I too find myself getting quite stressed if Jacob doesn't want to eat. I get worried that he's not had enough to eat, that it will affect his sleep and that he's not eaten enough to meet basic nutritional requirements! I find myself getting seriously obsessed by it truth be told. It's funny, as some days he will seem to eat quite a bit, and other days, hardly anything at all. Since he started solids, he really hasn't ever been that enthusiastic about food......not like some other littlies I've seen! Quite often I think if I didn't offer him food, he wouldn't even notice!!!

I have to really tell myself that if he's not hungry, he's simply not hungry and I can't force him to eat as that will only turn meal times into an unpleasant time for all of us and I don't want to create any problems like that.......so I try to be all 'fun' when he does actually eat so that he can see how enjoyable it is IYKWIM? I've also found that offering him something for morning and afternoon tea is the way to go - he seems to be more of a grazer and won't eat a lot in one sitting (most of the time). Sometimes however he passes up morning or afternoon tea and I just have to go with that........

One thing I found very useful was to start a food diary. This is probably demonstrating my obsessiveness about the food issue and how worried I get about it, but I find that it helps me to keep track of what he's eating so that over the course of a week, I can see how things even out IYKWIM? It also helps me pick up any patterns about times when he seems to be hungrier than others and how that correlates with his sleep and physical activity.

It's also a good reference point if there's a illness or something like that. We haven't had to use it for that, but it had crossed my mind that if Jacob were to fall ill for some reason, e.g. developed an allergy to something or become very ill, that it may help with pinpointing the reason for the illness or to demonstrate his disinterest in food. If Jacob were to have precious little to eat for two days running, I would be really concerned and would whisk him off to the Doctors for a good check-up I think. It always pays to be careful in that regard as toddlers don't have the ability to sustain themselves for as long as what we do, or to convey what it is that is bothering them, e.g. they have a stomach ache, so they don't want to eat, or feel unwell in some other way......

Sorry to have gone on FionaJill, but I just thought I'd share my thoughts with you!