13 month old not eating enough

[Mh94]

My 13 month old has always been breastfed. When he was born he was showing around the 75th percentile. Now he's just touching the 25th.im very worried about him. He doesn't seem interested in food. While he will take bites of things he won't eat enough. I'm currently trying to go 2 hours without any feeds so he has a chance to become hungry and hoping his appetite will increase. I'm finding myself having to distract him with the TV to get him to eat maybe 4 spoons. After that he will spit his food out.

Does anyone have any advice? It is reassuring to read about other parents going through this. It definitely does make me feel like I am not the only one.
But any tips would be great.

Thanks

My 14 month old doesn’t eat huge amounts either. Things we’ve found that help are:
-All eating a main meal together

-Giving her some food from our plate (it’s exactly the same as what she has but apparently more appealing)

-not putting pressure on her to eat, she either will or she won’t, I can’t make her.

-no distractions at the table, no toys or TV. She gets bored watching us eat so I think ends up eating a bit just for something to do

She eats lots more at nursery / when I’m not around because the boobs aren’t there as a distraction

Have you seen the kids eat in colour Instagram page? I’ve found it really reassuring

If they've dropped by that much, have they been checked for Tongue Tie and been referred to a Paediatrician?

Have you tried baby led weaning rather than spoon feeding? Definitely contact HV/GP to put any worries to rest

I think a feed every two hours is probably still filling him up to an extent, and at this age he won't be getting all the nutrients he needs from breast milk. Definitely worth a chat with the health visitor.

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I will go ahead and check them out.
With regards to blw, he will just mash the food up in his hands and break them into pieces and chuck them on the floor!
He also can shake his head if he doesn't want something and this is what he does majority of the time.

I went to see the health visitor a couple of days ago as I had him weighed. She said he's putting weight on but as he's quite tall he needs to put on more. She suggested the whole 2 hours without a feed. She also said to increase protein but again, he's very fussy!
It's not like I'm not trying those things already.
I guess I will just need to continue what I'm doing and pray he just finds his appetite in the end.

Just keep offering food. Have him on your lap at meal times if necessary so he can grab your food etc.

Try for breakfast as the first meals, as you definitely know he should be hungry.

It's ok if he smushes it up etc. He will eventually start eating. It's incredibly unusual for kids not to eat in the end.

Try not to stress about the amount. (Easy for me to say, I know)

Like today, for example, he woke up at 8am. Its now 10am and hes refusing everything I give him. He's crying, asking for me. But still no interest in food.

What are you giving him?

All you can do is keep offering food, and feeding him if he wants milk.

Give him plain yogurt/toast/whatever to play with outside of mealtimes ... They and take that stress away, he might start playing with it and taking small tastes.

So I offered him porridge this morning. He didn't want it. After a while I made a scrambled egg with beans and cheese and he had maybe 2 spoons of it. Not interested. I managed to get some yogurt down him.

He's had a horrible cold this past week and I'm thinking maybe all this has really affected his appetite.

Two spoons is two spoons plus a bit of yoghurt is not nothing?

If he's poorly he won't eat much and will want mum xx

Don't be too concerned about the amount he eats, he's eating, which is great :D make the food he does get high calorie etc or, make sure the eggs are scrambled in butter etc

My 2yo has a cold, so far today he's eaten a couple of bites of weetabix, 2 biscuits, about 3 raisins, 4 bites of a peanut butter sandwich and half a cup of milk. Maybe wait until he's feeling better and just keep giving breastfeeds for today?

Sorry if I've totally misunderstood your OP (total possibility!) but do you mean you're trying to go more than 2 hours between milk feeds? If so (and again forgive me if I've got the wrong end of the stick) I would try spacing them out much more than that. My 14mo has milk at the start and end of day, nothing in between. He's not going to win any eating awards but he gets enough, I think, just. I think by this age they really don't need that much milk and it could impede his desire for solid stuff that gives nutrients he needs.

I agree with @Miriam101 if I’ve also understood it the same way.

Have you tried cream cheese? No idea why but it seems to be baby crack. Not met a kid yet who doesn’t love it & can mix it with things like avocado to get him trying other things if he does like it.

How long would you recommend going without any feeds? From your experience?

Cream cheese will be on my list! What kinds of things would you serve it on?

Yes, I think I'm just over panicking because he's ill and he's not eating as much as he used. I think I'll come to a proper conclusion once he's better and take it from there.

I really appreciate all these comments/suggestions. You've helped a mama out!

How long would you recommend going without any feeds? From your experience?

I agree with others at 14 months most children will be only having 1 or 2 milk feeds a day. If he's not even going 2 hours between breastfeeding he's not getting much chance to be hungry which is why he doesn't want to eat or try new foods.

Do you breastfeed him upon waking or start by offering breakfast first then milk after? If he's having food first then he's much more likely to try it than if he has it after a belly full of milk.

Another good strategy is offering him bits throughout the day little and often rather than all in one meal. Some children are grazers and find just having 3 meals a day overwhelming.

My fussy eater (ds1 now 3) loves crackers so we often do cheddar type crackers with cream cheese on then o give different veg with it and hummus to dip it in seems to work for him. I think you definitely need a longer gap between milk feeds and only offer a milk feed after trying solids so they are more hungry

I co sleep because he feeds multiple times in the night. So yes, I would say I feed him upon waking. And then 2 hours after that I would normally serve breakfast.

Any symptoms of anaemia? It reduces the appetite a lot. Look at the fingernails and inside the eyes.
For both mine eating clicked at about 15 months.

Both my daughters had tiny appetites at this age and preferred milk.
I found that having a little plate of snacks available all the time worked - they could just graze when they felt like it. Finger foods like fruit, cucumber, breadsticks, babybel.

We tend to put it on a bagel thin or toast, sometimes on crackers, rice cakes or Hovis biscuits.

Totally agree with the others, whilst he's feeling poorly offer him as many BFs as he wants, give him Calpol abs some nice soothing things to eat like Banana Icecream, Banana-cado, homemade lollies or even just plain old banana & custard (that's a lot of banana suggestions, I know).

When he's better offer food before BFs. So give him breakfast first, you can get your DH/DP to help some days.

I'd also think about night weaning. There isn't any real need for him to be interested in solids in the day because he can get his missing calories at night.

By that age my toddler was on three feeds a day, morning afternoon nap and bedtime. If you keep offering milk they'll fill up on that and won't eat food. I'd reduce miln, by that point they should be having 12 Oz a day

Meant to say I breastfed too.

Obviously don't try the night weaning when he's still poorly