How many toddlers don't eat at least one meal a day?

[PetitFilou1]

I naively thought this was going to get better, not worse but ds (2.8) is really terrible with his eating at the moment. Just wondering who else out there has a child who won't eat. He was pretty good up until now and eats a good breakfast but is refusing most or all of lunch and dinner. Is this a growth spurt do you think? Or just a control thing or both? He loves watching preparation/cooking and 'helping' but it makes absolutely no difference to whether he'll eat.

Don't know the answer, but ds (2) is exactly the same. Usually he eats 1 meal a day - thats it. And its often not a lot (other day it was 2 strawberries and 2 rice cakes). . He is so fussy it is a joke. We get him involved in buying and preparing the food as well- makes no difference either.

I taken to trying not to worry about it, he's a healthy weight and has quite a bit of energy - but will watch this thread with interest.

my three year old ds can do the same if he has had too much to drink during the day. We cut out the juice, stuck to water (figured if he was thirsty enough he'd drink it) and cut out all snacks.

We are doing same with ds2 2.5 years. He has his cereal then thats it. We are cutting down his juice as he repeatedly asks for drinks during day and has aweird attachment to his cup, he actually takes it to bed!

He eats bits a pieces, 1 bite banana, 1 bite sandwich. Very worrying though especially when other ds eating was great.

I thought my 2 year old dd was the only one. She's tiny. She's will stuff a few bowls of cereal in for breakfast and quite happily go without food for the rest of the day. I now try to get in as many healthy snacks as possible as I know whatever I cook will just be ignored/thrown/politely refused.
And there I was thinking watching her big brother hoover up his food would have encouraged her to eat.
If she does eat later in the day she seems to choose food with the lowest calories plain rice, fruit or steamed veg. And yet given the chance she would gorge herself on chocolate and sweets.

Mine doesn't, and has been like this for a year now. He's still slightly chubby and only has the occasional cold etc. I just don't get it. He's now 2.7

I've said it before, but I will do it this week - that is set up discussion group for seriously fussy eaters

I'll join you Mercy, DS1 has a frighteningly limited diet at 2.4, I actually thought he might starve on holiday. He would only eat milkshake, yoghurt or ice-cream (strawberry). He does at least eat fish fingers, chicken burgers and some fruit normally.
I've given up begging, crying, shouting, being stern, firm, forceful and I don't bother with comedy or recriminations. But I don't give alternatives.
He ate a mouthful of carrot last feb and I nearly cried.

My DS3 (2.2) is a pathetically fussy eater. Despite starting brightly on the old Annabel Karmel recipes, and at the age of one year demolishing huge bowlfuls of pasta, he now eats about six foodstuffs in total. He won't try chocolate buttons, fgs!

MErcy please do. IT is really nice sometimes just to talk to others who are having similar problems and not just feeling like I'm the only one.

please do mercy..... dd 20 months has had me in tears recently.

she used to eat everything.... and tonnes of it but since she turned a year she's practically stopped eating. in a typical day she might have a few spoons of cereal, some days she'll eat a banana or an organic bicuit, but not always, she never has lunch because she won't touch it and if she eats more than two bites of dinner we consider it a massive success. she'll usually have a yojurt after dinner but again not always.

she's sooo thin it's worrying, she weighs the same now as she did at 10 months but never gets sick. i try offering her a variety but she won't touch most things...even stuff she loved as a baby like mangoes and other fruit.

pepper rabbit... dd took a tiny piece of steak of my fork yesterday and actually ate it and i sobbed in relief..... its the first red meat shes ever eaten..... not for lack of offering it, she just flat out refuses. even though she only ate a spoon of potato with it, it was probably the best meal she's had in a long time.... how sad is that?

oddly, she will eat pasta happily enough, most of the time, but even that isn't always accepted so i try not to give it more than 2/3 times a week so she won't get sick of it and refuse it as well

I've been there PInkTulips - cried when ds ate a couple of fries for the first time - helped himself. Its the only food hes ever eaten 'out'.

My brother is a ridiculously fussy eater and has lived off cereal, rice and pasta ever since he was a toddler. As he got older my parents tried everything to get him to taste new foods, but he ends up gagging on most stuff. He's now a teenager and will eat a bit more variety but has explained that he was never fussy to be difficult, it was that the foods tasted too strong, and different foods had colour associaions with them (not the colour of the food) that made them unappetising (it's synesthesia).

Just thought I'd share this as it might be the same case with some of your LOs, they might have extremely sensitive taste buds and are not deliberately setting out to make life hard?

thanks rosie... i've already thought about that, and there are a few other things suggesting she might have some type of SN but as she's so little it's imposible to tell for sure. and it doesn't really help me stop her from starving herself [wry smile]

It must be really worrying for you Pinktulips...wish I could offer some help...

my ds 2.11 never eats breakfast.. bottle of milk when he gets up then nothing until dinner which he just plays with..... strange thing is he NEVER asks for food.. NEVER says he,s hungry, wish i had this problem i think i eat for both of us

My DS is 5 and has a small appetite, yet he is growing and has loads of energy. DS doesn't snack between meals, he is in school so no opportunity to, but sometimes he just eats a few raw carrot sticks and peas for tea. Some kids just seem to be this way me thinks.

My DS is 5 and has a small appetite, yet he is growing and has loads of energy. DS doesn't snack between meals, he is in school so no opportunity to, but sometimes he just eats a few raw carrot sticks and peas for tea. Some kids just seem to be this way me thinks.

My ds1, 2.6, is the same and always has been. He started off at 9lb8oz (-probably all the chocolate I ate!) but as soon as he was eating for himself it all went downhill. He had reflux so vomited most of his milk and even some of his early weaning foods. During weaning he never ate more than 2 of those stage 2 jars even when he got to 10 months - he wouldn't eat anything with lumps in it. Once we moved onto real food the variety went as he didn't like the textures. He does usually eat a good breakfast at least. I try to give him very little junk food and he can only have a yoghurt or drink of milk/ juice as pudding if he eats his lunch/ dinner. He loves drinks of milk so this can be quite an incentive but he still doesn't eat much and his waist is shrinking to the extent that he is now back in (too short) 12-18 month old trousers. I have a 9 month old ds2 who so far is normal size so they will probably be fighting over trousers soon! I haven't started potty training yet either so I guess his waist will shrink even more then!

Sorry everyone, I forgot all about this. Will set up one later today. So glad I'm not the only one is this situation.

Which board should it be in though? The same one?

My dd (2.9) has a very small appetite and is a picker but then I'm not surprised as she jsut takes after me. She also has a sweet tooth like me and is small and skinny just like I was so I'm not too worried about it. She still fits into a skirt that is 9/12 mnths tho it is a bit mini on her

I remember reading somewhere that most toddlers only need very small amounts of food much less than we think they should have and also that quite often a toddler will be quite happy to eat one larger meal every 48 hours and just pick in between.

Have to say I'm not a big eater either and I prefer to eat 6 small meals a day rather than 3 larger ones tbh.

My dd is 3 next week and doesn't eat very much. Eats cereal for breakfast, 1 slice of bread and butter for lunch and a piece of fruit and usually nothing for dinner and that is if you are lucky!! Have given up worrying and hopefully she grows out of it.

My DS (2.4) is usually quite fussy with lunch not his favorite meal. He is quite a good eater. I think he has my taste buds as he gives everything a go Nothing like DD (5.6) who is v. fussy, though determined quite early that she has DH tastes, as if I gave something to her and she didn't like it it was almost a dead cert DH would say "oh I hate that". He didn't eat tomatos until 25. And now after 14 yrs of marriage has a good & varied diet

After a year of concentrated effort, I have lifted her diet from about 10 foods, to a wider variety (including duck & steak !).

My mother says my brother only ate 2 meals a day --ever. And at 25 finally branched out in his eating.

So hope is out there somewhere ......

My DS 2.3 is huge (98%ile) and full of energy rarely ill but refuses to eat veg and fruit if it is recognisable as such (he will eat hidden veg pasta sauce sometimes) - he will only eat rusks and toast for breakfast, sandwiches (p'butter, marmite or occasionly cream cheese) for lunch, fruit bars for a snack and pasta shapes for dinner (but he will leave dinner quite often). I would dearly love him to be joining in with our meals but he refuses most of my (lovingly homecooked) meals - sometimes he only seems to be eating carbs all day. I am introducing my 6m dd to solids at the mo and really hope she is less fussy (so far so good)... ds was breastfeed until 23m and I think that helped keep him healthy despite his bland diet. I might cut down on the apple juice though as he probably does drink too much (I dilute it loads though)... v difficult to know what is best I am also concerned he gets enough variety as we are veggie he needs to get plenty of protein etc.

we had a breakthrough with dd

i cut wheat out of her diet last week and the change is enormous. she's happier, not throwing tantrums, eating like a horse and she had her first solid poo ever yeaterday (sorry for tmi, but she's had diarrhoea of various degrees of severity since she was weaned)

looks like the poor thing was feeling sick constantly and this was causing her to not want to eat, not to mention the other behaviour problems.

Am glad this thread is here - was going to start one today. My ds is 16 months and currently refusing almost all meals. Eats loads for breakfast, and will usually snack on fruit mid morning/afternoon (although has started refusing that now) and eats very little, if anything for lunch and dinner.

He eats at nursery though! I'm pretty sure this is a control thing and that he has picked up my anxiety. Some days I manage to be really calm, remove food and take him out of chair. Other days I get upset, shout and rant. I find it especially hard if I take him down and he follows me round whining because he's hungry. I don't want to 'give in' and let him live on toast.

How can I turn things around??? A board would be great!