19 months son not eating anymore...

F

Frenchy

Registered User
My son has always been a good eater, anything, at each meal, we never had any problem... since about 3 weeks ago, he started to refuse the usual food. Vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, cakes, he doesn't want to eat anything more ! I've tried pureed, mix, pieces, raw, cooked, grilled, small, big, hidden in other food, snacks... anything he used to like more... NOTHING ! he just refuses.
The only things he still gets is milk, small pieces of cheese, boiled eggs, some bread and eventually a piece of chocolate sometimes.
So I try to vary the food... I give him some Apericubes (with different tastes), I make my own bread with whole wheat flour and flax seeds, and share a 3 mn boiled egg every morning with him.
We have changed our eating habits to make him have his meals with us, so he sees what we eat, we try to give him very small portions of what we eat, we don't force him at all and make sure the meals are a happy time, but still he won't touch anything.
So... beside this, he is still a great, happy little boy. So I guess he is getting his energy from what he gets, but he has already lost a little bit of weight and sleeps quite a lot...
Any miracle advice ???
:chef:
 
if it's been 3 weeks and you have noticed differences in his other behaviours (ie. sleeping) i would take him to the doctor. there could be some underlying cause.

generally, kids don't let themselves starve. you son IS eating, just not as much or what he used to eat. at least you know he's getting some nutrition.

just one question.... how much milk does he drink per day? that may be affecting the fact that he's not eating. i know when my son started the "not eating" thing, i increased his milk. for us, it was a bad move as he then didn't feel the need to eat as he was getting so much milk. when we also cut back on the milk consumption, he started eating again. although to this day he doesn't eat much. his younger sister(2yrs) weighs the same as he does(4yrs).
 
He is drinking the same amount of milk as when he was eating well, we didn't change the quantity. He is having around 750 ml per day (3 times 250 ml, morning (around 6.30 am, he wakes up and then go back to sleep to 8.30), after his afternoon nap at 3.30 - 4pm, then before to go to bed at 8pm.
He also drinks a lot of water along the day, but won't take any fruit juices. He never liked them...

Is your son eating everything, but just in small quantities ?
 
my son was great until he hit about 16 months. then he became a "white boy".... white rice, white bread (nothing on it!), white pasta.... i saw DR OZ on OPRAH say that it happens to MANY kids. children have 10,000 taste buds, but adults only have about 3,000. so, things taste much stronger to young kids.

we worked very hard with my son. now, he will try new things. i ask that he try one bite. if he doesn't like it, fine. but he needs to try.

at the begining, we started with white rice and a little chicken breast (white meat). he ate that no problem. then we added a little veg. he hated veg. we had to puree and add them in disguised. now, he will eat some veg without problems.

we just worked slowly and eventually he got better.

if your son likes eggs, maybe try scrambling them with a little cheese? or add a little ham? make a mini omelette?

my son liked "pooh bear bread". this was basically a peanut butter and honey sandwich that we cut into little squares. we quickly started leaving out the honey. sometimes i used a cookie cutter to cut the sandwiches into shapes (i have a car shaped one that went over REALLY well). my son also liked pancakes, so we made those, too. if you puree blueberries into the batter, they turn blue. if you puree beetroot into them, they turn pink. we did this and also used cookie cutters. he'd have blue stars and pink hearts. he LOVED them! and he used his fingers to eat them. now, he likes to have syrup on them, so we use forks.

anyway, i know you've tried a lot of different things, maybe have your son involved.... he can help to mix things and add things into the bowl... he may be more willing to eat then?
 
It certainly sounds like you have tried every option.... changing things around, making them look/taste more appealing. My only thought is maybe, it has something to do with the heat? Does your appetite change in the heat? Mine does. Just a thought? I would give it give a couple more days, if he is not showing any other changes in behavior (crying excessively/ sleep pattern has changed/ hard to settle) otherwise I would make an appointment to see a Dr.
 
Also thought about the heat... I'm going to try the shapes thing. I know it will come back one day, just don't want to wait till he loses his energy or has growth problems.
Concerning his behaviour, it's hard to say if changes are linked to his appetite or to him becoming a toddler, growing, getting more independancy, having tantrums... he is still very sociable and funny and smiling all the time. If he was not playing or laughing any more I would worry...
 
I think it won't do any harm seeing a doctor for your son's check up, he may prescribe some Multi vitamins fortified with iron or B complex. Which in turn may help in increasing appetite. I would be very worried if my 16 month old stopped eating, on the contrary her appetite seems to have increased of late.
 
I've read that appetite also goes with growing chart... sometimes they need more, sometimes nearly nothing at all...
I'm already trying to give him some vitamines, but the problem is that these vitamines (liquid) have a taste, like fruits (I would like it !) but my son just never liked fruit juices... so it's hard to incorporate it in anything !!
I just hope it's a sort of opposition phase, as he tends to refuse lots of things these last weeks, and not only food...
Fun is starting !! :D
 
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