My 2 year old won't eat!

[sarahloubert]

Looking for some advice, my 2 yo dd has about 10 weeks ago all of a sudden stopped eating. She will have ice lollies and jelly but anything that's foodie she won't touch. She says she doesn't want it and pushes it away getting very upset about it. She asks for chocolate or biscuits and will only eat a tiny bit. I'm waiting for a call back from the HV regarding it but was wondering if anyone else has had this with their LO? I was considering getting some follow on formula milk to replace the vitamins that shes missing but don't want to get her intovthe habit if drinking rather than eating. As far as I can see she has all her teeth so I don't think it's teething problems. Any advice would be greatfully recieved x

Rather than filling her up with milk could you get some vitamins for her?

If she's going to childcare, is she eating there? My DD would eat everything at Preschool, sometimes having thirds then wouldn't eat at all at home.

Hi thanks for your reply! No she doesn't go to any nursery yet, I think I'm going to look into seeing if there are any stay and plays near us that do breakfast or lunch and see if things change when she's with other children. I'm willing to try anything. She already has the vitamin drops recommended by the HV when she was little. Someone also suggested taking her shopping with me and letting her pick some things so I'm also going to try this. I'm really hopi g it's a phase but shes so tiny anyway, she was 2 in April and wears size 12-24 month clothes and a size 4 foot, just worries me if she loses weight x

When I said vitamins she was missing I meant from food. Sorry I didn't make that clear. Was in panic mode x

It's fine to be small just as long as she's tracking her height and weight centiles. Have you plotted them recently?

She was born on the 50th and is now between the 25th and 50th for weight and height x

I'd try not to worry too much then. Even if it's a new thing, it might just be a phase. Keep offering. She's probably eating new than you realise anyway.

This guide from the Caroline Walker Trust has some ideas to try and the book My Child Won't Eat should be able to tell you if this is normal behaviour or something that you need help with

Thank you. I'll give that a read. Shes actually tried a few things today. So I think you're right x

So glad she's eaten a bit more today. I swear my DD could sense me getting upset and just survived on that

Sometimes they go through waves of eating/not eating/pickiness. Maybe try sectioned plates and do more snacky lunches and dinners and see if that helps. Maybe try getting her involved with preparing food like mixing up things or peeling fruit etc. When my eldest was small she really enjoyed going shopping with me and putting fruit, veg etc in the basket, teddy bear picnics and foodie books like Handa’s surprise to encourage her to try new fruits. Just keep offering her meals as normal. I wouldn’t do the follow on milk because she’ll only fill up on the milk and you’ll have another battle of not only getting her to eat but also stopping the milk.

Thank you! Shes started to eat a little better. But I'm deffo going to start doing picnicy things. She does like to help shopping but doesn't understand yet that I don't need 8 of everything on the shelf 🤣 she loves to help in the kitchen making cakes so I'm going to Google some kid friendly recipes and give them a go with her. Thanks!

My 3 and a half ds went through a similar phase... he is still picky, but so much better than before! In the end, I had to go back to spoon feeing him!

A friend's 2.5 year old is a bit hit and miss with food - either eating the world, or very unenthused about mealtimes. He is most interested in food if someone else is eating it - requests for "can I eat your dinner?" are common! So if you eat different food, from a plate next to her, is she interested in what you're having? Letting them 'steal' food from your plate can be good reverse psychology.

With my friend's kids the older brother offering the toddler food is another sure-fire way to get him to accept it. Point blank refusal from a parent or me if I'm there and helping, but the six year old aero-planing a spoonful of something in - sure!

Toddlers 🙃