my toddler isn't interested in food - at my wits end. please help

[silvermum]

my 17 month old isn't interested in food. This has been going on for about three months now. i just can't understand what's wrong. he is (or at least seems) healthy and very happy with loads of energy from morning to night but just doesn't seem to like anything. he has always had a healthy, varied diet but now everything he is presented with seems to turn him off. I'm at my wits end with him refusing everything he's offered and can't see how he can go on like this surviving on a few mouthfuls each mealtime. We don't have unrealistic expectations of the amount he should eat and we don't give him lots of snacks between meals. So what's going on? is there any point taking him to a doctor? he never used to be like this! after yet another failed meal i feel like crying

mawbroon, thought you were my new mate abi for a second there . but youre in scotland arent you?

needmorecoffee-now you've scared me! meeting up with two friends who have babies exactly same age tomorrow so will try to gauge if we're significantly smaller/thinner! as long as he's roughly the same height as others his age then i think i'd rather avoid going down medical routes...

it was tongue in cheek! Only severely disabled children with poor swallow end up with a tube. Not healthy toddlers. Has your child energy? Is he healthy? If the answer is yes and you provide plenty of varied food then he is ok.

guess he's okay then! no shortage of energy - rather the opposite!

DD was dreadful from about 15 months (and we did BLW and I was soooo smug about how varied her diet was .

She is 2.7 and is just starting to get a bit better. I can now coax her into trying new foods by saying if she tries a bit she will get an extra story, sticker, etc but I don't force the issue and don;t use "food treats" as an incentive. Last night she ate parsnips and butternut squash for the first time since she was about 14 months. It was a major breakthrough. Up until now her diet has been EXTREMELY limited.

I know what you mean about feeling like a failure. Its awful but if you search the archives there are loads of us around with fussy toddlers. I think it just goes with the territory.

book helped me chill out massively after DS1 hit toddlerhood and cut down massively on his portion size.

what book was that firststeps? the link didn't work

sorry - try this one. My whole day used to revolve worrying about how little DS1 had eaten, I totally changed my attitude after reading this book - would recommend it to anyone with a fussy eater