My child won't eat

[Pipsqueak23]

Looking for some tips.

My 18 month old has all of a sudden gone on strike when it comes to eating.

This has been going on for a week now. Normally he has the odd day like this but this is the first time it has gone on longer.

Breakfast I am lucky if he will eat a banana or a yoghurt. Lunch tends to be a bite or two of a sandwich, a bite of cheese and a yoghurt or the equivalent in other foods e.g. A jar of food. And tea tends to be a couple of bites of each thing I have put on his plate and will sometimes eat all the veg I put down for him (my child loves his veg)

He is perfectly well in himself apart from he is waking hungry in the night due to the not eating and I end up giving him a bottle of milk (this has happened twice, sometimes he doesn't need the bottle but is unsettled)

I have tried letting him feed himself and I have tried feeding him and nothing makes a difference. Has anyone else encountered this? And does anyone have any tips on how to get him to eat?

Your DS is a bit older than my DD but she does this on a regular basis,
All I do is offer her food at meal times, see if she will eat off my plate, leave a plate of finger food out for her to help herself.
Is he drinking okay? Not filling up on too much milk/juice/water?

It may be a good idea to keep a food diary for a short while, write down everything he eats and how much he drinks - it may be surprising that he may be eating more than you think he is.

If you are still worried on Monday, give your Hv a call, she'll most likely suggest a food diary and a wait and see attitude for a few days.

HTH

Have you tried leaving grazing type foods on a plate in his reach? Things like cut up veg sticks/fruit/small sandwiches/crackers/cheese cubes etc?

Could it be his teeth troubling him? A tummy upset even without obvious symptoms can last over a week, and even a mild cold is enough to put some littlies off their food.

I have 2 good eaters and one who was a food refuser, still is when she feels like it. Even the good eaters at about 18m - 30m went through a picky stage.

For now - ask him what he wants to eat, he can show you if he's not very verbal, give him choices, involve him in food prep and cooking, shopping for particular ingredients if you have time to spare for this, I know not everyone does , banana before bed if you think he might be hungry still.

If his weight/height centiles are average there is probably not much to worry about at this stage. It's a case of ride it out. If he starts dropping centiles, becoming ill all the time, or has a problem with textures, then you might have cause for concern but that's a long way off at this stage. Try not to worry too much, and generally look at the bigger picture over several days/a week, eg eats something from most food groups, most days? There is a book with the same title as your post which is useful, for normal toddler fussiness over eating

I thought you were talking about the book :) There is a brilliant book with the same title as your thread, definitely worth a read.

In general, try not to worry. (Easier said than done). Look up "division of responsibility". It's along the lines of that it's your responsibility to offer healthy, varied, regular food and it's his responsibility to eat it, or not. The more you stress about it, the more he will pick up on that and it will become a power issue, which is a shame.

And he is eating - just a small amount. Actually, this is surprisingly okay. You don't realise it with your first, but it really is fine. And it's okay for him to still want night feeds, too. Annoying! :) But normal.

It's true, the book My Child Won't Eat is very helpful.

18 months is the classic age for fussy eating to set in. It's also around this age that a child will eat a lot less food than before, purely because they aren't growing as rapidly as they were when they were a baby.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will try not to stress over it and just ride it out.

This morning he has chosen to eat strawberry rice cakes which he has raised from him change bag. So we will see if this makes a change. I.e. Letting him help choose what he wants :-)

I'm having the exact same issue with my 15 month old at the moment. No advice just sympathy!

We used to joke that ds1 was part snake - he'd eat less than you say your ds does for about a week, then once a week or so he'd eat practically his own bodyweight!

At first I was anxious about it but we went with it and it was fine. He didn't lose any weight, and didn't become any less active. I would have been more concerned if either of those were the case.

I read somewhere that toddlers are better than adults at regulating their intake, and I have to say I wish I was more toddler-like!