Extended breastfeeders - what is your 2 year old's appetite for food like?

[kindlekid]

DD2 is 2.6, still feeding at bedtime and in the morning with the occasional night time feed if she wakes.

She has a tiny appetite for food. Not fussy as such, she will try anything but she eats very little.

She is thin but very healthy and very rarely (almost never) ill.

I'm just wondering if the couple of quick feeds is affecting her appetite. She was a better eater when she was younger even though she was feeding a lot more often.

I'd love if she decided to self wean but doesn't look like happening anytime soon. I'd be wary of stopping bf in case her appetite didn't improve.

What do you think?

[TheRealMBJ]

I can't say at that age as DS is only 18 mo but he used to have a very, very small appetite for food even when down to a similar number of feeds as your DD at 15 months but as my milk supy started dwindling (I am pregnant) he has started to eat more solid food.

I wouldn't worry about it though, as long as you are offering a variety of healthy foods, I would think that she is getting the nutrition she needs. At this age, I don't think a child would starve themselves.

[BertieBotts]

Don't stop bf. She'll pick up when she is ready - in the meantime be glad she's getting something :) (If you can get in touch with your local LLL group by the way they have a great leaflet on non-eating toddlers) DS definitely went through a lull with food from about 9 months (after a brilliant start) and didn't pick up his food intake until 22 months. He eats loads again now.

Another thing to look out for is a book called "My child won't eat!" - it's out of print and very expensive on amazon but they might have a copy in your library.

[BertieBotts]

Or la leche league library if the group has been running for a few years.

[HappyHollydays]

My DD is 2.6 and has hardly any appetite despite me having no milk (24 weeks pg with dc2).

Yes, some days she would hardly eat a thing and would prefer milk over food but I was ok with this - mainly because I know that bm is still very good for toddlers & I guessed she probably wouldn't eat more if I weaned her (or not more healthy foods ).

I think if you can you should trust your toddler. Unless she seems poorly or very underweight.

A good book, I'm told, is "My Toddler won't eat!". I haven't seen it on Amazon but if you have a local LLL group they will probably have a copy you can borrow.

[HappyHollydays]

Xposts with Bertie

[BertieBotts]

I'm really sad it's out of print TBH - our LLL group is only about a year old so doesn't have one. It is on amazon for £30 (Over £100 new! )

I did try holding off on milk with DS btw and it just made him worse. BM didn't fill him up past a year or so anyway. The one thing which did make a difference was that I'd got into a habit of letting him have food any time he asked for it as I was so desparate to get a little bit more into him, he'd graze all day but barely eat at mealtimes. Once he was 2 I think I got a bit stricter and decided to myself to set snacktimes and mealtimes and if he was hungry before that time I'd try and drag it out without distracting him too much (he was old enough then for example to realise certain things need cooking and you have to wait while it happens) and so then by the time the mealtime came around he was hungrier and I knew he never had too long to wait as well.

The other thing is I find he will say he isn't hungry if he's busy playing or wants to do something else, of course some of it could be that he's just saying that, but also I think he didn't really understand what hungry is, because one day my mum was looking after him and she kept saying "Let's go and get some lunch, you must be hungry!" and he was all "No, play trains!" so after a while she said "Okay well you don't have to have any, but grandma needs some lunch now. I'm really hungry and my tummy is hurting because I need to eat." and then it was like a light went on in his head and he said "My tummy hurting too!" and then was happy to eat a sandwich with her.

Of course this does have the side effect that he now says "Mummy, my tummy is hurting, my hungry" when he's (a normal level of) hungry which sounds great in front of strangers

[WoTmania]

DD's appetite is variable. She's 28 months. On the whole she doesn't eat massive amounts but they are still quite small and don't need loads.