to think it's ok that my son hardly eats anything?

[caradelvigna]

He's 28 months old. Perfectly happy. Between 1&3 small poos a day and drinks lots of water. He seems to hardly eat anything though. For example if I give him toast for breakfast he will eat two bites and refuse the rest, snack of a banana he will have a couple of bites then leave the rest, lunch he had whatever I have and usually leaves 3/4 of it and they're only very small portions. This continues for the rest of his meals. He seems to eat next to nothing and is just not that interested in food.

Is this normal? I am so anxious with lockdown and a young child at home. It gives me time to worry about everything...

18 months not 28 months

How much milk does he still have?

If he's growing well, putting on weight and has energy, he's getting what he needs.

If he is healthy and gaining weight, there's no problem at all. He's just regulating his own appetite.

I'm impressed he will eat whatever you eat!

I have a slightly different problem in that my fifteen month old eats more in volume, but will only eat an extremely limited set of foods.

It sounds like you are doing really well, and I wouldn't worry

I can't really tell how much milk he has as he is still breastfed. Usually wouldn't feed him that much but he is attached to me more now I'm home all the time much to his delight. Didn't even think of that 🤦🏽‍♀️ maybe I should cut down breastfeeding.

He eats anything and everything. I'm very lucky and hoping it doesn't change anytime soon!

Is he putting on weight? And meeting milestones etc? Happy and full of energy? If yes to all of these then yes, some kids just don't eat much at different stages. If no then he could be filling his tummy up on water if you say he drinks alot. Try giving drinks after a meal not before/ during.

I ask because Dd is the same and it's the milk. So when at nursery, no milk, eats all her snack and lunch. Home more milk, for various reasons, few weeks of illness, teeth etc.

If I drop a milk feed she eats more food. That may just be her.

I don't tend to give him water. I just have a drinking bottle of water in the playroom (which was a lounge before lockdown 😅) all the time and he helps himself.

My 18 month old is similar. There's lots of food he refuses to pick up. We keep offering lots of the things he loves (toast, banana, cheese, yogurt, grapes) and a little of what he doesn't. Sometimes he will eat a lot of what he loves and occasionally he will try something new/previously refused. I think as long as you offer a wide range of food at this age he will be ok. Is he still having milk? I sometimes get worried to but ds always has plenty of energy and sleeps fairly well so he can't be too lacking. Dd woke more often and ate more food/drank more milk so even if your ds doesn't sleep well there may not be a correlation.

If you are breastfeeding you don't really need to give him water too unless he is getting constipated. You could try not breastfeeding for an hour before mealtimes if you are worried. But honestly if happy healthy and growing i wouldn't worry. X

I give him water because I want him to be used to drinking it as a norm for when we are out of lockdown and he's back at the childminders ☺️

My middle child has never been very interested in food and has always been on the 25th centile since birth. You knew if she was having a growth spurt as then she would eat like a horse.
I looked at her energy levels, ability to concentrate and general well-being and decided that she was fine. HV was useless as she didn’t seem to understand that to have an average you have people above and below 🙄
Same child is the same and she’s 19 now.

Just read that you are bf. Make sure you are well fed, he'll still be getting lots of vitamins, protein and fat from your milk. He won't necessarily make up the same nutrients in food, so as long as you offer food first at this time I'm sure he's getting a pretty good balance.

Sounds just like my DS - he just loved breastfeeding and was very slow to start eating in large quantities. He was massive for his age and very active so it was obviously getting enough and he did over time move to eating rather than just drinking milk. I did eventually limit breastfeeding or try to discourage it but I'm not sure to what extent he just grew up and preferred food anyway.

It’ll be all the milk! My dd only started eating properly once she stopped having quite so much breast milk. But she’s always preferred to snack through the day - she’s a small slight child aged 8 now.

This is all good to know. He was on the 1st centile when he was born. Now on the 15th so still little but very healthy. He had s rough start in life unfortunately. Probably why I worry so much v

I'm probably gonna get flamed for this but I would start to wean off breastfeeding if you're worried he is not eating properly. At 2yo he should be getting his sustenance from solid food.
Maybe only offer breastmilk half hour after a meal?
Also my boys both went through a phase of not really being interested in food. I'm sure my youngest survived on fresh air and breadsticks at one point.
I also found gradually phasing out snacks in between meals meant they had a bigger appetite for a proper meal.
I would offer the odd carrot stick or breadsticks if they were absolutely famished. Something that won't fill them up before a meal.
I'm sure if hes gaining weight and full of energy hes probably alright though.
Good luck.

As long as he is continuing to put on weight, that's fine.

DS was the same - my DSis is a paediatrician, she suggested making him eat before allowing him to feed and not feeding within an hour pre-meal. DC of that age need iron, which they don't get from breastmilk - he's at risk of anaemia if he has too much milk at the expense of other foods.