18 month DS1 eating less and less. Any advice?

[Heatherbell1978]

DS1 is really struggling with his teeth at the moment. It feels like it's been constant since he started teething at 6 months. There are definitely molars coming in and we can't get him to part with his dummy (which we'd wanted to get rid of by now) and he's very clingy too.
He's never been an amazing eater, but nothing I've ever worried about. He has days when he'll eat everything and days when he's more picky but in general he's ok. Eats everything at nursery apparently anyway!
But the last week or so it's got progressively worse. I'm not too bothered if he doesn't eat dinner as nursery tell me he's eaten a lot during the day and they have a 4pm tea anyway. So he'll have his milk. But over the weekend he barely touched food and no breakfast this morning which is unusual as breakfast is the one meal he'll at least attempt. He's drinking fine and I'm offering him more milk which he's taking but I'm getting concerned that he's developing some kind of phobia about food because of his sore teeth. Any advice?

I think it's relatively common for children to get fussier over food at this age and the teething probably isn't helping. I was always told to look at what they ate over a period of a week, rather than focusing on one day when they don't touch anything. If he's drinking okay just keep offering food as normal and try not to make a battle of mealtimes.

Also their growth really slows at 18mo so they do eat less in general even without the teething issue.

I remember when my wisdom teeth were coming through, I would have weeks where all I could manage was soup. Then things would settle down for a while, then it'd flair up again. When it was bad it was agony (they ended up all being removed), and I imagine it must be pretty similar for babies and toddlers. Plus the molars are HUGE compared to their tiny little mouths. You seem pretty sure it is teeth, in which case I would be offering plenty of non-chew food, and extra milk if he wants it. Will he eat porridge or Weetabix for breakfast? Cheesy mash for lunch? I know they are sugary, but I found frozen frubes were amazing for the last round of teething DD had (also first molars). Not much use for babies, but once a toddler DD loved sucking and chewing on them. Just go with it for the time being. Same with the dummy. DD is 20mo and I would love to get rid of the dummy, but she is so attached and her speech is coming along fine. She only has it for sleeping, but we extend that to daytime if she's poorly or teething as she finds it such a comfort. I don't think that's unreasonable. My friend's DD is still breastfed, and when she's poorly she's rarely off the boob and I don't see the difference, they are still fairly young.
What the PPs have said is also very true IME or that of friends.