Mealtimes for 16 month Yr Old

S

southside852

Registered User
I am looking for advice/help on feeding my son.

Issue #1: He no longer sits in his highchair. We start in it for all meals, but after 10 minutes tops, he is squirming to get out. We've put his favorite toys on his tray, music etc..., but no luck. He's just tired of it. So we then resort to feeding him while playing. Which is a total nightmare for in between his jumps, turns and playing with his toy garage, we have to get a bite or two in. My son is an active boy with lots of energy, but just wondering if it's normal for this age to reject the highchair.

Issue #2: I feel like he's eating less at scheduled mealtimes - bfast, lunch and dinner. bfast he has his bottle of milk, a few bites of oatmeal or cheerios cereal and then that's it. Breakfast then turns into this 1 hour affair of feeding him fruit. Because he doesn't eat at much at mealtimes, I find myself making sure he eats a hearty snack in between as he needs the carbs and calories to take him through the day and night.

Anyone else experienced this or have any advice on making mealtimes less chaotic? He used to eat so much more, but in the last couple of months, it seems less even though his weight is absolutely fine....I assume he's just burning more calories as a walker.....
 
1)perhaps you are feeding him too much? if he's not showing interest, then leave it. don't fight it. if all he can handle is 10 minutes, then let him go.

2)are you allowing him to feed himself? try giving him some finger foods so that he can take part in the process.

3)cut out snacks, if you want him to eat more at meals.

if you do offer snacks, then place a bowl of finger fruit within reach. then he can help himself when he is hungry.

a young child will not starve himself. when he's hungry, he'll eat. if you are constantly trying to feed him, he'll rebel. so long as his weight is ok, then you are needlessly worrying.
 
I have a 17 month old boy and am facing almost exactly the same issues-he's very active and finds it hard to sit in the high chair for long. He's also been losing a little weight, but he started off quite chubby anyway, so I figure he has some to spare.

Some days are better, some are worse, but in general, we've noticed that if he likes the meal, he stays put longer, so I've just had to get more creative in what I cook. For example, of late, he's liked toasted crumpets for breakfast, so that's what he's been getting!

Also, as Cara says, putting some Cheerios or finger foods on the tray table helps keep his attention up.

I've also become good at being a clown- balancing a cup on my head keeps him amused for oh- about 10 seconds longer...

So, no answers, but you're not alone and I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say!
 
like plumtree, i find myself dancing in front of him, singing to his favorite songs etc...the things we do for our children!

thanks carang for your ideas....we normally do a little of both during snack - he feeds himself and we also feed, but maybe i will just do all self-feed. thanks!
 
we do a complete self-feed for our youngest, she sits on a chair on her table (child-size) and is given her plate of food and her water and I sit near to her to assist if she wants help but otherwise just let her go - she makes an awful mess but you just have to let that go...lol...she eats all of her dinner every night - its awesome! Having said that, around this age, they do eat less I find, so maybe lessen the food on the plate so it doesn't seem overwhelming, you can always get something more for them. Good luck!
 
Maybe I'm making the most awful generalisation here, but I find that girls are better at sitting quietly and eating. Or at least that's what I observe during snack time in playgroup. I think it's true that boys are generally more active.

Question (sorry to hijack this thread): at what age does it start getting better??
 
My friends back in Thailand never had a high chair (or any other baby stuff) for their 2 rambunctious boys. When they got to the running around stage, Mom basically had to wait for them to fly by to shove a spoonful of rice in their mouth. It looked pretty hectic, and one ate better than the other, but according to Mom, it was working out all right. As well, when they were really hungry, they ate more at one time.
 
my son is now 2 and a half and believe me I am really scared of feeding him, he is just so reluctant to eat rice or noodles or pasta, bascially he hates solid food, but he is ok for bottled milk. We need to spend one hour to make him eat half bowl of rice, and what he does is usually accumulate it in his mouth without swallowing, is it normal for everyone? anyone got any advice, I know in some places there are feeding clinics that help remedy toddlers with this situation, are there anything similar in hK?
 
my first question is this:

because he is so bad at eating, do you try to compensate by making sure he has enough milk?

if you are offering too much milk, he will know that he doesn't have to eat because he'll get his milk anyway.

how much milk does he get per day? maybe cut it in half and see if your son still doesn't eat...i have a feeling that he's filling himself on milk, so he doesn't feel hungry when the time comes for a meal.
 
"My friends back in Thailand never had a high chair (or any other baby stuff) for their 2 rambunctious boys. When they got to the running around stage, Mom basically had to wait for them to fly by to shove a spoonful of rice in their mouth. It looked pretty hectic, and one ate better than the other, but according to Mom, it was working out all right. As well, when they were really hungry, they ate more at one time. "

i'm guessing they never went to a restaurant then... am i right? personally, i'd rather teach my child how to sit at the table so that we, the parents, are still able to enjoy the odd meal out without running after our children.
 
I think most kids go through this to some degree.
I've always been pretty tough when it comes to feeding, as I refuse to chase my children around to feed them.

When my son started doing this, I would let him get down, and if he didn't want to eat then that was fine, but if he was hungry he had to get back in his chair to eat.
There have been plenty of times when he has eaten nothing at a meal, but I don't get stressed about it, he'll make it up at the next one.
He knows the deal, if he wants to eat, he sits at the table.

I remember seeing an episode of Jon and Kate plus 8, (the Discovery series with the family that has twins, and sextuplets) and someone asked Kate how she managed to get 2 6 yr olds and 6 2year olds to all sit down and eat the meals she cooked.
She basically said, there are no alternatives, they have to sit and eat or the go hungry.

Children wont let themselves starve.
 
Hi, I am also going through this with my 18 month old boy and don't have any magic solutions sorry!

To the extent that it might help you here are the "rules" I apply:
- give my toddler the choice between sitting in his high chair or sitting up at his little table and chairs set,
- try not to attempt to feed him when he is tired,
- keep a lid on how much milk he is drinking so as to ensure he is hungry for his "real" meals,
- if he hasn't eaten much of his meal and comes looking for a snack 30 minutes later I offer him his meal again rather than a different snack,
- I try to offer him a variety of foods (the Annabel Karmel cookbooks are brilliant!),
- if he gets out of the high chair that's the end of the meal - I will not chase him around the room offering him food,
- finally, as he generally only lasts about 10 mins in the high chair I shovel the food into his mouth as fast as I can!!

I honestly wouldn't worry about the amounts he is eating. If he is hungry he will eat. No baby who is regularly offered a good variety of healthy food is going to suffer from malnutrition. I repeat this to myself as a mantra as I struggle through meal times.....
 
I'm a bit of a freak about this woman, but I really love what Ellyn Satter says about feeding kids. She has a couple of books, but really it boils down to her idea of a division of responsibility. Parents are responsible for the what, when, and where of feeding, and kids are responsible for the whether and how much of eating. This really helps me relax about my 14 month old, who is just starting to act more like a "toddler" with his eating--pickier, eating tons one day and none the next, wanting to play, etc. Basically she says we have to trust kids to get what they need, as long as we offer healthy choices it's up to them to eat it. Hard to do, but I think it makes sense. I really recommend her books!

foodsmith.wordpress.com
 
am glad to see i am not alone! our son is definitely acting like a little toddler as he runs, jumps and plays through meals. i've reduced milk intake - 1/4 of it at the start and the rest after he takes his bath with his dessert. so far so good....

thanks everyone!
 
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