14 month old refusing to eat

[Gangle]

DS has been off his food for about a week/10 days. He has always had a healthy appetite but is now refusing to eat many of his favourite foods and is existing on a diet of bread and yoghurt although tonight he was even refusing bread. We were on holiday for a few days so he's possibly unsettled but his appetite was going even before then. I know the general rule is not to worry if they seem happy and alert and are still drinking (which he is) but just so worried and don't understand why he is suddenly so fussy. He was teething last week and also had hand and foot disease (we think) so could be linked to that. Can anyone shed any light? So worried.

bump

good luck - would say not to worry.

I think it's quite common around your DS's age and I wouldn't get too worried about it. I've even read that quite babies concentrate on eating the kind of foods their body needs at that particular time. Don't know how true that is, but if he's still eating relatively well I'd leave it a while and see how he does.

Teething can really put a spanner in the works too. Sometimes giving something totally new can work wonders. I've found 'Finger foods for babies and toddlers' really useful for tempting bits and pieces I hadn't really thought of. Made some banana muffins today which went down really well (wholemeal flour, no sugar). Not saying muffins are the answer, but it might break the bread/yoghurt cycle.

Thanks both. He is happy to eat snacks like raisins or Organix biscuits or anything less healthy he can get his hands on (big piece of sponge cake yesterday) so he is hungry and able to eat but just won't eat at mealtimes. So relieved he will eat something that starting to let him have less healthy food that I would usually, hence the cake. Just want to get something in him.

Try not to worry. possible the holiday and the illness has unsettled him a bit. Don't worry about what he's eating and whether he 'should' be eating it. Just give him what he fancies

Most of us don't feel like much to eat if we've been a bit off, little ones are the same exept they don't 'get' that they're supposed to eat so just don't eat if they don't fancy. He'll be back to normal soon i'm sure

Hi there

I echo the comments above - it sounds like the illness and holiday have unsettled him a bit.

Can you have a good look in his mouth and check there are no sore areas? What about some pain killers 30 mins before his main meal of the day for a week or so?

I also echo that 14 months is typically when toddlers start refusing to eat - it's a control thing. Consider lightneing the load: 2 main meals a day at 11.00 and 3.oopm instead of 3 main meals, OR 6 little snack type meals through the day.I have to say, I stuck on Teletubbies on video a lot, and shovelled in the food when possible too!

Hopefully this won't be an ongoing thing, but if it is (like my son)... try not to worry - my son had a sparrow's appetite for 6 years, but is now 8 years old, nice and tall, (but slim!), and his appetite has really taken off (although he's still not very adventurous with new food).

yes, they are more prone to picking up bugs when they're not eating well, and their centile does drop down... but in the end it's all okay! Hooray!

Good luck

If he had hand foot & mouth the his mouth would have been very sore. At this age illness can really bugger up the eating thing but it will resolve itself. Not worrying is much easier said than done though, isn't it?

hi