She Wont Eat, What Do I Do?

Dear Desirae,

Well, kids do that about two years old. She will eat when she is hungry. Maybe her body is not growing much right now, and doesn't need much food.

Continue offering her small amounts of foods at the regular meal times and don't make a big deal out of her not eating. The more you say about it the longer she will hold off on the eating. Ask her if she is finished eating and then clean her up and take her down from the chair and get on with your lives.

No snacks, until she is sitting at the table, and then only a few so that she will not exactly have a full meal of snacks.

They just do this, it is normal, when her body is starting to grow again, she will let you know that she is hungry. C. N.

She's probably just getting her 2 year old molars and is in pain. Try giving her soft foods, yogurts, tofu, applesauce, smoothies, etc. and see if she will eat that. Nobody wants to eat when their mouth hurts! She should be back to herself soon, just keep on trying. A friend of mine had a skinny child and she put cream cheese on everything she gave her! Just give her a well balanced soft diet and she will be ok.

Dear Desirae F,
Hi I went through this with my daughter at 2 1/2 but her problem was trauma related to getting diabetes at 2 1/2. We gave her pedisure to make sure she got some sort of nutrition.
Start by doing 6 small meals a day. My daughter is now 7 and cannot eat 3 big meals and 3 snacks a day. She has to do 6 small meals. Try that and see if it helps. Also contact your pediatric doctor and find out what they reccomend. contact me if you need more help. M. P
____@____.com

Two year olds are notorious picky eaters - your daughters behavior is perfectly normal for a child her age, and you trying to force her to eat is only going to motivate her to NOT eat even more. She will not lose weight, and she will not starve herself - she will eat when she is hungry enough and motivated to do so. Continue offering her food at regular intervals, and if she wont eat it, put it away: she will let you know when she is really hungry. KNow that this has nothing to do about eating, really, but it is one of those inevitable power struggles between mommies and two year olds everywhere. The more you ignore it and not push the food, the shorter the time will take for her to realize that this is a situation that she is not going to win. In the meanwhile, offer her new and different foods, and if you are really worried about her losing weight, give her some pediasure in her sippy cup just to make sure she is getting her vitamins even if she isn't eating much.
Above all, stop giving her not eating so much attention. If she says no and wont eat it, don't make her - just put the food away, instead of spending hours upon hours trying to get her to eat it. This is allowing her to know that she can manipulate you, make you upset, and makes her think that she is the one in control of the situation.

Honestly I think all kids go through this at SERVERAL points during their toddler hood. There are many things that can be causing this:

* She is constipated- as another Mama pointed out, it can make you feel like you’re already full. If all she’s eating is banana, make sure she’s still “going” daily.
* She is sick- again, as another Mama pointed out, if she’s nauseous or has a sore throat, it may hurt for her to swallow.
* She is on strike- 2 year olds frequently try to tell US parents how WE’RE going to raise THEM, instead of letting us tell them.
* She is dehydrated- dehydration could make you constipated, nauseous, and/or tired. It has been warmer (at least in So Cal) so she would need more fluid than “she normally would take”. Be sure that water is ALWAYS available to her.
* She is preparing for a growth spurt- my son ALWAYS goes through a week or two of not eating much, followed by a ravenous gorge for a few weeks when he’s doing a lot of growing. My son has grown an inch and a half in the last 7 weeks.

So, here’s what I recommend:
* Try some other parts of the B.R.A.T. (Banana, Rice, Apples, and Toast) diet. If her tummy is sensitive, these will be gentle and easy for her to digest. * Continue offering other foods a few times a day. If she eats, GREAT. If not, don’t stress too much. She may (as evil as it sounds) “LIKE” your reaction and enjoy seeing you worry. At 2 they are noticing your reactions, good, bad or indifferent.
* Make smoothies using yogurt and fruit. It should be mixed about 1 part yogurt to 1 part fruit. If you what to get some protein in there try the following (it’s enough for both of you, maybe even dad too): 1 cup yogurt (I use vanilla), 1 cup frozen berries, 1 to 2 bananas (RIPE), 2 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter (depending on how much you like it) and A LITTLE bit (maybe ¼ cup) of juice OR milk- put all tings except juice/milk in blender. Start blending, if not blending well, add reserved liquid and/or stir with rubber spatula. Blend until smooth.
* CALL HER DOCTOR. He/she will know WAY more than us as to whether you should be concerned. Calls are free, appointments are what cost money. If the doctor is worried, than maybe you SHOULD take her in! If not, you will have the piece of mind needed for you to relax without guilt.

Sorry it’s a little long, but I hope it helped~ J.

I would take her to the pediatrician. For today and the time between now and your appointment, I like pediasure as well. My son was a picky eater, refusing meals with meat. I would give him this to make sure he was getting some protien. If there is anything she likes, offer that. Hang in there, Desirae.

How have her bowl movements been? Sometimes constipation will make little ones not feel like eating. After all, if you felt sore and bloated and didn't have much appetite...

Another thing to consider too is that if they are sick they won't eat. Especially if they feel nauseated or have sore throat. There was a virus making the rounds of our preschool that really made it hurt to swallow. Is she just fine swallowing fluids?

With that said, it is also very normal for 2 years olds to go along on a binge and starve eating plan. They eat like mad when their body is getting ready to have a growth spurt...then.. they just can't be bothered to eat.

Your daughter's food intake, from what you describe, sounds less than this however. More like a sick child who isn't eating because she doesn't feel well. Try giving her plenty of fluids, take her temperature, feel her belly to see if her bowel area seems hard. See if she looks uncomfortable when swallowing. Use a small flashlight to look at in the back of her mouth (throat). Try giving her some tylenol and see if this improves her willingness to eat...

This should help you gather a few more clues to decide if she's coming down with something or is just being picky.

For more about picky eaters, food jags, etc:

http://www.earthskids.com/childdevfood.aspx

If she is not taking fluids or if this continues for more than a 2 or 3 more days, call your pediatrician! You may need to have her swabbed for strep throat. Plus, there are a couple of intestinal ailments out there that don't clear up without medical intervention.

Hi Desirae - I don't have an answer for you on why she's not eating, other than what you've probably already thought of.... she may be under the weather reducing appetite. I'm sure by now, you've talked with a doctor and hopefully she's back to normal. I thought you would benefit from learning about a way to ensure optimal nutrition for your family, which will help lower risk of illnesses. As we all know, a regular diet of plenty of whole fruits and vegetables helps the body produce healthy DNA and helps the immune system work properly. Problem is that it's hard to get kids (even adults) to eat at least 9 raw servings of fruits and vegetables each and every day. I highly recommmend Juice Plus as an insurance plan to make sure you and your kids are getting the best nutrition. It's not a vitamin - or an isolated nutrient - but the real thing that provides the thousands of nutrients in combination to help our bodies work properly. 17 of the most powerful fruits and vegetables are juiced, all the sugar, salt, herbicides and pesticides removed, dehydrated and ground to capsule/chewable/and gummy forms. Please feel free to read more about the tremendous research behind Juice Plus. Also don't hesitate to contact me through this website if you have any questions. http://www.juiceplus.com/+cc42230. It's a nice way to ensure your daughter is getting good whole food nutrition on a consistent basis.

C.
JUICE PLUS - America's Brand Name For Prevention!
http://www.juiceplus.com/+cc42230
###-###-####