Shes not eating enough for a sparrow some meals. I know shes cutting bottom canines at the moment and is in a lot of pain but i even made one of her fave meals for lunch today and she still wudnt eat it and yesterday nshe had all of 3 spoonful of spag bol for dinner.

Shes been refusing her dinner so we agreed to try making lunch her hot main meal so plan today was hot lunch and toastie/sandwich with raisins and crisps for dinner

She ended up with organix crisps for brekkie after making such a fuss i just decided to give in and let her have them rather than a battle over something really not that huge, at least if she ate the crisps she ate brekkie. For snack she had an ellas kitchen pouch with spinach/swede and apple (they are the 4 month plus pouches but i give her them as snacks as she is on a fussy jag at the mo and she likes them and it gets veg in her) plus a bag of cheesy breadsticks.

For lunch i made a sausage with carrot and swede mash and beans and she ate...half a sausage then refused anymore. Eventually persuaded her to have half a jar of Hipp pancakes with apple sauce so she at least ate something.

For dinner tonight id planned a cheese toastie with raisins and a pack of pom bears but im not sure now. Should i make her another hot meal i think she wont eat (i have some little dish meals in the freezer) or juyst give her the meal i had planned cos i think she will actually eat it and not fret too much that she hasnt had a 'hot meal' today. Shes still got half a jar of pancakes left for pudding if she does eat it so might actually stand a chance of getting a full meal in her if i abandon ideas of whats 'proper' it just feels odd

She usually has 2 biscotti with her bedtime milk anyway so i suppose its not like she will have had nothing esp if can persuade her to have a fromage for a snack midafternoon. Im just worrying cos shes lost a pound again when i weighed her last night, shes taken nearly 17 months to get to 20lb and is now 19lb again which means shes back down on the 2nd centile and is such a lil shitbag with her food. I will be so glad when these damned teeth come through and shes got a full set cos shes an appalling teether

Hasn't she been off it generally recently? I would just offer what you planned..the toastie. I wouldn't worry about getting a 'hot' meal down her tbh, to me she sounds like she's eaten ok - Ok, she's not shown vast interest in her lunch, but she is getting something in there

I can understand how worrying it is for you about the weight loss. Just carrying on going how your going..Oliver went through a very similar stage of picking and piking (grazing) so I just went with the flow..offered little and often.
He did get his appitite back again, but has now lost it again Oh the joys, eh?!

I'd say..stay strong, if she don't eat - don't fuss..just take it away and try again a bit later, I found cheesy cubes, rasins, pickled onions etc just have them in the room so they're there when she's ready.
Whether it be her teeth or just general fussyness - she will get over it and her appetite will increase again.
I know its so hard not to worry, and its easy for me to sit here and say 'it will pass' but it honestly does.
Just out of curiosity - how often do you weight C?

Yeah shes been v off colour for a while, she had that virus and an ear infection, perked up for about a week then started with the teeth last weekend. Id decided to go with the toastie tbh just needed to hear another voice lol

Shes def into grazing at the mo and i find bits of cheese, raisins, organix snacks or crisps always go down well as do the fruit pouches and breadsticks she just cba with meals as such. Im sure it will pass as she does it periodically its just so damned frustrating when you are trying alsorts to tempt her into a meal. Saying that shes just run past me with her football shrieking with laughter so shes not suffering...

Er i think its been about a month since i took her to clinic and before that a month or 6 weeks i did it at home. Shes only been to clinic once in 6 months but i stick her on the bathroom scales every month or 6 weeks or so

I know exactly what you are going through hun, Libby has at least a week like this every month and it drives us crazy with worry. She only weighs about 20lb now and loses it so quickly.

I don't if you've tried giving her food in different places? - for example Libby normally has her dinner at the table with us but if she's being a complete nightmare I make her wait til we've finished then let her down from the table and let her run around but grabbing a mouthful here and there, dont know if that would work?

Also like Zee says, sometimes I get so worried that I let her eat literally anything, if it gets calories in her then I don't care what it is (obviously not chocolate all day or anything though!! )

I think like Caelyn, Libby gets it in her head that she would much rather be playing etc. and just doesn't want to sit and eat - almost like its a chore or something

Hopefully it is just a quick phase and she'll be back to normal again soon xxx

I know we spoke before - but I also think you need to be REALLY strict with C - more so than other toddlers!

'They' say that a baby only needs something to happen 3 times for them to see it as routine and want it every time - I think the way C is though, she'd probably remember exactly what happened a the previous meal (she doesn't need telling 3 times!) and therefore maybe more fussy and refuse regular meals cos she wants crisps etc.

Another thing to try, if you don't do this already, is ignoring the fact she is not eating her dinner, get on with something else in the kitchen and leave her to it. Many time while I am sat with Izzy she will slow down and just play with her food, so I get up and clean the tops, make something etc and she eventually goes back to eating and plods through the meal

Yeah Lise ive noticed that myself. If she is fussing i tend to sit and watch tv and dont pay her any mind and she will eventually give in and have a bit but by god is the girl stubborn.

Lisa im with you on that 100%. It sounds like C has cottoned on to the fact that if she wont eat dinner, you will come along with something that she REALLY likes. Shes that clever i bet you thats whats happened. If Cerys wont eat dinner/supper i just leave her in the high chair for up to 30 mins and she usually will slowly pick her way through the meal and eat 80-90% of it. As hard as it is, dont fall into the trap of being a "awwww poor baby" mother, if the behaviour is unacceptable or you know she is trying it on..............Ignore her and walk away x

I wouldnt say im an aw poor baby mother. Im actually the strict one out of the two of us cos its something we bicker about and usually if she doesnt eat shes allowed fruit or nothing but yeah maybe last couple of days ive been so tired ive slipped. Tiresome being the bad guy all the time sometimes but hey. She ate 1/4 her toastie a yoghurt and some raisins in the end last night so better than last few days

someone said to me a while back that when babies/toddlers begin to get confident and aware of themselves, their independence starts to show. the only 2 things they can control is sleep and eating. maybe this is her way of testing the boundaries? x

could she be bored of what she is eating? i read ur giving her a varied diet. but some kids can see meals as being too fussy?! they can get over whelmed by meal times. but mainly its smells. apparently!

have u tried making it fun.. taking her to the freezer, fridge etc and asking her what she would like to eat? showing her u making it etc, like the "little chef" idea. it can be a pain but its working for me with alasdair. and he never blumming eats!! i have him on prescription formula milk.

here is a few cut n pastes, thats helped me a little.

I don't like eating on my own: Children are sociable by nature, they prefer company, even when they're eating. So don't be surprised if she isn't co-operative at mealtimes when she's expected to sit and finish her meal all on her own.
It doesn't taste nice: Youngsters tend to be very unadventurous when it comes to taste, they like bland flavours, with minimal seasoning and flavouring and a smooth texture. Anything else can generate a negative reaction
It doesn't look right: Food has to be eye-catching and attractive from your child's point of view. A meal that looks unappetising, perhaps because it is piled too high or has wafts of steam rising from it, can instantly kill your child's appetite.

this is a page from my favorite site for kiddie things
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/kids

when ur kids stops eating u will try anything. iv prob repeated what u already know and have tried. perserverance will win the war X

That's very true about the 'little chef' idea Laura, Libby wouldn't touch carrots but last week I had her on a step stool next to me while I was chopping veg etc. for sausage casserole and I gave her a big chunk of carrot and one of her plastic knives so she could 'chop' some herself, when it came to eating the meal she wolfed down the carrots!!

xx

lauraplus5 wrote:

could she be bored of what she is eating? i read ur giving her a varied diet. but some kids can see meals as being too fussy?! they can get over whelmed by meal times. but mainly its smells. apparently!

have u tried making it fun.. taking her to the freezer, fridge etc and asking her what she would like to eat? showing her u making it etc, like the "little chef" idea. it can be a pain but its working for me with alasdair. and he never blumming eats!! i have him on prescription formula milk.

here is a few cut n pastes, thats helped me a little.

I don't like eating on my own: Children are sociable by nature, they prefer company, even when they're eating. So don't be surprised if she isn't co-operative at mealtimes when she's expected to sit and finish her meal all on her own.
It doesn't taste nice: Youngsters tend to be very unadventurous when it comes to taste, they like bland flavours, with minimal seasoning and flavouring and a smooth texture. Anything else can generate a negative reaction
It doesn't look right: Food has to be eye-catching and attractive from your child's point of view. A meal that looks unappetising, perhaps because it is piled too high or has wafts of steam rising from it, can instantly kill your child's appetite.

this is a page from my favorite site for kiddie things
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/kids

when ur kids stops eating u will try anything. iv prob repeated what u already know and have tried. perserverance will win the war X

Cheers hon ive made a note of those, think they might help. Im fairly sure she is asserting her independence tbh couple up with a sore mouth and she doesnt wanna know at the mo unless its 'nacks' which she is still eating well.

Kind of a small victory today. I skipped morning 'nack' all together and gave her lunch at 1120 instead of 12-1230 like normal. We both sat down together, she had a Little Dish chicken pie and I had a tub of Heinz Pork and Stuffing Soup. I switched tv off so no distractions then sat and started mine without even mentioning what she had in front of her. After 5 mins or so she showed quite a lot of interest.......in my dinner.

So anyways we swapped bowls and she ended up eating 1/2 of what was quite a big tub of pork and stuffing soup and ate meat, stuffing, a lot of the juice, potatoes and carrots which shes not touched for a couple of months now..........I ended up with chicken pie.

To be fair the pie was quite tasty so I didnt mind swapping with her too much and she totally enjoyed her food once we swapped plates and even dug in with a spoon herself and we have discovered she likes peas. She then finished off with 2 fromage frais and is now haring around the lounge with her drum giggling like a loon. Think that might be the whole 10 mins she power napped for and a yoghurt rush lol. Just in time for gym tots later. Its the most shes eaten at one meal for ages and a nice variety of food too. Am pretty happy tonight for her to have something like cheese toastie with a pack of crisps if need be after the amount of veg and meat she packed away at lunch.

Small steps, ta for the advice

Wow that's really great hun, watching them eat loads is such a huge relief isn't it?

Fingers crossed that's it for her messing around and hopefully she'll start eating properly again (and gain that lb that she lost and more!!!) xx

Definately a step in right direction suse. She had a pack of pom bears for afternoon 'nack' and a cheese toastie (12slice bread 2 slices cheese) and an organix oaty bar and few raisins for dinner so todays been her best day for ages really as shes also had 10oz milk this morning, 500ml juice and a cup of nesquik

Tis funny but im sure you will agree with libby 1lb prob doesnt sound like much til they are hovering at the arse end of the charts to begin with. For her that lb drops her from 9th centile to 2nd so i guess maybe i do fret a bit and need to just accept she aint gonna starve herself. I'll persist now with the hot lunch and snackety tea as she seems to like that but i might try skipping snack and an earlier lunch again tommorrow as id rather shes gonna eat a big decent sized lunch than a 2nd snack tbh

H can be a bit fussy sometimes and the dog usually ends up with it. He likes blandish foods, loves veg esp sweetcorn, peas, carrots, broccoli and white fish chicken etc. I havent got any other advice other than its very common and she will eat when hungry x

Oh I know what you mean, I could put a lb on in half an hour but it would take Libby about 8 weeks And when she loses even ounces you can see it on her It's nearly impossible not to worry when they are so tiny and I don't know about you but I tend to feel guilty if I've eaten loads and Libby's had hardly anything all day (even though it's been offered to her ).

We cut out Libby's snacks a while ago and it did make a difference until Simon decided she 'needed' some Smarties after her afternoon nap to cheer her up (she's a grumpy little madam after her nap) So that will be stopping too!!!!

I really hope C's on the way up now for you hun xx