How do you persuade your toddlers to eat?

[magicstars]

I'm getting really worried about dd (18mo) who seems to be almost completely losing her appetite. She will barely nibble on select foods-
Her favourites are Egg, tomatoes, cheese, biscuits, peas, sweetcorn and toast. She will eat soft fruit for Britain, but refuses pretty much anything else
Tonight for her tea she had 1 bite of kiddies pizza, a handful of peas and some of the white from a boiled egg and a few strawberries for pud. Does this sound in anyway ok? This is a normal size meal for her.
I offer her milk at bedtime which she often refuses, as she did tonight. She had a few sips of milk this morn.
I am trying not to show her that I'm stressed, but I am anxious that she isn't getting enough nourishment and do everything I can to persuade her eat.
She barely ate brekkie (a few cheerios) or lunch (a couple of bites of cheese sandwich and about 2 cherry tomatoes) so I took us out to a cafe this Arvo- she even refused the baby choccocino and blueberry muffin on offer. She will usually happily snack on fruit between mealtimes though.
I try getting a vitamin supplement into her but she usually protests against it so much, most of it ends up on her clothes!
She is on the 9th percentile for weight and quite petite.
Advice appreciated.

Btw I hadn't heard of a baby chococcino (sp?) before today when the man in the coffee shop asked if she'd like one.

I think that sounds fine. Honestly. I tore me hair out with my eldest at that age and it made no difference so you might as well go with it. She's at least eating a wide range of stuff just not very much of it. Keep an eye on her weight but don't worry too much?

Btw I think they are called babycinos and are usually just hot frothy milk with tiny bit of choccie sprinkles on top.

Thanks summer reassuring to hear that doesn't sound like a ridiculously small amount to eat (clearly she's pfb!).
I had ordered her a babyccino but the guy suggested an upgrade to a chococinno .

All my children have gone through times when they barely seemed to eat. Infact, the 23 month old has eaten pro ably less than that today

Just go with it, she'll have other days when it seems she'll eat loads. Try hard not to worry - i used to think that it was my job as a mum to provide nutritious food and it was completely up to them to eat

The older ones are sporty and healthy and have now massive appetites. There were days and days where they barel ate but then they would eat well when they had a busy busy day or having a growth spurt.

Honestly, i wouldnt worry about it at all.

My youngest eats like a tiny little bird too! She's 3 and very petite but totally healthy and is obviously getting what she needs. In contrast, my eldest has a huge appetite and is very tall and extremely physically active.

I would say leave your dd to it. Keep offering her a wide range of foods and let her decide how much she's going to eat. Easier said than done, I know!

Thanks guys, I think her small appetite is due to her being small for her age. Hopefully it'll grow as she does. Someone told me to look at what she's eating on a weekly rather than daily basis so as not to get hung up on 'bad days'.