21 Month Old Who Protests Eating Meals

I'm writing not because I have an answer but to affirm that you are not alone. My son is 23 months and has been in the 25th percentile; I would get really anxious about meal times, which I'm sure he picked up on and didn't really help him to eat. His 11 month old sister who is in the 75th percentile weighs nearly the same as him. My concerns have been more about his nutrition than what habits are forming. However, as others have pointed out to me, my son is developmentally on par, physically able, and by all appearances seems to be growing at a healthy rate. Based on other people's responses to my own concerns, I've tried going more with the flow and providing healthier snacks (not all snacks are bad- i.e. cut veggies like carrots, bell peppers, nuts) or 2nd breakfast (like someone else already wrote about). He began drinking more of his whole milk which has helped a lot in terms of him maintaining calories. Other suggestions I've tried include:
1) Adding soft nuts like cashews and almonds into the snack repertoire for calories and protein. Also, edamame (shelled soybean) is high in protein.
2) Fill an ice tray with a variety of healthy snacks that could be available for him throughout the day.
3) Take a week or so to actually track what he takes in. This made me feel better to see that my son actually had a variety of foods throughout the week rather than looking at just one meal or one day.
4) I've also just recently gone the smoothie route since he's taken an interest in watching the fruits/yogurt/etc get blended.

Another thing I noticed is that he would eat better in front of other people than just alone with me. Strange. And lastly, my son seems to do better when what I give him for meals are in small portions(2 to 3 bites for each item). I ask that he tries each thing at least once, and if he wants more of something, he can ask for it. But everything at least once. Someone suggested that perhaps my son was overwhelmed with everything before him and, thus the small portions/choices work better for him. We've had a better eating week than normal this week and he's even requested some of his old favorites, which surprised me. I know it's frustrating but hang in there. Good luck!

My 13 month old starting doing that and I nearly went nuts till I figured out it was the chair she hated. She hates being strapped in I guess. Now she just sits in a big people chair facing me, and sometimes to change things up we have 'picnics' on a blanket in the living room floor. Its funny, because in a restaurant she sits fine in the wooden high chairs.Either way, I wouldn't stress, he'll eat when he's hungry.

Could also be coxackie virus (hand foot and mouth disease). Some kids only have sores in their mouth and not on hand and feet. Not all have fever. But refusing to eat is a big symptom.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/c...

(i didn't see other responses yet)

I hope that this resource might be helpful...

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/fit1.asp

Best wishes,
J.

He won't starve himself to get the upperhand. They don't work like that. Don't worry. Don't push too hard, you don't want meal time to be a bad experience. I make my kids sit with us for a certain amount of time but then we are done. You don't want to eat then don't eat. You can't force feed anyone, least of all a baby.

I can't remember exactly the timing, but our daughter went through something kind of similar. We started letting her sit at the table with us (out of her highchair and in a regular chari) was a big enough thrill to change her behavior temporarily, but honestly at that age, she just didn't want to be stuck in a chair. For the most part she then started sitting throughout dinner. She get's up sometimes to goof off, but she excuses herself from the table.

It is perfectly normal behavior, as long as your are consistent with meal times, providing a variety of foods with flavor and such, he will eat again. For me, I added a tsp of rice protein powder and a tsp of flax oil to my dd's rice milk to give it some substance b/c she does go through her phases. My dd just turned 2 and goes through her stages. She was on a fruit and veggie strike since June and ate every kind of fruit (and some veggies), then anything green, she'd freak out and protest. I didn't offer anything else, b/c you don't want to be a maid to order cook and start bad habits. You don't want to force them to eat and build a bad relationship with food either. Just offer some healthy snacks throughout the day. Try serving b-fast again at 9:30am as his snack. I also made breakfast smoothies since she was so uninterested in eating b-fast and I knew she was getting some fruit, protein and good fats in the morning.

At this age, they are so active, they are less interested in eating and more interested in playing (sort of like sitting in traffic for us...they don't have patience). My dd is much taller than her peers and is very healthy, so I try not to be too concerned. Yesterday, she ate a bunch of strawberries at b-fast, first time in three months. Because everyday morning i would give her fruit, even though she didn't eat it, it was there for her to see...they eventually give in to it. (and I just ate the fruit, but not her leftovers...)

Hope this helps.

J. W. MPH
Maternal and Child Health Educator
Chicago Examiner Family Health Expert
http://www.examiner.com/x-7158-Chicago-Family-Health-Exam...
(and a city mommy!)