15 month old will not eat - Help!!

[chel86]

I look after a 15 month old and they refuse to eat! I have been told that he had bad reflux as a baby and through weaning, so has had a bad relationship with food. Instead of persisting the bottle was easier. So I suggested that I start the weaning process again in line with my 5 month old baby, only rush theirs through, which was agreed.

Trying to spoon feed them was a nightmare as they fight me and just push spoon away, but some days were good and they would eat a whole portion. Fast forward a couple of months and while I'm trying to get them to eat finger foods they're now not taking anything! I'm not going to bully them in to taking food from a spoon, but at this age they should be eating finger foods now anyway. But they just play with it, throw it on the floor. They won't eat!!

I have tried praise, sitting with them , leaving them alone, eating with them, aeroplanes, the lot!! And they're too young to understand any kind of reward chart. So what do I do?? We've also tried cutting the milk right down so they don't fill up on that and if they don't eat breakfast they have nothing til lunch, etc.

Help!!

My DS is food phobic and we've tried so many techniques. When he was about that age, I would give him what I knew he would more than likely eat and let him eat it however he wanted. Even now he almost 5, if he wants to eat with his fingers, I don't make a big deal out of it.

Do you have a list of foods he likes from the parents? How about inviting a few friends his age over for a little lunch. When they're all sitting around and he sees them all eating and playing with food, he might be more inclined to try some more.

I think you're may be trying to hard. Give it a break and ask the parents to supply a lunch box, offer it and leave it at that.
If he plays with it thats fine,if he doesn't eat just get him down with the others, don't make an issue.
Do you go to toddler groups where the children sit around and have snack time together, he may feel less pressured to do it with others. Its surprising how little some children survive on, make sure he is only having water so he's not filling up on milk or juice.But you can only really follow the parents lead.

Just read the bit about not eating breakfast, I don't really get why you then refuse food till lunch? Sometimes I don't like breakfast but can eat well at 10am, children are the same. He may be too tired to eat much at lunchtime,especially if he hasn't had much else, go with the flow and try a really healthy snacktime at 10 and 2 and don't worry!!

My DS was never ready for brekkie at getting up time and so my friend suggested taking his brekkie out and offering it about 10am too. He was always ready for it by then.
Even now, he is often carrying his brekfast to school because he wasn't hungry at 7:30!

yeh that is just like my kids, eating their breakfast on way to school. Don't think alot of us like food in our face as soon as we wake up lol. Like what Danthe4th said, "go with the flow"

Can you let him just snack healthily throughout the day, by just leaving food out where he can reach it? Just an idea, you know the child better than me . My DD was always rubbish at eating more than a couple of mouthfuls at mealtimes, but would happily grab a piece of apple out of a bowl in between.

Thanks for all your advice. I do offer healthy snacks to all the children throughout the day and they are always on offer, with proper snacks times around 10 and 2. I guess I just need to relax a bit and keep offering food I know they like and hopefully one day he'll start eating!

start again with yoghurt and lumpy small chopped fruit then on to things like fish cakes which are soft look in annebel karmel fussy eaters and find sweetcorn fritters they are finger foods but soft and yummy.