15 month old very small appetite

[Mouth]

My 15 month old has a very small appetite and mainly gets by on milk still. He can feed himself but it's usually just one or two bites of finger food which he then throws away. he can do a spoon into a bowl and up to his mouth but again once he's had a taste, he will wave the spoon about so the food flies everywhere. And laugh! He has 3 bottles of milk each day. Sometimes he ends up having an extra one in the night. He finds it hard to sit still in the highchair so have to keep him entertained to get food down him. Every few weeks he seems to have 2/3 days where he is hungry and when he is he will try different foods and textures.
Anyone else experienced similar?
He is small but always has been - born between 2nd and 9th centile for height and weight and (I think) still around the same. He's about 75cm in height. He has loads of energy though and usually sleeps through. Physical milestones ok - taking steps over the last few weeks.
Any suggestions to get him to eat well more consistently or do you think I should go with him???
Help!

[Pishtushette]

DD had a tiny appetite up until around 12 months, then all of a sudden she started eating loads. I would cook food in batches and keep some in the freezer, but one night she ate all the food for the freezer too. She was gaining weight at a steady rate all the time so it was fine. I always think theyll eat if theyre hungry, but if youre worried about nutrition maybe have a chat with your health visitor.<br /> <br /> Could you try cutting down on the milk to see if that makes a difference, then if he doesnt eat you could give him the milk hes missed. When theyre young I think youre supposed to look at what theyve eaten over a period of days to see if they`re eating enough, rather than basing it on a meal-by-meal basis iyswim.

[violetbubbles]

My DD is exactly the same. I think I read somewhere that at this age they do eat less and they self-regulate their intake. I was quite stressed about it to begin with but now I judge her intake by the week rather than by the day and over seven days she seems to take in enough. Some days though she can get by on a few slices of cucumber, a rice cake and a banana. Other days she can't get enough pork casserole, rice, bread, cheese...they're funny little monkeys aren't they? :)
Something I did do around 13 months was cut her milk intake way back. Now she has about 100 mls from a bottle in the morning, 50ml in a cup at lunchtime and 80mls at bedtime.
Your little boy sounds like he's doing just fine but if you're concerned you could have a quick look for Yummy Baby by Jane Clark in your local library. That's what I did and it reassured me :)
Hope that helps!

[TeddyMcardle]

Ds is the same, he eats a few mouth fulls of every meal and snacks lightly on fruit in between but he doesn't eat much at all. I asked my HV for advice and she said some are light but often eaters and to keep offering him food, 6 small meals a day, and to eat with him every time.
So I do, hasn't improved massively but that's just the way he is I think. He still bf's often, though not for very long, he's 17 months btw. I just try to keep it fun and about exploring rather than making it a battle to get him to eat more.

[Tigresswoods]

DS is now 19 months but he certainly has little phases of not really eating and then eating LOADS. The days he doesn't really eat don't seem to bother him. HTH.

[Mouth]

Thanks - will just keep going and maybe cut the milk gradually. It is much an attention span thing as an appetite thing I think. He is a livewire. It is very hard to eat with him because if I am eating he will be attempting to climb out of the highchair!
If at 18 months he is not getting more interested I'll call the HV. I'm not beside myself with worry as my first DS was similar and now he is eating quite well (although needs encouragement!) But DS2 is pretty extreme! God help me.

[stressheaderic]

My DD is 20 months and has a tiny appetite. We have to do little and often, she doesn't entertain large meals at all.
One thing I do, is give her food when she's distracted ie. put a bowl of fruit chunks or couple of pieces of malt loaf on a plate next to her wheh she's watching TV on the bean bag, she tends to snakc without thinking then....or give her an apple/cracker/biscuit when strapped in pushchair, she's got nowt better to do so normally eats it.