15 Month Old Has Won't Eat!

My daughter is going to be a year old on the 29th of September. Two weeks ago, she started doing the same thing. She used to only eat vegetables, breast milk and formula. Then she would only eat breast milk, fruit and bread. She would vehemently spit out the veggies and would freak out if I offered her "baby food" instead. I was also worried that she would not be getting the same amount of nutrients from fruit and bread as she did from veggies. Some other symptoms she had: runny nose (seasons are changing now), restless sleep ( I mean REALLY REALLY REALLY restless....more like tossing and turning with your eyes closed and not sleep), beginning walking, new kids in her day care class, family coming to visit for Labor Day, tugging at her ears (the doctor says there's nothing wrong with her ears) low grade fever (the doctor says 99.9 is not a fever --after I had given her tylenol) and 102.2 without tylenol, which doctor did not witness, I thought she might be teething but there were no new hot spots on her gums, or bumps, oh yeah, and CRANKINESS!!!......Finally, I just called my mom one night and told her how exasperated I was. She said this:

A doctor told her when my older brother was a baby, don't worry. Kids will eat what they need. Their bodies tell them and their cravings fall in line with their needs. Continue to give baby a little bit of everything on his tray and let him choose what he wants. Don't stop offering the foods you want him to have. Give him a selection with variety. And he'll eat them when he's ready. He will eventually go back to them. It's absolutely normal. It can be a growth spurt, teething, new events in life, a "bug"....but the best thing to do is just roll with it. It doesn't do any good for you or baby to be stressed about it. And you know what? My daughter evened out her eating. Started sleeping better and is back to her old self. No explanation. No lessons learned. Just one of those things. All my best! Good Luck! :) S.

I have a 16mnth old girl and 12 little cousins around the same age. My mother is a nutritionist who trained me in healthy eating habits for my family. Kids around this age are normally beginning to become picky eaters. Offer his favorites every two to three hours (breakfast,snack,lunch,snack,dinner,snack). And continue to offer him the foods you think he should have. Be sure to prepare his food in the way that he likes them to be. I do cater to her in that area. Keep trying new foods because you would be suprised in what he will like. Try not to worry because this type of behavior is totally normal. My little cousin will only eat pasta and watermelon, every single day for the last few weeks. But they do change with variety.

On the other hand, some children suffer from a condition, called "a failure to thrive" I think they get so little nutrients that they are unusually small and have a hard time gaining weight. If your little one is gainging weight normally, than he's fine and I'm sure your pediatrician will tell you not to worry. Just keep feeding him a variety from all food groups. And supplement with his favorites where he lacks.

HI V.,
My 15 month old daughter was eating anything, such a good eater then she started about a month ago getting very picky. So I started adding salt to her veggies and little butter and brown sugar to her carrots, it was mainly her veggies she just stopped wanting to eat. ANd shes still weird about meat, she'll usuallyh eat lunch meat ok, but cooked meat like chicken, hamburger, she wont eat well.
She loves her fruit and will always eat that. Sometimes I noticed she is like this when she's teething. However, she was very picky last week, not eating her fav, mac and cheese and mashed pot, and a couple days later had horrible diahhrea, so I think it was the begining of her stomach issues, which has led to a horrilbe sickness to me and her father this past weekend. I hear there is a horrible virus going around. SHe is getting better but her bm's are stll not what they are suppose to be. Thankfully she has a 15 month check up tomorrow. So if this has been going on for just a few days, be looking for possibly a stomach thing and if it turns into that her dr. told me as long as she ddnt have a fever and she was drking fluids not to worry, and to give her pedialyte whcih she wouldnt drink b/c it is nasty or dilutted gatorade which she drank...
THat was probably way for more info than you wanted or needed..but long story short:
1. maybe season the food
2. teething
3. stomach thing..b/c she still loved her fruit

Congrats on your new job!!!

My daughter is 16 months old and has really changed her eating habits as well. It's most likely just a phase. I have three older children as well and they change all the time. It's perfectly normal. Don't worry to much. Just make sure he gets his milk.

I think this is totally normal behavior. He's controlling one of the only things he can control: what goes into his mouth. Provide him with healthful choices, and let him decide what to eat.

Some kids have really eating disorders (problems with textures, difficulty swallowing, reflux, etc.), and your pediatrician should be able to help you sort those out. It could be something like that, but it probably isn't.

Don't sweat it until the appointment next week.

My son went thru a phase very similar where he didn't seem interested in food and would just pick. Also, a phase where he would eat only certain things and nothing else. I used to babysit for a boy my son's age that would rather drink than eat. I was told not to worry about it too much. The more you try to push food on them... the more they are going to resist. Most toddlers don't just eat to eat, so they'll eat when they are hungry. I made sure to give my son vitamins and let the other boys Mom know what I did manage to get him to eat that day. That way she could suppliment his diet appropriately. Good luck and I hope he learns to enjoy his meals soon.

Smiles,
E. B.