Two-and-a-half-year-old eating very little and seeming to lose weight

[FTMaz]

Hi everyone

my son is 2 1/2 he has not ever been a great eater but the past couple of months his eating has become really poor. We have recently been on a 12 day holiday and when I say he barely ate anything I’m not exaggerating. On an average day he would have morning and night time milk, perhaps a few cherry tomatoes, few chips and maybe an oaty bar. There was not one day when he ate any of the meals we got him or anything at breakfast which was a buffet. Today now we are at home he has eaten 1/4 piece of toast and an oaty bar. I offer him lots of different foods but he refuses pretty much everything. I have noticed now that he is losing weight as he still wears pull ups and the size he has been for a while are falling down, age 2 bottoms are also too big for him on the waist whilst being too short. I have taken him to the GP a couple of times and they just dismiss it as normal. At nursery they say he eats well but I have doubts of how well they monitor it. I’m really unsure where to go from here, any advice welcome. Thank you

Well I have no advice but I was literally just talking about this. We also have a just over 2 year old who seems to just pick. Started off well with eating dinner tonight and then after a few bites wouldn't have any more. Shouting NO when I try to feed her. We have noticed she doesn't eat much at all too. I am sorry I don't have advice but you are not alone!

I found my health visitor to be far better with my child's health than her actual GP. Perhaps pop into the next clinic and ask for advice?

Measure his height and weight and plot them in his red book to see where he is in terms of percentiles.

Weigh him weekly so you can see if he is actually losing weight and how much. You can then take this information to the GP/HV. They're far more likely to listen to this than 'his nappy looks big'. It's common at this age for children to have a growth spurt and lose baby chub so that isn't necessarily a concern. Showing actual weight loss will be taken more seriously.

In the meantime, offer food before milk. Offer high calorie, healthy foods at regular short intervals through the day. Give him what he will eat in combination with things that he won't so he continues to have contact with a range of foods. Ask nursery to keep a very close eye on what he eats for the next few weeks.

I'd definitely contact your hv and see if they can keep and eye on his weight and height over the next 3-6 months.
I have a daughter who barely eats and we find we have periods where he weight falter and other periods where her height falters. Between 1 and 2 she dropped from 25th percentile for length to 1st for height. We had static weight gain from 7 to 13 months.
We are now on a period for slow weight gain but she's moved from the 1st to 5th percentile for height

My daughters fussy eating is linked to reflux and food allergies. Her GPs have never been that interested but her HV, dietician and paediatrician have been more useful.

Sometimes with 2 year olds you have to go back a few steps to go forward. For a few days drop the idea of meal times and snack times. Have safe foods that he will reliably eat available where he is playing. Get eating to be a safe activity then build back in that routine of meals. It can become habit to push the food away and a day or two of low pressure food just gives a bit of reset.

It's worth looking into whether there is anything going on this is contributing to the fussy eating too.

Yeah start weighing him and measure his height as best you can as well. Sometimes the health people only really react when the centiles are off.

Does he eat unhealthy stuff if you offer it? Ice cream? Chocolate? Biscuits?