fussy eaters

[Shelli08]

Hi i have an 18 month old son and for the last 6 days he hasn't eaten properly. He has about 3 mouthfuls of cereal, and all he will have is full fat milk in a bottle. I have tried him with his favourite dishes and tried making new things but he wont have any of it. He only has 6 teeth, could this be the problem? I have bought him some growing up milk just so i know he is getting more vitamins while he is off his food. he also isnt sleeping very well, he is up at 5am every morning and only sleeping for half an hour through the day (normally has an hour) me and my partner are exhausted please help!

[Al1son]

Make sure there is a good long gap between the last milk and each mealtime or he just won't be hungry.

Don't get uptight. Keep offering the food and if he doesn't want it take it away in a relaxed, cheerful manner. Leaving finger foods on his tray is probably better than trying to spoon feed him. Don't try to persuade him to eat. It's the worst thing you can do.

Give him food to play with, e.g. a squirt of ketchup to make marks in on the high chair tray so he's still experiencing the various textures.

If you don't stress he'll probably get over it fairly quickly.