been off his food the last couple of weeks although he is sleeping ok.
He was sick two weeks ago and now has a bit of a cold.
Maybe get the doctor to check her out.

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jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 03/10/2006 08:38

Thanks all.

THe only up-heaval is that we will be moving at very short notice as DH is being discharged from the army, but we refuse to talk about it infront of the girls - it is forgotten until they are in bed and then the planning and discussing takes place.

She is drinking an awful lot of water, but have decided today to try and cut that down a bit and see if it helps, i just feel so bad because the last "proper" meal she ate was Friday night when she nearly cleared her plate. Everything else has been going in the bin (or to Rebecca who eats like a horse!)

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Twiglett · 03/10/2006 08:42

but that's normal .. see my bit on average 2 year old nutrition

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Twiglett · 03/10/2006 08:44

just to be clear .. it is not every 48 hours they eat one proper meal .. but if you look back on the last 7 - 10 days it will average out at 1 every 48 hours .. its the 11 tbsps of food that is the appropriate number to fixate on

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jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 03/10/2006 08:50

i got ya.

THanks twigg - im in worry wart mode, but i guess i can just see how it goes.

Just keep praying she sleeps - not used to being up to her during the night!

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Munz · 03/10/2006 08:51

possibly she's picking up on any aprehension you and DH have about the change in house/job etc?

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nulnulcat · 03/10/2006 09:29

im having the same problem dd is nearly 3 and refusing nearly all her meals! breakfast today was a farley bear biscuit which was better than last 3 days where it has been nothing

yesterday all she ate was a bit of bread and then half a dozen spoons of spag bol and a bit of trifle

she wakes up half a dozen times during the night and waking up about 6am! im not used to this as she has always woken up between 830 and 9 before!

the sleeping thing im not really worried about as im sure it will go back to normal but im stressing about the food especially as she is telling me she is tired and has tummy ache am sure if she ate she would feel so much better

she has always been such a good eater before

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HauntedsandCastle · 03/10/2006 12:52

I can understand that you are keeping quiet about the move, but children are very intuative (sp) and she may feel that something isn't all that. (sorry bad phrasing...but can't think of another)

But I would agree with Twig...my daughter barely ate tonight, but last night she ate like you wouldn't believe.

I think that twig must have posted that comment before now, as I remember thinking in the last week or so, how right it actaully is.

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saffymum · 03/10/2006 14:51

HI, sorry about all your worries! I wouldn't fret about the food, they never starve themselves. My son 2,5 goes through a stage every few months where he eats like a horse then just refuses anything except half a toast and yogurt for what feels like ages. Do you think it could be J might have a sore mouth, have you checked for any new tooth buds at the back, there could still be molars to come out. With her waking at night she could be waking from hunger and also this could be teething pain as it gets worse at night when they lie down. What about making her a smoothie using banana, strawberry, a handful of muesli and some yogurt (as she likes yogurt) and blend it up finely so she 'thinks' she is getting a yogurt and you are getting more carbs from the muesli and banana into her tummy to fill her up without her knowing. Good luck.

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staceym11 · 03/10/2006 15:00

my dd (2 this month) will eat non stop for a few days and then will eat bugger all for the rest of the week......they eat what their body wants/needs.

normally she'd eat her sandwich fine, the other day she'd only eat the meat the next day only the bread.....it all goes in fits and starts.

try not to worry (easier said than done tho) and just dont get stressed about it or it will prob make it worse......another thought is maybe talk a little about the move and daddies job changing, she might sense something and be coming out like this because she doesnt know what it is and therefore doesnt understand how to express it!

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jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 03/10/2006 21:10

well i have reduced her fluid intake today and it seems to have worked.

After refusing breakfast, she scoffed a slice of toast at 10am.

She then ate about half of her lunch (slice of bread and butter, cheese cubes, cucumber chunks and a few choccy buttons left from yesterday) and nothing from then until tea time, where we had steak pie, roast pots and veg and she ate 3/4 of what was on her plate and an ice-cream for pudding.

Not sure if it is the fluid intake or not, will try and do what i have done today, tomorrow, and see but I also have a sneaky feeling she was just hungry today!!

Never make life easy these kids do they!

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