16 month - Eating is so hit and miss

[Louise0410]

My DS is 16 months and is so hit and miss with food. We do all the recommended things - eat together, introduce new food alongside safe food etc but I feel so deflated by how much it varies each day. His weight gain is fine - he is quite lean like me and his dad. He is still BF but feeds only at night and usually once in the night to resettle him. If he is ill he will usually BF more. Today for example he barely ate anything and I just find it so stressful (obviously I keep calm when he refuses and just try again later). I just don’t know how he survives and my level of anxiety about it is through the roof at the moment. He’s always been very emotional when it comes to food - he has a dairy allergy and developed an aversion when younger so I assume he just rejects food when the conditions are not perfect.

My little one is 16 months too and he's also very hit and miss with food. We're still nursing too so that at least on days he's not eating as much he's getting nutrition from my milk. He seems a lot less keen on eating when he's teething or ill. The other babies in our NCT group seem to be similar, including the ones who aren't nursing anymore so I'm hoping it's just part of learning to eat. I keep telling myself that he'll eventually eat normally when he's older.

Thanks @avocadotofu it good to know I’m not alone. He’s home early from nursery with a fever so I reckon that explains the last few days. I feel like my NCT group all have great eaters so that often makes me feel more stressed about it.

@NemophilistRebel I think it's so hard when everyone around you seems to be doing better with anything as a mum so that must make it even worse that your NCT crew are all doing well with eating. I hope your little one gets better soon. My DS has had so much time off nursery with all the bugs going around (another thing I wasn't prepared for )!