My 21month old refuses to eat anything at all

[Ainya]

She goes for days at a time refusing to eat anything and if she does eat she will only eat a couple of bites. This has been going on now for at lesst three months and is driving me crazy with worry. Try not to show her how frustrated I become and just leave her food within reach hoping she will change her mind Doctor says not to worry but I do. She will drink milk and juice til the cows come home. She has not lost weight but has not really gained any either. If she does eat it is usually plain pasta or rice and tbat is all and sometimes green beans. Any ideas please and thankyou in advance

DS never ate anything! Was dreadful and so frustrating. I'd spend hours thinking up different foods to cook/get and then ages preparing things, to only throw it all in the bin! Now at 3.6 he is only just starting to eat 'without a fuss', meaning me getting stressed out and him blankly refusing anything I offer!
It is hard not to worry, but you said she is drinking and will eat some foods. Try to focus on what she WILL eat as opposed to what she WON'T eat.

DS went through a stage between 2-3 yrs old when he hardly ate a thing. I think he'd eat spaghetti hoops and the odd bite of sausage. that was it. It was so worrying but, like your DD, he didn't really lose weight and his health was good. The GP/HV didn't seem too worried, either.

Agree with MyBoyJakey. If pasta and green beans is all she will eat, even just a few spoons, encourage that. Try not to let her have big drinks before mealtimes, either, as I found my DS was filling up on endless beakers of milk.

Eventually, my DS started to eat a bit more, try a few new foods, and is now (aged nearly 6) a good eater, although still quite fussy.

I'm sure your DD will be fine, but share your pain! It is so frustrating/worrying.

Thankyou for the kind words you have set my at rest a little as was beginning to think either she was ill or I was doi g something wrong

We are going through this exact same thing. DS (22m) has never been the world's greatest feeder, whether that was milk, solids, lumps, meals whatever. Occasionally he will have a 'good week' and eat everything in sight, but a lot of the time he barely touches anything. He has never been massive either because he was 7 weeks early and only weighed 3lb 9oz so I ALWAYS stressed about weight gain....... however, nearly 2 years down the line he is a healthy, happy toddler with mounds of energy who sleeps well so his little appetite can't be having that much of an adverse effect.

It's easy to say not to stress because it is your natural instint as a parent, but DH and I now try to look on it as he isn't going to eat anyway so we can either have mealtimes as "oh well, not to worry" with him not eating or with the three of us getting worked up and him still not eating. We have tried all sorts of tricks and distractions, some work, some don't. I always offer a main dish and pudding (usually yoghurt/fruit etc.) but I have long since stopped preparing four and five different meals, it just wasn't getting me anywhere. The only time I keep a "favourite dish" in reserve is if he has been eating relatively well and we try something new with him.

The one thing I'll always remember is when my GP said that hunger was the second survival instinct to thirst, if a baby is hungry they'll eat, if they're thirsty they'll drink. It's hard but try to remember that DD won't starve herself at this age.

Good luck. xx.

My daughter is exactly the same and has been for some months now!

If you keep a diary of what your LO eats everyday after a week you will see one day they will eat loads of stuff and the next hardly anything.

But kids aren't daft! They are just trying to test you!

xx

What are they trying to test?