long term food strike.

[chloeb2002]

Ok so hopefully someone out there will have been through this too? My DD now 15 months has always been a faddy eater but has always been tall and i guess best describe as lanky? she stopped eateing when she began teething, seems a common problem? teethed late at 12 months for her fisrt tooth and 5 months on is eating less and less. very independant, likes to try and feed herself, ive tried all manner of finger foods, health visitor recomened anything with alot of sugar and fat, not even chocolate will tempt her at most times! Feeling very down, i have no doubt that she has a very sore moutn as in 3 months she has 6 teeth through and another two on the way! The health vistor now wants her to see the paeds doctor. As her weight has dropped from the 80 centile to the 30th in the last 3 months! she has however grown another 2 cms.... upward! anyone been there done it and got through it?

chloeb
check out the recent threads in food about fussy eaters, there are quite a few of us with them, however i do understand your concern about her dropping to the 30th centile, go to the paed on your hvs advice.
does she drink her milk, my dd loves it, however itry not to give her too much so her little appetite isnt curtailed. my dd recently eats nothing more than weetabix, crackers, some toast, maybe some pear or petit pois and corn, incredible fussy and frustrating.
but as we discussed on another thread full of energy , sleeps and isnt a sickly child. she too went off "new"food sampling when teething and hasnt got thecuriousity to try again - even though i offer up different things.

no solution just in the same boat

If your dd is still teething, then she could well be off her food. Both of mine went go off their food when teething, and it wasn't always obvious why. Also, when dd teeths, she often starts on something she likes, say a rusk, and then starts crying. I think it's the texture, because it's usually rough or hard foods that bother her. If you want to tempt your dd, my advice is to steer clear of sweet foods, as you may end up with more problems when she finally decides to eat again. Also try not to show her your concern over food issues - tough, I know. Have you tried giving her different flavours? My son loved sour foods, and prefered purees while teething (when he ate at all!).

My MIL says that children grow up then out then up then out. Certainly that's true with ds, and just before the 'out' spurt, he looks dreadfully skinny. My HV said that babies weight gain often slows down when they start insisting on feeding themselves, simply because they can't manage to feed themselves enough. It all evens out at the end. You should have seen how ds put it away when he started eating again once the worst teething was over! But I agree with Hermykne - go to the paed if it will make you feel better.

Have sat through all the previous threads and some goodies, have bough some ready brek, after she condoned to eat two spoons of sweet porridge am! will keep on trying. My biggest worry is that she doest get even a pint of milk. having breast fed till she was 8 months she is now on formular,i wanted to keep her on it as at least it has Lcp's and is fortifoed. she also doesnt seem to like cows milk! today however she had a small yogurt, two spoon of yogurt, 1" square of pizza, and triumph over nearly a jar of Hipp pancakes and peach? again dont like jars but if she will eat it i guess? milk wise about 6 ounces all day? she seems to get very tired having now gone to bed at 5.30pm! normally she would be in bed at 7pm and still going strong. She has had cold after cold after cold! varying severity's but doesnt shake it for long all part of the problem tho i think! Will venture out to see the paeds dcotor but i dont really know what she can do to help! anyway will open a bottle of wine? may help me at least!!!

I really feel for you, being one of the moms of a fussy eater as Hermykne described. My threat 'check this out for crap food intake' shows you what sort of intake my daughter has. She differs from yours in that she's never made it over the 50th centile, she generally hovers around the 25th and has never drastically lost weight. However I have heard that around the middle of the 2nd year they start to become more of what they will be size and weight wise. I guess what they used to call 'puppy fat' begins to come away. It happened to me as a child and my brother and I've witnessed it in a close friend's little girl who's now 3 and like a rake. I really do know how you feel, it's dreadfully stressful and upsetting to feel you're not providing them with an essential thing they need.

Gosh, sorry meant to say 'thread' not 'threat'!