My 13 m/o won't eat

[Kione]

Hi all,

I'd love some advice or encouragement as my 13 month old daughter won't eat anything. She has never been a great eater and she was ill last week, so we just left her to pick and concentrated on giving her water. But now she's been well for a few days and still won't eat. Only a bit of ham, a copuple of spoonfuls of fruit and a couple of chips, in the whole day. The HV said just keep trying, MIL says just don't worry she'll eat when she's ready. She has lost lots of weight, again HV says thats normal because she's been ill. But she has been waking up every 10 minutes since 4am, I suppose she was hungry I tried to give her milk but she didn't want any. I am at my wits end and my DP had to go to work having slept 4 hours.

I wonder if there is any vitamins I can give her in the water, or something? eating so little, and not very healthy stuff can't be good :o(

Any experiences on this? or advice? I know is difficult, each child is different and all that but I need a bit of support.

Thanks a lot.

The smiley was supposed to be sad!

Both my dc1 and dc2 went off food at about 12 or 13 months, i blamed the measles jabs but maybe that is not the case. What i did was gave them less (and waited for them to ask for more)and took it away quickly if they didn't want it. It seems like she may still be ill and maybe that's why she's not eating. I'd just put something easy to cook and eat in front of her 3 times a day and see when she felt better. Both my big dc (age 5 and 4) are great eaters but they've been ill and have eaten very little this week.i wouldn't give milk in the night if that's not what she usually has as she might be feeling sick not hungry.

The thing is, she will never ask for food, she wouldn't even cry when hungry when she was a baby.

Maybe she just not well yet but she looks absolutly fine, playing, dancing nd being a rascal, YNWIM. I'll just have to wait, but my concern is that she has never been a good eater and her being ill has messed things even more.

Bur yes, I'll just wait a few more days and see. I just feel so sorry for DP, at least I can have a nap when she does but he cant.

How about really pretty cut up fruit in the shape of a flower or face (not too much) as a starter. Also remember that milk IS a food and don't worry .

i wouldnt worry about the type of food your child is eating, as long as she is eating something.

a small tummy , after a illness may only be able to take small amounts, so little and often is good.

i think you need to time your offering of food, try not to let her go too long without anything in her tummy, milk or food, however small, sometimes if you go hungry for so long , you go 'past' hunger iyswim.
offer someting with a bit of sugar first, can give a bit of a lift, then offer something else.

does she have a good nap in the day?

catching up on sleep does help with eating.

if shes playing, she recovering, so dont worry too much.

for those who mentioned food dropping off at over 1 yr, thats normal as growth rates drop at that point. so not at all connected to the measles jab, but something to expect!

Thank you, haven't tried to arrage fruit in a pretty shape. Will try that.

She doesn't drink a lot of milk either. About 2 or 3 oz. in the morning with breakfast a nd another 3 at night. I keep offering it to her but she won't have it. At night we have to play while giving her the milk and if she doesn't go over 3oz. then 2 petit filous, thats the only way she will sleep ok.

She is 100% ok now, and eats a bit more, but only some baked beans a bit of ham, a bit of banana and yogurts. I wish she would eat more varied, but I guess this will have to do!

Thanks for all the replies.

Just seen this message, it looks like she was massively teething, she grew 3 teeth at once!

So she still not the best eater, but deffinitely much better. I have to play the clown and do all sorts to make her start eating her lunch or dinner, but then she usually etas a fair amount and more varied. What a relief it is when we put her to bed knowing that she's had a good meal.

Also if its any help for anyone reading, I make he banana or strawberry milkshake, just the milk and the fruit and she drinks it much better. And she gets more vitamins than just milk.

So I hope I remember that things get better next time she goes through teething or something like that!