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July Mum to be 
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Joined: 19 January 2009
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 Topic: 18 month old and their eating habit?
Posted: 15 February 2011 at 11:03am |
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Hi everyone,
My 18month old son has been really difficult during mealtimes. I used to feed him his meals and used to take an hour or so and that was with some kind of distraction and it was still a struggle. He is allergic to dairy(skin trick test done 6 months ago confirmed this) and soy (which he has recently started reacting to). After talking to his GP, I have started putting food on his tray and leaving him to it (the doc said that it wasnt about how much he eats but developing a good and healthy eating habit) But the problem now is he doesn't eat , the food all just end up on the floor or the wall. I am stressing out as I dont know what else to do. Yesterday all he had the whole day was: 3 spoonfuls of wheetbix/milk for breakfast, 1 pear and half a toast for morning tea, 1 little piece (1/8th) of an egg sandwich, couple of spoonfuls peach/jelly thing, and for dinner he finished one carrot and didnt touch anything else in his plate (Mashed potatoes/brocoli and meatballs).
Is there anything im doing wrong? or what can i do to encourage him to put food in his mouth and actually eat it instead of spitting it out or throwing it? If it carries on like this my son will definately loose weight (we already have issues with him not gaining weight).
Is anyone else going through this? He has been difficult to feed for 2months now or i dont think its just a phase. Is there anyone who still feeds their toddler themselves? I dont want to go back to feeding him but if he doesnt eat anything then i might not have any other choice. I do praise and do a little dance everytime he eats...
Thanks for reading my post.
Edited by July Mum to be
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SMoody
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Joined: 09 January 2007
Location: New Zealand
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Posted: 15 February 2011 at 12:08pm |
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That sounds like quite a bit more to me than what Andrew its some days. And then other days my boy eats more than his Daddy.
I remember my girl at this age also not eating much. I was stressed and even got angry at times. I once tried to force the spoon in her mouth and immediately stopped and bursted out crying. Just a few seconds later hubby came home and find me in a crying mess with McKayla hugging me.
Then I realised I need to just relax. Seriously they wont really starve themselves. Your job is to offer healthy food. His is to eat it or leave it for later. It is difficult with allergies. (Andrew is severely allergic to egg, and kiwifruit as well as reacting to dairy)
What did help was offer small things through the day. Cup up fruit in muffin cases on the table, Tiny sarmie bites with a glass of water or milk.
I dont remember who told me but you go according to your childs age. So 18 months is 1 and a half. That means one and a half spoon full of good healthy food at each mealtime. Which is 6 times a day. That is what they need on top of their milk feeds at this age.
I must admit however I could relax as I was still Bfeeding and knew that they are getting some form of nutrition in. So perhaps add a bit more nutrition in some milk form. Or blend smoothies. Get him to help out with that.
Another tip. Write down each and everything he eats in a week. You might be surprised that he is eating a lot more than you might think.
As for weight. Cant really help. Both my kids at this age is really low. (Andrew below the third percentile) but McKayla is average at age 5 now and Andrew is tracking exactly 200 grams less than her but he was 200 grams less at birth.
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Kellz
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Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: Gisborne
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Posted: 15 February 2011 at 4:03pm |
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Are u eating meals together as a family? We find this helps both kids heaps! Modelling good healthy eating habits, with u focusing on eating your meal and not on trying to get the ammount u think DS needs into him. Beaing upbeat and positive about it, and eating the same food as DS- where possible cos of his allergies- but make at least parts of your meals the same.
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Bizzy
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Location: New Zealand
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Posted: 15 February 2011 at 5:46pm |
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yep what both of them said... by you making a big fuss of him when he does eat he knows that not eating gives him a control of sorts. just relax, give him the food and if he doesnt eat it then try not to show how upset or annoyed you are. As Smoody said they wont starve themselves!
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July Mum to be
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Posted: 16 February 2011 at 11:07am |
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Thanks guys for your replies.
Smoody, yeah i get mad at my son sometimes as well, when he refuses to eat no matter what i give him. It's very frustrating eh. Wow really? only one and half spoons of healthy food,, then my son is atleast getting that much at every meal time. Good to know about that :)
Kellz, No we're not eating together as a family.I would love that but my son eats at 5 and my hubby doesnt get home until 6-6.30. But I have started sitting with a bowl of something to eat while he eats so he can still copy me.
Yeah im definately not showing my emotions when my son is throwing food around and not eating now. I have already noticed him not doing it so much so i think its working :)
What i have decided (not sure if its a good eating habit or a progress from what we were doing before) but I sit with him for breakfast and dinner with a spoon as well so i can feed him as well. But for lunch and snack times , i let him do what he wants to and dont interfere. Is it a good thing to do? I do want him to eat by himself but he isnt interested to spoon feed but will happily eat finger foods..
thanks again
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millymollymandy
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Joined: 09 September 2009
Location: Taranaki
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Posted: 16 February 2011 at 12:21pm |
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We still sometimes spoon in a mouthful or two if DD is mucking around.
I did find stretching out dinner till 6 really helpful for a good dinner. She has a snack at 4.30 and we all eat dinner at 6.
Toddlers have vastly different appetities and they all process food diferently. Mine eats like at pig, but she's only just reaching 8kg at 18 1/2 months. My neice is in the 95th percentile and eats all day what our girl eats in one sitting.
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18 month old and their eating habit?
