My DS 2 year Does not eat Pls help

[ruchita]

hi everyone
I have gone thru numerous sites and countless threads
Fought n argues with my hubby, screamed ,banged my head n cried my eyes out
Cajoled, bribed , given the iPad everything n my son won't eat
We have relocated about a month bac and so when this happens three weeks ago we put it down to the huge shift in routine - n didn't pester him for ten days - he became cranky n had meltdowns and we fought again but one day two week ago he started eating again -1 was ecstatic- but three days of normal eating n we back on no food
Not his fav - nothing new -
He operates on both spoon fed and self feed
N its latter in such fussy days yesterday he had four morsels of rice n was done - he does have milk three to four bottles a day about 4 oz each

French fries seem to be something ok with him
What do I do should I wait it out - let him eat fries

He is thin as per his age but has gained height
N I have a trip coming up - going home where everyone is going to kill me for his wEight

I want to how mothers have there two year olds eating burgers b chicken fingers
how
I cannot cry anymore and don't want another fight
Oh he is still his normal happy playful self at other turns - just no food

Could you possibly try to cut down the milk?

My dd would have milk all day everyday if I let her.

I have tried but then he won't sleep we still up at 2am cod he didn't eat n won't sleep :( n now French fries

Hi op, my dd is breastfed but we are in a similar situation. She wants to bf all the time and keeps refusing food. There are certain favourites she will eat more often but most things she won't even let near her mouth.

My dd is 15 mths so a bit younger but I still worry as other babies her age seem to all be eating lots. I keep telling myself it won't go on forever. I think all you can do is reduce milk as much as possible and keep trying different foods.

Hi OP, before your move etc, what were his favourite foods?

My DS1 stopped eating at that age. It was the most horribly stressful experience, and you have my sympathy big time. I'm not sure there is much you can do other than wait it out. With extreme food refusal the advice seems to be to let them eat what they will, so if he is eating fries than thats better then nothing. It may be worth persevering with cutting down the milk, that seems a lot for that age. Dont expect him to want to cut back, it probably wont be easy, but to an extent milk will be warding off hunger pangs. We had a 2 week phase when my DS had one bite of an apple, one bite of cheese and a couple of raisins a day. I nearly cracked up over it but eventually he settled into just being a very fussy eater, he would at least eat what was in his repetorie. Now aged 8 he is a still slightly fussy but otherwise normal eater....though he does go off food when stressed.

It will improve, but you will need to move at his pace and try not to get too stressed...impossible tho that is I know!!!

DS had a major food aversion from 10 months after a bad go of croup. He's still not great (at 4) but eats a decent variety of nutritious foods.

Which end of 2 years old is he? And is it brand new 3 weeks ago? If so, the following advice (except the milk bit) may be for further down the track. You have to give him more than a few weeks to get over a big life change, I think.

Here's what worked for us:

Watering down bottles. He was mainly having milk when he woke hungry at night. We watered down the bottle/cup of milk so that his stomach felt full enough to get to sleep, but he wasn't getting all his calories from milk. Each night we'd up the water content a little more so that it was gradual, not sudden. You may have some bad nights but in the long run it's worth it - there is no incentive for him to eat if he's getting enough calories from milk.

It's a long term thing, and a control thing - so don't battle him. He'll dig his heels in.

Leave healthy snacks lying around so that he can eat them without the rigmarole of a 'mealtime', and without a parent looming over him.

I did what all the books say not to do and used both TV and pudding as rewards. It doesn't seem to have done long-term harm. He was stressed by having food in front of him and nothing else to focus on - TV helped him to have another focus for a bit. We don't use it often now.

Pudding was similar - very calm and breezy approach. 'That's fine, you don't have to eat it, but remember there's no pudding unless you've eaten x amount'. Sometimes still use that one. You may need to call his bluff once or twice (DS was a bit shocked once when DH and I calmly went and got our pudding and started eating it.)

Reading this back I sound like a terrible parent. But I don't think people realise how difficult severe eating issues can be to overcome.

Honestly - if it's only been happening for three weeks, particularly after a major change in his life, it may be just a blip. It probably is, and you getting worked up about it isn't going to solve it. You need to be consistent in your approach, and act like you're not really that fussed. Praise for eating healthy foods or trying new things, and be neutral when he doesn't eat. He won't starve.

There were long periods when DS was one and two where I'd have been over the moon at a spoonful of rice.

Jassy - regarding the watering down of milk, can you do this with formula made from powder? Thanks

OP the cutting down the milk is not easy but I think your son is having quite a lot of milk so it might help. 3 days of pain maybe?

Jassy - regarding the watering down of milk, can you do this with formula made from powder? Thanks

We did! I'm sure it's not official advice but it seemed to work fine. We just started by adding one less scoop of formula, before we moved completely to cows milk.