2 year old barely eating and drinking milk

[mummyaimz]

My two year is being a bit weird with food and milk. She is refusing food except I can get her to eat soft fruit like dinner tonight all I could get her to eat was a bowl of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and I put a few dry Cheerios in the mix as she didnt have much breakfast. She had about a third to half of it, but lunchtime she wouldn't eat her mac and cheese and wouldn't touch her milk. Right now I'm trying to get her to have some milk before bed. Usually she has between 16-18 oz of full fat milk a day but today she has probably only had about 10 oz. I tried to top up her milk with cut up babybels as snacks but she just spat them out and refused to eat. I can't tell if she has teeth coming through and I checked her mouth for oral thrush as she had it a few months ago but she doesn't. She is still really happy and energetic and she has done her normal amount of number twos today (1-2) and her nappy feels full so I assume she is weeing enough. I don't know if it just her being fussy as she is two in a few months. I just really worry when she doesn't eat.

It could be a few things. Is this normally how she is or is it recent behaviour?

If you are in the uk there no minimum recommendation for cows milk at this age, so could you cut it down? She may not be hungry if she's usually having 20floz a day. Between 12 and 24 months the minimum is 10floz.

If she is teething have you tried ibruprofen, a teething gel like dentinox and snacks like cool cucumber or a frozen banana?

Could it simply be behavioural? If she doesn't like the look of what's on offer she might have discovered that by saying no she gets mum in a lovely tizz. I'd just give the family meal and ignore any complaints, she won't starve. Have a look at My child Won't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez

Yep very few children will voluntarily starve themselves, but many start playing games at this age with food.

They can get the calcium they need from yoghurts, cheese & other calcium rich foods rather than milk, it could be the amount she is having takes the edge of her appetite. Try giving her water regularly.

Give her small amounts of what you are having as a family, try & eat with her and don't make a fuss if she won't eat. take the plate away and let her get down after 20 minutes or she'll get bored. Little & often is the key

She's had a good day, fair amount of milk (I am thinking of dropping her lunchtime bottle and incorperating what she would have in her milk into her diet in other ways) good amount I food and plenty of water. She is a bit rashy so will probably just get her checked over by the doctor after the bank holiday

Sorry to be dim, you said she is 2, and then talked about a lunchtime bottle? Recommendations are to get rid of bottles at 1!

Really?? Nobody told me this. I have now been told 12oz is all she needs if she is drinking milk

Agree, no bottles after one and there is no minimum recommended amount of milk at this age, it isn't 12floz, its only 10floz between one and two.

I'd drop all of the bottles, offer milk in a sippy cup before bed if you want to but keep offering family food and water. She really doesn't need bottles or 20floz of milk at this age

There's some information on milk here and some information on dropping the bottles here

Could be teething? Of just being two. My ds really varies on what he eats, sometimes ranging from being ridiculously hungry to barely eating a thing. He has milk first thing and last thing, as he likes it, it's his comfort before bed and he asks for it in the morning. We are cutting the amount down in the morning though so make sure he is hungry for breakfast.

I really worried on his non-hungry days, and the best advise I got was not to make a big deal of it, congratulate good eating but don't berate or make a fuss of not eating/finishing a meal as this might encourage fussy eating.

Thank you for the links at JiltedJohnsJulie. Those links were helpful. See I've been told so many different things about milk. That she needs at least 16oz, 12oz, 10oz, no more than 20oz but those links helped. Since she is being fussy with milk will I be able to just drop the lunchtime bottle from tomorrow and she won't miss it and get her appetite back?

You can but try! Good luck!

I don't think she is teething. She has had no problems with her teeth, god knows how, I've had two wisdom teeth coming through and they hurt like f**k so god knows how she has breezed through teething. She has 13 or 14 teeth now so I don't think she has many left to come through. Her morning milk is usually on her cereal so that will be cool and I usually give her a warm milk at night to help her clam down and get ready for bed after her bath. Just need to stop the lunchtime milk. Like I said in my last post, can I cut it out straight away or will I have to wean her off it.

A dietician once told me to think of the diet over a week before you worry, some days they may be "off" food or only graze, but others eat for England! If across the week you can have a variety of foods then she'll be fine, bowls of fruit are a great snack. you

Milk is very filling thoughbut doesn't sustain them so you're right to incorporate it in her food rather than as a drink apart from at night maybe.

My 2 yo (and 6 yo!) love drinking milk. Dd23mo has a beaker of milk with breakfast, snack and water at 10ish, lunch and water at 12ish, milk or water in a beaker on waking and a snack, snack at 4ish, dinner at 630 and then beaker of milk at bed. This is what works/has worked for my 3dcs but only a guide.
Someone said to me once don't worry what they eat in a day, look at the whole week for a better picture, as we all have off days with food.

I'm going to take her to the doctors Tuesday as her tongue is very white, don't know if it is milk staining or oral thrush, she usually gets it on the insides of her cheeks if she has it but its just on the tongue atm so going to get her checked over Tuesday just to rule out any illnesses that might be affecting her appetite.

And she loves fruit. About all I can get her to eat. She will quite happily eat a big bowl of blueberries and raspberries and blackberries. Just need to get her back to eating how she used to. I should also say she is dinky for her age so she never has big portions but I know she is eating less than usual

Yes, I'd just not offer the lunchtime bottle, she'll be fine. Like most things with chikdren, it will probably take her at least 3 days to adjust and realise she needs to eat her lunch as there is nothing else coming her way for a while

As for milk on her cereal. You don't have to just give her cereal for breakfast. Have you tried her with blueberry pancakes, sausage and beans or toast and nut butter? All have calcium

Forgot to say, if you think she oral thrush, a pharmacist should be able to diagnose and sell you something. Might be worth seeing if there is a pharmacy open in your area today

How are things now aimz? Is she earring any better?

Could well be her 2 year molars coming in

Dd is 2.5 and often has phases where she won't eat. I just keep offering and eventually she starts eating well again.
I think if you are dropping bottles that now isn't the right time. Id wait until she's eating better prob very soon.

ledkr do you think she should be on bottles at 2? The NHS advice is to drop them at 12 months. Also, the OP is trying to give her 21floz a day which is way more than is recommended. I think all the milk is filling her up and stopping her being hungry and once she drops the bottles and cuts the milk right back her DDs appetite will pick up.

My bf gave her dd lots of milk because she wouldn't eat much, she admits now it was a vicious circle and lead to years of fussy eating. She says she really wished she had cut back on the milk and just let her feel hungry enough to eat with the rest of the family.

Since dropping her lunchtime milk her appetite has picked up and each day she is eating a bit more. She is doing great now.

That's great news

I didn't say she should still have bottles I merely suggested if she was going through a difficult phase of not eating that it might not be a great time to reduce the calories she was getting from milk.
Op I'm glad it worked though. I always avoid giving her milk if Its coming up to meal time as it seems to fill them up quite a lot.

Probably should have said cups instead of bottles. She has the sippy cups but she is fine now

ledkr sorry, I think one f the problems with writing on these forums is that everything you say can be taken so literally

I do agree with you on not reducing the milk if the child is refusing solids, but only if the child was unwell. If like the OP, the child just seems to enjoying the power of refusing food and is being given more than is recommended for a 6 month old baby, I think its fine to reduce the milk intake. With more than twice the recommended amount of milk each day its hardly surprising she was refusing the odd meal though