Feeding my toddler ....... :( ........

Hi,

Im a mother of a 16m baby girl. I got a problem of feeding her. She doesn't want to eat anything. We try all possible tricks but ......

In fact she loves to drink water, no matter what time in the day she loves water, plenty of water.

She is very active too, always climb up, running here n there, very cheerful too. She reacts to our commands & also to her favorite tv programms ( "FUNNY BUNNY" in Baby First ... )

She is 10.3kg & 80cm - very slim but tall.

As at now we only give her " Seven Seas Multi Vitamine " apart from her meals.

Should we give more & more vitamins ?

Kids don't starve themselves unless they have serious medical conditions. Research has shown that they will seek out the nutrients they need and eat those foods first if the are offered a good variety and not influenced too much by parents. Given that you say she is active and so forth, she doesn't seem to be malnourished. You should not need to give her more vitamins.


She is apparently getting what she needs. You say "she doesn't want to eat anything", but I'm sure she must be eating something, right?


If you keep trying to force her she will just put up more resistance.


Keep offering a variety of healthy foods at mealtimes. If there is some food she really dislikes, remove it from the menu for a week or two, then reintroduce it without any special mention.


Keep the snacking between meals to a minimum in order to ensure a good appetite. Kids at this age can have 5-6 "meals" a day though. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, pre-sleep bottle. Make sure that the meals are at set hours and in calm environments (sitting at the table, not walking around with food in hand).


Kids are quirky and will eat a lot one week and seemingly nothing the next. This is normal.

Thanks indeed axptguy38 for your valuble comments.


We offer her 3 hard meals, 1 snak ( friuts ) & 3 milk ( Enfagrow A+ ) per day. But the matter is that she only takes the snack & milk ( 200ml x 3 times ) but not the main meals.

We feel that she is loosing her weight rapidly ........

For today so far she had only 3 table spoons of yoghurt.


Thanks again for your comments !

Is she actually losing weight? If yes, then definitely contact your pediatrician. And perhaps you could do that anyway. Just a phone call with the nurse might help you determine if you need to see the doctor of if you should wait.


You could also cut down on the snack a bit so she is more hungry for the other foods.

Actually, 10.5kg for an 80cm girl is about average, so I wouldn't worry at all.


She is, however, getting quite a lot of milk. At that age, I think that the recommendation is only about 400 ml/day. The other thing to keep in mind is that at this age serving sizes are very very small -- the size of her palm for dense things like meats or the size of her fist for bulky things like rice. I'd start by offering 3-4 servings of her favorite finger foods in those sizes at mealtimes, then sit down next to her and eat your own meal and talk to her about what fun things you are planning to do or have done that day. DO NOT try to feed her, DO NOT talk about what she is eating/not eating, DO NOT appear to care one bit if she eats at all. After 20 mins, lunch is over, clear up the dishes and the uneaten food. No more food until her regularly scheduled meal/snack.


Wait a minute -- 3 meals plus one snack plus 3x200ml milk ... she is eating 7 times per day?

"Actually, 10.5kg for an 80cm girl is about average, so I wouldn't worry at all."


Good point.


"The other thing to keep in mind is that at this age serving sizes are very very small -- the size of her palm for dense things like meats or the size of her fist for bulky things like rice."


Also try to keep the serving visually small. Some kids are intimidated by a huge helping. Better to put just a little bit on the plate. If she finishes it, you can add more to the plate.



"I'd start by offering 3-4 servings of her favorite finger foods in those sizes at mealtimes, then sit down next to her and eat your own meal and talk to her about what fun things you are planning to do or have done that day. DO NOT try to feed her, DO NOT talk about what she is eating/not eating, DO NOT appear to care one bit if she eats at all. After 20 mins, lunch is over, clear up the dishes and the uneaten food. No more food until her regularly scheduled meal/snack."


Excellent advice. She needs to find her own peace of mind for eating.