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.

So glad for you pink tulips. it did sound like something was maybe wrong before, more than the usual fussy toddler thing, and i was relieved to see you might have worked it out.

my dd is fussy, too. she doesn't eat much some days, and has never, to my knowledge, ever, felt hungry. she was dropping down from average on the height chart to the bottom band, and just looks undernourished compared to other children.

when i start to get worried i tend to try and bulk her up with nourishing puddings which she likes - rice pudding, yoghurt etc. also give plenty of snacks and encourage her to drink milk.

does anyone else hate smug parents of children who will eat veg/salad(!)/fruit? one mum said to me "well i have always made sure they have been offered everything". (like I haven't!!!) grrrrrrr....

following on from what you said pt, you know what, she has never really done solid poo either, and she was lactose intolerant as a baby.

i might try excluding some things to see if it makes any difference. poor her, imagine if all this time......

Jess has fits and starts (2.3) she will either eat like a horse, or not eat for days.

Lately, we have been taken to using Dr Tanya Byron's approach of kiss it, lick it, bite it.... and it does help get a little more into her.

She eats cereal for breakfast no bother, then has a piece of fruit and toast mid morning - then pretty much nothing. Funny how if offered chocolate buttons or a yoghurt she will eat those, but a meal - no chance!

PinkTulips, that's great news!

Oddly enough a few days ago ds asked me to make him lunch - and he ate it all. He's also started eating a bit of his evening meal.

GQM, dd is intolerant to dairy too and i'd had the suspicion about wheat at the back of my mind for a little while but honestly thought i was being paranoid. feel so guilty now that all of this could have been avouded if i'd cut it out months ago.

and it neveer even occured to me it was causing the behaviour problems

ds1 is only 15m and probablyonly eats the equiv of 1 meal per day, but he is a healthy weight and is doing well.
i dont worry about him as kids dont let themselves starve.
i think the more fuss you make, the more of an issue they think it is then eat even less.
they are clever and observant little things and will notice if they can use it against you. (for want of a better phrase but ykwim)

Hi, just joining in with the same general problem. DD 3yrs v. v. v. fussy and gets obsessed with one food (which is not always unhealthy, but only ONE thing) and that is all she is interested in for months it seems. Just as she discovers something new (v. rarely), she 'sheds' one of the foods she once found fine.... It's excruciating.

I have a question - all these intolerances - did you have your children allergy tested independently or did you persuade your GP that there maybe something more to your child's fussiness than general fussiness!?

i'm planning on having dd allergy tested now to see the extent of her allergys but up til now she hasn't seen a doctor about them. the milk allergy was pretty obvious, within a few days of milk being introduced she came up in blistered bleeding nappy rash which only went away when i cut out dairy.

the wheat was a hunch i'd had for ages and decided to act on and it's made such a huge differance in just a few days already.

this thread is making me feel so much better. Thought it was just me who had a toddler who wont eat

Just thought I'd ask - what are the foods most of your ds's/dd's WILL eat? At the moment fishfingers, boiled potatoes with butter (and no skin) and plain poached salmon are the ones I can always guarantee ds will eat.

sorry just joining in. programme last night on Sky about the 7yr old girl who has never EVER eaten. when she was born due to medical problems she had a number of ops & after that she refused to eat so was fed via a tube in her tummy. her mother took her to a hospital in Austria who deal with this & they removed her tube & even afetr 15 days she wouldnt eat but started sipping water. over a month later she is surviving on fruit smoothies but no solids & the drs firm advice was that providing she is okay & a healthy weight there really is nothing to worry about & she will eat in her own good time. Some of the programme made me cry & I realised my DS ( 19mths) who is a fuss pot isnt that fussy after all!!

Moral of the story is that kids survive & r fine eating less then what some of u have described. What we would like our kids to eat & what they really eat may never meet but its not the end of the world. U r all wonderful mothers & wishing u all well