22 Month Old Won't Eat

[Loopy12]

Hi,

My daughter is 22 months and has always been a fussy eater. She was a nightmare with bottle feeding as a baby and now she likes milk. Now we have a new problem she won't eat. I cook her pasta, chicken dippers, smiley faces, fish fingers, sausages, roast dinners etc... the only thing she will eat are peas and carrots (tiny amounts), even at lunch time she has maybe 2 or 3 squares of toast or bread and butter, once again I have tried cheese, ham, marmite, jam etc and again she won't eat it. I have two older boys and never been through this.

She seems happy in herself and does not appear to be loosing weight, I took her to see my nurse a few weeks ago and she said she looked healty but I can't see how she can be if she is not eating enough.

If anyone has any suggestions please help as I feel I will be bald soon.

maybe she is eating enough?
it might not seem like much to you, but she knows best when she is hungry and when she is full up.

so, if she is happy and healthy i'd just chill out and let her be!

Ok. Ds did exact same at that age. My first and really only bit of advice would be stop thinking about it, train yourself not to notice. stressing around food gets you nowhere I promise.

You can try and make food fun though but just by inviolving her in the shopping / making of the food and maybe try new experiences like picnics etc / messy food and so on but dont worry if she doesnt eat.

It is so hard to rectify it if she gets the feeling youre stressed at mealtimes so just dont even go there. It is the worst thing you can do.

Encourage her to touch foods, lick them maybe but just a casual suggestion - do not cajoul, bribe, beg or anything else. Dont make alternatives.

Get into a routine with food if youre not already in one so she knows she gets 3 set meals and 2 snacks (or whatever) every day and those are her chances to eat. Limit snacks to fruit and veg although maybe make supper something a little more substantial. I still give pudding even if main course isnt eaten - pudding is only ever yogurt or fruit or a plain biscuit here though.

Good luck

Thanks guy for your help, will try anything : )