Help - 1 Year Old Won't Eat Breakfast or Lunch!

We have an almost 17 month old and she is quite picky, too. She hardly eats when she is with us, but at the babysitter's she eats up the Gerber Graduates meals.

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Completely Normal! But very worrisome, I know. This may also be part of an 'independence' phase. She may be transitioning herself from being fed to feeding herself. So maybe it's not so much the food you are trying to feed her but how it's fed to her. Just keep offering. And keep offering HEALTHY foods. That's really all you can do. It's been said a million times, but it's true, she'll eat when she's ready. You can't force it. And shouldn't force it. It's your job to keep the choices healthy and selective so when she decides to eat, she's not filling up on junk. I'm not much on schedules of any kind, even meal schedules. What I mean is that I want our toddler to eat meals with us-and he does about 80% of the time, but I'm also open to HIS schedule. Which means sometimes he eats when we're not ready to and vice-versa. And toddlers (your baby is phasing out of the babyhood. Sad, isn't it!) are notorious for being snackers. So just keep foods out and available to her all day. She may snack all day and never really have a big meal. Still normal and won't last forever.
Here's some good reading from Dr. Sears.....

Feeding the Picky Eater
http://askdrsears.com/html/3/T030800.asp

Is Your Child Getting Enough To Eat
http://askdrsears.com/html/3/T031100.asp

Feeding Infants and Toddlers
http://askdrsears.com/html/3/T030100.asp

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Does your little girl drink juice? If so, I would definitely stop giving juice. When I was getting my children to eat solids, I always offered them the table food first and then offered the breast and/or bottle. Hope it helps! Good luck.

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She needs 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. Don't give her a drink until she has eaten her meal. That way, she won't fill up on milk first. Try breakfastm mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. Good luck.

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Offer her something at every meal. A very small plate is fine. I used to use a saucer plate. It can be 1 carrot, i cracker, 3-4 raisins, and 1 toddler dog. If she doesn;t eat it, she's not hungry. DO NOT offer her any snacks until the time YOU have determined to be snack time. For kids that age I recommened a schedule of every 3 hours.
6:30 breakfast
9:30 snack (juice and 2-3 crackers)
12:30 lunch
3:30 snack (milk and a fruit)
6:30 dinner

If she's hungry she'll eat. The good news is that if you have her on a schedule like this or daycare does, she'll be hungry at the same time every day and you can predict when she'll want to eat.

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little ones are just that, little. Little stomachs. They do much better snacking all day. Make up a variety of healthy food, and keep it in the refrig or freezer. Buy a very good bar, wit5h nutrients and fruit etc in it, break up part of it in little pieces for breakfast, along with strwberries, apples, or another fruit. Put it where she can eat and take another bite. The same can be lunch, maybe at the park, from a container, offer something small, all day, friuts, veggies, bread and p butter etc.

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R.,
My daughter is the opposite, she is ravenous at breakfast, but lunch and dinner are more challenging. I figure she is healthy and happy and as long as I put the food in front of her, she will eat when she is hungry. Of course, I do my best to make stuff she will like, and can eat with her fingers. The biggest breakfast hit I came up with was to make a big batch of really thick oatmeal the night before, using milk, rolled oats, and a bit of oat bran. While it is cooking I add a dash of honey, raw sugar, or pure maple syrup. Then I pour the thick oatmeal in a cake pan to cool and sprinkle on some cinnamon. I put it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I cut it into squares , drizzle on some honey, and serve it with a side of fresh fruit. One batch will keep for a week, so you can make a lot and simplify your mornings. She gobbles it down and I know she is getting a good start on the day. Hope this helps. If all else fails, just keep trying, she will come around. Pressure tends to have the opposite effect, so remember to relax, and let her go at her own pace.
Good luck to you!
-K.

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Lots of little, healthy snacks.

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let her keep eating the baby food if that is what she wants. it is good for her, and comes in a wide variety. they also make a lot of toddler type meals, that are very kid friendly. you could also try a cup of carnation instant breakfast in the morning, to give her a good healthy start to her day.

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keep giving her different things and let her explore. When she's hungry enough, she'll eat. Go ahead and let her be a little hungry. It will teach her that "we eat when it's meal time and we eat what Mommy gives us". That will keep you from being a short order cook and will keep her from being a picky eater.

She's probably just trying to get used to this whole "food" thing and needs to explore it and make sure she's cook with it. :)

R., She may need to be a little bit older for this idea, but it is great. Try making a grazing tray. Take a muffin tin & try chopping up the table food in small bite size pieces & place a different one in each tin. Place the tin in the play area & let her graze all day. Make the ingredients as healthy as possible (fruits & veggies). She will play a while & eat a while. She also will not be running to you every 30 mins. wanting something to eat. She may not be hungry at regular meal time, but look how much nutrition she has gotten down during the day. As I said, she may need to be a little bit older than 1 yr, but a good idea to start working towards. Also, Juice Plus is a great addition to anyones diet, but especially for children who do not eat well. Check out the clinical research at www.17fv.com You can e-mail or call me for more information. Dr. William Sears (well known pediatrician from CA --- askdrsears.com) highly recommends Juice Plus for children.
Hope this helps.
J. C

Hi fellow nurse!! I am a 9 year veteran labor and delivery nurse, 2 year pediatric nurse and I start in the fall as a School nurse!!!

First of all get rid of the bottles!!! Only sippy cups for now on! Is there any chance she is filling up on milk? I give my 1 year old, a handful of Kix or Cheerios, a banana and a drinkable yogurt with milk in her sippy cup every morning. She eats whatever all of us eat, no special treatment (with little exceptions I should say!!) Offer her something every 2-3 hours. If she throws it on the floor, meal time is over and try again in 2 hours. You could also give her leftovers from the night before for lunch the next day, since you know she likes it! I would also keep track of what she is eating, she might just be getting enough from what she picks at. She should only be getting 3 glasses of milk a day in a small sippy cup (16 ounces a day total per the American Academy of Pediatrics). Pediatricians also recommend no more than 4 oz of juice a day! but they prefer NONE. Your daughter will have a lot more problems with diaper rash.

here is a cool web site I found, it can explain it better to ya! Enjoy the messy 1's!!

http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/Toddlers.htm

Keep up the routine. When she realizes what is happening she will eat. She will not starve and when she is hungry she will eat.

R.,

my son is 2 1/2 and he still isn't all that big on breakfast and lunch, but however we do get him to eat gerber oatmeal mixed with juice instead of water along with apple sauce then we give him 2 gerber ceral bars with a banana that has been the way it has been for a year now. he will not eat eggs, reagular oatmeal none of it. Also, i can get him to eat a muffin anytime of the day. he will eat shoneys. mostly the fruit but at least he is eating whats good for him. I promise your child is no where near starving. all kids do this. You can try some gold fish crackers and chicken nuggets for lunch if you are wanting him to have lunch where he hasn't had a breakfast but the more you push the more he won't eat. I promised myself my kid would never eat and watch t.v. but he does and no he doesn't over eat. The times I really want to sneak something new into his mouth I just do it while he is w3atching ____@____.com make sure you watch his serving sizes if you do let your child eat in front of the t.v.
If my son wants more he will tell me, and then I cut that size down even more. They eat so slow so it really is hard for them to over eat.
I hope this will help you, you have any more questions feel free to message me. GOOD LUCK,T. D.

I don't believe in pushing them to eat, however, I think that they should sit down and at least try to eat. I leave healthy snacks out all day long where she can go and grab it off the table on her own along with her juice. BUT I am a HUGEeeeeeee Believer in Vitamins. If she isn't eating, make sure she is taking her vitamins.
During the summer they tend to not eat alot anyway. And as soon as she gets use to the idea that she doesn't have her bottle, she will eventually eat. Don't worry, she will eat when she gets hungry. Maybe she is just a dinner person and not a "during the day" eater. Just have healthy snacks for her to munch on. Make sure she has her vitamins and she will be just fine, don't worry.

None of us is really meant to eat three meals a day - it's better for us to "graze" - as long as it's healthy. Maybe you could keep bowls or plates of fresh fruit and veggies for her to snack on during the day, as well as things like peanut butter crackers or yogurt or cottage cheese...As long as she ends up eating a balanced diet at the end of the day, it doesn't matter when she eats it.