Tantrums at food time...??

[mrschapman]

Hi ladies (and gents!), my DS has been poorly for a couple of weeks with one thing after another and a molar coming through. Before this she had a great appetite and ate really well and now the only meal i can get her to eat is breakfast!!
she is 1yrs old and i am really struggling to feed her during the day, she pushes the spoon away, closes her mouth so tightly a crow bar wouldn't open it! Constantly turns away when i try to feed her.
I have tried giving her the spoon with and without food on it and she just throws it on the floor! I have given her a tray full of finger food (veg, sarnies, meat, potatoes etc...) and she just drops them over the side onto the floor!
Please help me, i am at my wits end and am worried that she is going hungry!
If i offer her a biscuit she will happily eat it! I must confess that i have been offering them occassionally as i can't bear her to be hungry!
She has lost about 6oz in the last 4wks and i can't help but worry!
Any help is more than welcome!
Thanks so much
Marie xx

Sorry i put DS and i meant DD!!!! duh!

Try distracting her with books???? I always found this worked. My DS would go off food for a week/10 days at a time when he was off colour. No matter how relaxed you try to be about it it's so stressful!!! Also, I know this probably goes against all nutritional advice but if she likes her breakfast, why don't you give it to her at tea time too. It's not the end of the world - for a few days anyway - and at least she would be eating.....

I don't feel particularly qualified but I would just say, when she throws the spoon or finger food (surely she's ready to feed herself?) smile (sorry, yes smile, however anxious you might feel) and take her away from the table. I know with ds1 if I reacted with stress to anything, it became a 'thing' for weeks on end. I'm wise to that with ds2.
Also, I'm thinking about when I've been off colour and the only thing I want to do is eat what I fancy, rather than what I should eat. If she doesn't fancy it, she wont/shouldn't eat it. On the flip side, I can't imagine she's going hungry, I really think, if she was hungry she'd eat it.... but that only works (in my limited experience) if you stay calm, unworried (at least on the exterior) so that when she's ready she'll start devouring whatever you make again. Hope all is well soon.