should i worry he's not eating enough?

[canella]

ds2 is 2.8 and never been the best eater but its got worse recently!

this is what he's eaten so far today

-small cupful of milk
-small bowl of cheerios which i had to feed to him or he'd have just left them
-half a slice of bread and the yolk of a hard boiled egg

• couple of small cups of very diluted juice
• 2 biscuits

now that i've written it down it seems more but its nothing really and all apart from the biscuits i've had to feed him cause he's no interest in eating.

he's only ever slept a couple of nights through so i'm always worried he's hungry in the night cause he's eaten so little in the day!

should i worry about him? should i feed him or should i just let him eat what he wants then take it away until the next meal?

bump for the evening crowd!!

I don't know but am watching. My 3.5 yr old is like this and has always been. He is growing OK but is just not interested in food. He stops eating Easter eggs after about 4 mouthfuls saying he has finished.

I've noticed that this is really common amongst toddlers. A healthy toddler won't starve themselves. Your list is a lot compared to what DS eats sometimes.

I beleive it's a developmental phase that kids go through, stay relaxed about the whole thing, keep offereing healthy meals and eat together. You could put vitamins in his juice until he grows out of it for an extra boost.

I would hold back on bisciuts and treats until after he has eaten a meal and I would aviod feeding him, he will soon change his mind when he realises that he will go hungary if he doesn't do it himself.

Someone once told me that that the average hunger striker doesn't die until the 68th day!!!!! I'm betting most toddlers wouldn't last 48hours!

he def wouldnt last 68 days - i definitely wouldnt!!
think i've just got in a habit of feeding him cause i want him to sleep and i associate the 2! he's only getting a couple of biscuits mid afternoon - hard to stop him having them since his older brother and sister are eating them too!

he'd eaten nothing again this morn since his breakfast but i had to nearly force feed him his lunch (no force - just bribing really!!)

but he's had nothing since and he's not bothered at all!! i'm still concerned at how little he drinks so i'm going to work on that for the next few weeks - he's never been fussed on juice and gives up on water after a few sips!! so we're doing ok now with v diluted juice!! i'm sure its also why he's not potty trained despite my best efforts - think he's got so little urine he's no idea he needs to go!! (but thats for a different thread!!)

but thanks for the idea about putting vitamins in his drink - that sounds like a plan!! he'll drink milk so at least he's getting calcium!

I have read somewhere that you shouldn't judge a toddler by their daily intake but by their weekly intake as some days they will eat more than others. This is definitely true of my 19month old DS who today has had a quarter piece of toast and 5 grapes for breakfast, 1/2 small bowl of soup and a couple of mouthfuls of bread for lunch, 1/2 a digestive mid afternoon, about 5 mouthfuls of beef casserole & veg for tea. He has drunk about 1/2 pt milk throughout the day and has a 5oz bottle at bedtime.

Canella - my DS1 (now nearly 3) was very similar. We did the whole feeding thing/food battle thing/meals lasting an hour thing and reached breaking point a few months back where I decided we just would not feed DS1 and let him feed himself, let him pick his breakfast cereal, only give fruit snacks between meals, restrict juice to mealtimes only (wather inbetween meals), and only give treats after meals (cakes, biscuits, chocolate etc.). We also introduced a smiley face sticker chart for everytime he ate his meal well (over half of main course and desert). His eating improved massively after a couple of weeks and he even tells me when he's hungry (never did it before!). He's still not brilliant with trying out new foods but will occasionally do so (particularly if he sees it on tv - Peppa Pig is responsible for him eating tomato soup and Charlie & Lola responsible for him now eating fish fingers). The key to DS eating was us relaxing about it all and letting him feel like he has some form of control. When he tells me he is finished now I accept it - even if he's only had 2 mouthfuls. If he is hungry later he will tell me and just get some fruit. We also give him vitamins (a chewy one a day which he enjoys as its like a sweet). Look at what he eats over a week - I bet its more than you think.

thanks dinkystinky! we've negotiated today that if he eats his bread for lunch then he can have the cake he made at kindergarten! its taking forever and a day to get him even to eat the cake!!

might just not give him anything now till teatime - its pasta tonight (his favourite food) so maybe he'll eat it then!!

funny thing about ds2 is that he'll try absoultely any food - he actually prefers eating new food!! but that doesnt work for every meal when i've 2 others to feed!! an example is i was eating leftover thai curry one lunchtime and he nearly stole the lot off me!! it was fairly spicy but he loved it!! maybe i just need to make his food more exciting!!

sometimes wonder where i got him from - cant fill his siblings!!

That he is willing to try new foods is fantastic. You must be doing something very right. I don't know many kids who would try Thai curry. DS lives on beans.

dont think i've done anything to encourage it - the other 2 although they eat loads will only eat certain things!!

after i posted this morning he asked to try my brie type cheese!! if i'd offered the other 2 a £100 they'd still not have tried it!! maybe i should put that on his sandwiches and see if he eats them!!

ha ha sazzlesA - that sounds so like my ds!! never thought of it that way!! thats a definite plan for tomoorow! i'll just pile my plate higher!!! good plan!