Refusing to eat is it teething, being fussy or something else... any thoughts please!

[donotunderstand]

Not sure if this should be in the food bit or here but think it may be more of a developmental thing so here goes!

DD is 14 months, has been teething for ever and is cutting molars at the moment. She used to be a good eater but recently will not eat anything other than a small amount rice pudding when at home. She has been sick a couple of times in the last two weeks but seems happy in herself and has no other symptoms of illness.

At nursery she will eat anything but they sit around tables and feed themselves so I am unsure how much is going on the floor.

Have been advised not to fuss and to leave her to it as she will eat when she's hungry but she just does not seem to be eating and I am getting worried! Am struggling to know where to draw the line with letting her have what she will eat to get some food in her or needing her to learn she needs to eat what I make and know she has liked previously. Is she too young?

Does any one have any thoughts or experiences that may help?

Thanks in advance

Hi there DNS....

Sounds like you could be right that it is teeth hurting making it no fun for her to chew. A bit of bonjela on the teeth coming through a few mins before meals might help. Also, here are some tricks I used around this age to get them to allow me to feed them, most aimed at distraction:

• singing favourite songs
• turning the food into fun shapes (let's eat the car!)
• pretending food is coming to them on plane/car/train/back of animal/etc.
• juggling behind DP who did feeding (this one worked wonders for a few meals)
• giving them a spoon / fork and encouraging them to feed me
• get them to pretend to be a tiger pouncing on food and gobbling it up (MIL not very happy with this one)

HTH!

DNU not DNS. Ooops.

I could have written that post word for word :)

DD is the same age, has also been/is poorly, and is cutting molars like it were an Olympic sport atm! She has gone right off her food, it's a real struggle to get much down her.

I've started letting her meals go cool before feeding her them or letting her feed herself, it seems the heat really isn't good on her teeth, mushing everything up slightly just to help her out with chewing which she is really struggling with, and as suggested, a bit of bonjela works wonders for about 20 seconds if all else fails

It's tough, I know they say 'they will eat when hungry' - but I've been bloody ravenous at times when I've had toothache and couldn't even put something in my mouth, never mind chew and swallow, so I feel awful when I see her not eating. Also for now, let her eat what she will eat, she isn't doing it to be fussy, she's just in pain, so once it passes I'm sure she'll revert back to her normal eating habits.

Cooler, slightly more mushy foods than usual, bit of bonjela, and see how she gets on :) As long as she is drinking plenty, she'll be just fine.

DS2 is the same age and going through awful pain. I have made sure there is no acidic food being fed, eg tomatoes, as I noticed with DS1 that whenever he was teething or had tonsillitis then it seemed to hurt him if he ate anything with tomatoes.

'They will eat when hungry' is not necessarily accurate - 'most children will eat when they're hungry'. My DS1 lost nearly 2 kgs in weight at age 18 months because he just refused to eat for several months after tonsillitis, even though being given the all clear by the GP. He had just decided that he preferred just to drink milk and it was a real battle to get him back onto food. Even now he is fussier with what he eats than he was before this incident. As a result I now will go to great extremes to make sure both DSs are eating at least something - calpol/ibuprofen and bonjela before a meal time, soothing food that won't aggravate sores/cut edges etc.

no toddler ever starved themself - just fuss less.

ps - my daughter is just below the bottom percentile but is very healthy and has a good apitite normally. I think often children can be controling with food but also illness and teething can effect. Let him eat less - why turn meal times into a fight?

Thanks everyone!

Have tried the teething gel and letting her food cool but it doesn't seem to make much difference. Went out for lunch today and the distraction of being some where new worked wonders!

Am trying to fuss less but there's not much of her to start with and I would worry if she lost weight.

thanks for all your tips! Think I may have a few more nights of dancing round the kitchen to Take That as a form of distraction ahead

Really helps to know I'm not the only one who has a toddler who does not want to eat

Am off to get my wine and practice some dance moves

Yoghurt. Both of my DC have passed through phases like this. DS1 would eat anything if sufficiently diluted in yoghurt, DD2 would eat just yoghurt, plus something she could have a really good chomp on (breadsticks, usually). Calpol 1 hr before meal also worth a go. And as others have said, don't stress, because that is guaranteed to make it worse for everyone.
Cold soup also worth a try.

yoghurt! what a fab idea she loves greek yoghurt and it's nice and cold. will also give the soup a go, thank you all so much