16 month old barely eating...

[binker1]

i'm having real problems getting my dd to eat anything much at all at the moment apart form bread, peanut butter, raspberries and hummus...and at the moment she doesn't want any of that either...
she refuses anything with lumps, although i know she can manage them as she is/was fine with toast, and will still only really eat 10 month old jars of hipp food...i can't get her to eat a single thing i make for her, and at the moment anything i feed her is spat right out or thrown over the side...if i go down the 'removing the plate and no snacks til the next meal' it doesn't seem to bother her at all...and she still doesn't eat much of the next meal...i know she won't starve herself, but it's making me so depressed...i feel like i'm doing something wrong for her...the amount of different thing i offer her that are not even tried and just thrown on the floor...

she has one milk in the morning and one at bedtime...with water or juice throughout the day...she has one 2 hour nap early afternoon and sleeps through 7 to 7...so maybe i should thank my lucky stars for that!

any help would be greatly appreciated!

Watching with interest....DS (22mo) has been gradually refusing more and more stuff until now he will only eat yoghurt, bread with pnb/marmite, cheese, and that's about it. Anything sweet obviously
He eats like a bird, has started leaving half his yoghurt, refusing pasta and bananas, will not put anything new into his mouth. His nappies are vile because he's not having enough fibre. I have switched to wholemeal bread and giving raisins to get his fibre up.

It's depressing isn't it. Have to keep repeating 'it's only a phase, he'll eat if he's hungry' over and over. Gaaah.

Sounds like she has been taking tips from my 16 month old DD!

I haven't got great solutions or anything. Sometimes it helps if I let DD take ages and ages over her food (and sit with her). I've seen things rejected, spat out, thrown, 5 or 6 times, but them it's like something 'clicks' and she will eat with every look of enjoyment after 20+ minutes of rejecting her meal. Other times she isn't interested at all, and gets by on breakfast and a couple of milk feeds.

Hard to believe they are not starving hungry and suffering though, isn't it? (especially as DS ate everything put in front of him...)

i worry that it's not a phase...that's the problem..! i couldn't cope with a child of 8 that only eats 3 things and then not if they're touching

just persevere - we had similar with our DD now 4, she went through a stage where the only thing she would eat was tinned macaroni cheese or yoghurt - for a month . Keep presenting them with food options, they will eat when they are hungry, leave finger food that is safe within reach when playing, make sure they see you eating at the same time, just keep going. DD now 4 going on 5 and eats most things but still goes through phases of only wanting one type of thing. Hot weather has put her off most food as well but she has plenty of fluids and is now old enough to ask.

Have you tried baby signing - we found that really helpful because she could "say" when she was hungry/thirsty (started at 10 months - signing basics by about 15 months)?

Good advice keep presenting the food.

Why not have a holiday from trying to get her to eat things and just give her what you know she will eat for a few days and don't worry if she doesn't want it. Maybe that will take the pressure off and allow you to relax a bit.

If she picks up on your anxiety it could make her refuse food more so you need to be totally unphased by it.

Also only present her with one little bit at a time so that if her appetite is a bit depressed she doesn't feel overwhelmed by it.

Like MrsSnaplegs said make a point of eating in front of her but don't offer it to her. Let her have some if she asks of course.

Try not to feel bad. You are providing food for her but nobody can make a child eat. She may just not really feel like eating at the moment and you wouldn't want people pushing to eat when you didn't want to.

Remember to keep mealtimes happy and relaxed.

thanks everyone for your advice...she just refused dinner...and it was something i know she likes...i'm trying the finger foods available around her at the moment, but she's thrown them across the room 3 times already!

got to keep strong, but it's so hard!

dgs 16 mnths has just started this especially at lunch time.He will usually eat some brekkie and tea-I wonder if its to do with back teeth staring to push making their mouths sore.

My DS is nearly 14 months and at the moment refusing to eat. he gets really worked up when food is put in front of him and throws finger food away. Only things I have managed to get him to eat in last few days is bananas and cut up strawberries, was reminded by my mum that I was exactly the same!

these phases come and go in my experience. i'd say just try not to put any pressure on her. i reckon they know if you're stressed about what they're eating (or anything) and change their behaviour accordingly. just try to relax, offer a variety of foods (especially the ones they don't like - one day they'll surprise you/change their minds) and laugh it off. my daughter ate carrots, gherkins and jelly for breakfast the other day! not ideal but better than nothing!