18 month old has no appetite!

[boredwithfoodprob]

I've posted on here before about my DS's poor eating habits....since day one he has had very little interest in food and eating but despite this has remained constantly on the 75 centile (98th for height).

He has got SLIGHTLY better in the food that he likes but my main worry now is not WHAT he eats (as I know toddlers are notoriously fussy) but HOW MUCH he eats. He has absolutely NO interest in food, even treats like ice-cream and jelly he will only eat a couple of spoons of. If I serve him something he likes for instance tonight was fishfingers, chips, and corn on the cob, he just ate one bite of each and then said "up!" Not even a chance of sticking around for pudding - he doesn't CARE about pudding!

The amount he eats would leave a mouse hungry i'm sure! He used to eat a big breakfast but this has decreased too. He does however LOVE his milk and drinks about 500mls a day - I have tried cutting back on this but makes no difference to his appetite. He only has fruit for snacks and we try to eat together as a family although he is only in his highchair for about 30 seconds so ends up just me and DH! What he would really love to do is run around eating and playing/watching TV etc etc but I don't think this is ideal.... What i'd like to know is do you think his attitude to food will improve?! Me and DH love our food so don't know where this has come from. It seems to have got worse since he started walking at 14 months...

He is very lively, bright, happy, not often ill etc etc so don't think it's due to underlying medical prob....Any reassurance would be great!!!!

Can't really help but my ds is similar. He is not paticularly fussy (as far a 2 and half year olds go at least) but he seems to get bored with eating very quickly. He sometimes doesn't eat much more than you discribe your 18 month old eating! It does worry me a bit but ds is healthy, very happy and energetic and is on 91st centile for height and weight so I can only assume he won't starve himself. He has 500 mls of milk a day too (250 in a cup when he first wakes up and the other 250mls at bedtime). I have tried to reduce the morning milk sooo many times but he still isn't interested in breakfast.

I fine not pressurising helps, just go with it and pretend you're not bothered whether he eats or not, any amount or cajoling our son into eating just becomes a game to him or a battle of wills depending on his mood so I just leave him to it.

Also, I stopped using the highchair at around 18 monts cos ds hated it. I now sit him on the sofa and do allow him to watch TV as I do find he will sit and eat a bit longer. My ds isn't bothered by puddings either (which seems very odd to me! lol)

I think at this young age they are so active and curious that sitting still to eat just seems a bit of a waste of time to them. Hopefully he'll grow out of it. Incidentally, if I go to a cafe or resteraunt, ds will sit beautifully in a chair and eat fairly well, at home- no chance!

If he's not ill or losing weigh then I'd just try not to worry and maybe top him up with multi vitamin drops.

Thanks meandjoe, reassuring to know your DS is similar! I do always maintain the "not bothered" approach with his eating as no amount of cajoling would work on him. I, like you find that he tends to eat a bit more in front of the TV!

Yep not liking puddings is bizarre isn't it - wish I had a bit more of that disliking!!

You're right about it being an age thing I think - too much going on to care about food!

Thanks for taking the time to reply and here's hoping our boys get more into their food in the future!

Boredwithfoodprob, I could have written your post!! In fact I posted last week myself about the same issue, sooooo frustrating isn't it?
I know what you mean about tv, toys etc but I do admit to parking the high chair infront of the tv esp at lunchtime (his worst time) just in the vain hope he might eat a bit more, it does work ....sometimes!
My son is slightly younger at 15 months and in every other way happy, healthy and very active so I guess we just need to relax (much easier said than done)
It is reassuring to know that you're not alone though!

I know it's worrying but needing less food is very common at this age. My oldest dd stopped eating a a year old and for the next year she barely ate a thing, causing me a lot of worry. She survived on a few cheerios and raisins for much of the year! She gradually got her appetite back again at 2 and now at nearly 9 eats like a horse!

If your ds is happy and healthy I wouldn't worry....oh and I would stop weighing him completely - look at the child not the scales.

Wait a minute, isn't milk a food???