Does anyone elses toddler go through periods of not eating and then eating loads?

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DD is nearly 16mo, she was BLW at 6 months and BF for 7.5 months.

She ate like a trooper when we originally started weaning but now she goes in fits and starts.

I try not to worry too much, as she does love food, but some days (weeks) she would rather just have milk and not much else despite me offering her everything I can think of.

DD is my PFB and she has always been tiny, tall but tiny in weight IYSWIM. She was only 7lb 3 ounces when she was born and she did put weight on fine. Now though it seems to have come to a halt, she is stuck just under 21lbs.
I hate taking her to the weighing clinics as the HV's are useless and make me feel like a failure to be perfectly honest.

She seems to be coming out of a non eating period and has eaten a full banana, 2 bowls of cereal and had some milk.

The HV's tell me to not give her any milk, but when she goes through these non eating phases she will get nothing at all if she doesn't have milk.

I try not to worry about this too much and she is healthy and very, very active but it does worry me that she can go weeks without eating hardly anything.

After reading another thread I am about to introduce a 'snack box' for DD to see if that will encourage her.

Anyone else get this with their DC's, how do you cope.

Oh and DD likes everything we try her with, she can take or leave chicken and doesn't eat a lot of meat but there is nothing she doesn't like IYSWIM.

I'm constantly posting a similar type of thing on here. My DD who is now 22 m has always been like that. She can shovel in an adult sized meal then point blank refuse almost anything for a week. I keep going with the milk because its the one thing thats calms her. If I were you I'd stop getting her weighed and don't talk to the HV's. If she's very active there's nothing to worry about - I think the common rule is that if they start to become pale and lethargic from eating nothing, thats the time to go and see someone.
Try not to worry - my sister was like this for the first few years of her life and she's now a very voluptuous 24 yr old who eats everything apart from tomatoes!
You sound like a fab mum and thats the best thing your DD can have.
Snack box is a good idea - def. worth a try.

Thanks brightongril, It is hard isn't it. I have stopped taking DD to get weighed when we got her new car seat when she was about 12/13mo.

I don't worry as much as I used to, but after the last time I spoke to the HV she made me feel a bad mum as DD still has cows milk in a bottle. DD loves it, it calms her down and that last one before bed ensures that she sleeps for 12 hours solid, so no way am I giving that up lol.

I just get worried that she wont eat. Like I said she seems to be coming out of a week 10 day non eating period. She will eat very little very sporadically and I get myself wound up. She seems fine in herself and what not.

DD sounds like your DD, can eat a full size adults meal and then nothing for days on end.

I've spent so much time worrying that its scary when I look back at the state I've got myself into when she does this.
Milk is a good meal and if she goes back to food after her moments of non eating I really don't think its a problem. She's still only tiny.
Try and block out all comments by HV. I think most of them talk absolute bollocks to be honest.

My ds was the same but as he was under the constant care of a paediatrician (for other medical reasons) I was able to get a lot of reassurance. He said at that age they could basically live on air! He seemed to and even now (4.75) he isn't the biggest eater. He was a prem and tiny and the HV was dreadful. So much so that my GP actually banned her from seeing me.

my DD still does this and she is 12 and is as tall as me and has just started her periods so it can't be doing her any harm
in fact, she has never been a good eater since a toddler and I have long given up worrying about what she does or doesn't eat.

Yes, my dd still does this at 4 yo and ds does it too at 9mo. Dd will have days where she hardly eats anything but I know she's not going hungry because she is the first one to ask for a snack when she is Ds is doing well with his weaning but he too has days when he's just not interested. I'm not worried about ds as he is still bf and on the days that he doesn't have huge amounts of solids he makes up for it in milk but with dd she can sometimes look very pale so we've started giving her a vitamin everyday. I have no idea if it makes a difference but it makes me feel a bit better, don't know if it's suitable for a 16mo though. fwiw, my ds weighs about 20lb at 9 mo but his weight gain has slowed right down from where it was a few months ago, even though his eating atm is brilliant. I am trying to rely less on the weight, as I can see that actually he is fine.

I know I should try not to worry about it, and I am better than I was but it is still there at the back of my mind nagging me.

I don't want to get into bad habits. My mum says to let DD have whatever she wants during the non eating times, including crisps, sweets, chocs etc. Now I am not averse to DD having treats, but that is what they are treats. I don't want her thinking that if she doesn't eat her meals or fruit and veg then she can have her treats IYSWIM.

Littlelamb, that is my main problem that DD doesn't weigh much. Mine and DH's niece is couple of months younger than DD and weighs 29lbs. Her mum (DH's step sister) takes great delight in telling me how much she weighs, so much so that I have had to distance myself from her as she was making me feel awful.

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You know what I feel much better just knowing that DD is not the only one who does this. I thought it was my parenting IYSWIM. I guess some DC just prefer food more at times to other times.

I just hate the thought of her being hungry, and felt guilty giving her a bottle cos of the HV.

I know I wont feel guilty about that anymore.

my ds was also like this and I used to worry like mad, but my hv told to not worry, he'd not starve through stubborn-ness, as long as what he did eat was healthy and balanced. He's almost 5 now and still fluctuates between eating loads, and not enough to keep a gnat alive.

You could try letting her graze, mid morning and mid afternoonsitting her down with some fruit. I have a friend who reads to her boys during meal times as they eat more

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No, I ate like a horse when I was younger, still do DH was the same as me when he was younger, always eating.

We offer her small, frequent meals throughout the day as when we offered her 3 meals a day she would not eat at all.

There are always fruit and snacks around, she has a bowl of raisins and dried apricots that are refreshed everyday but left on her little table in the room so she can snack whenever she wants.

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DD has always been like this. She is now 2.9 and weighs 12.4 kg, much less than most of her peers. BUT she is healthy, active and usually has lots of energy. In fact she seems to have less energy during her eating loads phases so I just assume that is when she is growing.

She didn't eat lunch until she was over 18 months because she just didn't have the appetite for it. Instead she would have a small snack (fruit/cheese/a bit of sandwich etc) late morning and milk in the afternoon. Not giving her the snacks or milk just meant she didn't have anything so I completely understand you on that one.

TBH I really wouldn't worry too much, dd will always let me know when she is hungry and is very specific about what she wants-sometimes she wants milk, othertimes she'll ask for fruit,othertimes she'll want a biscuit . Just keep offering her the meals but don't stress to much if she doesn't want it. It can be frustrating but I don't really see the point of making meal times a battle (the two times I have forced dd to eat her dinner she has been sick later that night so now I always assume she knows better than me!)

DS age 6 still does this - it correlates exactly with when he is growing.

DD (2 next month) has always been just as you describe- periods of hardly eating then times when she polishes off huge meals.
The only thing that is certain is if she is ill- even just a cold she will pretty much eat nothing.
DD is also very tiny (5lb 4 at birth and 0.9th centile since) so we have had our fair share of HV pressure, referral to a dietician even- who commended her varied diet as it happens! Some people are small. I stopped seeing HV around 1yr old too and I am sad that I wasted that much time worrying.
My policy now is that if she does eat she gets lots of praise but if she doesn't it gets removed without comment. (That bit is hard if I've slaved over it and I have to fight against cajoling or bribery or threats all of which I've tried without success). I have to stop other people esp grandparents trying to play aeroplanes- all that happens is everyone gets upset and still no food gets eaten.
DD gets milk and snack eg fruit/raisins/cracker mid morning and midafternoon and milk at bedtime. Aren't they still supposed to have a pint of milk a day or something at this age?
People do stop going on bout their weight when they are older thank goodness- then they start going on about behaviour

My DD is 2.6 and still hasn't made it to 22lbs! So I really wouldn't worry. I think some children are just meant to be slim or even skinny. I was a very skinny child too and DD has bags of energy and seems happy so I don't worry about it. She does also go through phases of eating more or less. And FWIW, DD hates milk and still doesn't eat much some weeks.

I stopped going to the HV clinic when DD was 8 months old after a heated discussion about her weight.

DS (just turned 2) is like this. Actually he goes through periods of not eating very much and eating even less

He is quite skinny and still in 12-18m trousers. Like Mamadoc I try not to coerce him to eat but the temptation is hard to resist sometimes! I do read to him during meals sometimes .

He does have regular snacks during the day, he seems to need them and it doesn't seem to make any difference to his appetite at mealtimes ie even if he's missed snacktime he still won't eat much. I only give healthy snacks though fruit, cheese, breadsticks etc -- well, he gets the very occasional biscuit, but no sweets or crisps.

I have absolutely no idea what he weighs, btw -- haven't taken him to the HV for a year.

Horton, I think that is how DD is going to be, she is very tall and very skinny she has never had that baby chubbiness that most babies had when newborn.

She is so tall that she is in 2 year old bottoms but I have to get elasticated waists so that they stay up lol.

I don't know where she gets it from as neither DH nor I are very tall nor skinny. The only person I can really think of is my grandma (dads mum) she was very very skinny but not that tall. DH doesn't have anyone his side that are very tall or skinny (he calls MIL a hobbit, as she is that short lol)