Not eating well

For a few weeks now Lily doesn't seem to be interested in food at all. She will eat a full meal maybe once a day. The rest of the time she'll either play with it or try to feed it to us. We even try to give it to her ourselves but she says no and walks away. We try all different types of food, so i don't think shes bored and it is things that she likes. I have started giving her vitamin tablets for 2 year olds that she can chew on, just so i know shes getting something. So i'm not sure whats got into her. I'm really worried though. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Does she have her 2yr old Molars yet Tegan? Maybe she is teething?
Aidyn also goes through times where he is very 'off' his food, and it can be worrying and frustrating.

Hello, maybe think about an iron supplement? If they are low in iron, it decreases the appetite. My DD went through this and after a month of weetbix (iron fortified) for brekky with a glass of OJ (Vit C for absorption) along with Incremin (the iron formula) she picked right up and started eating again.
HTH
:-)

What's Charlie doing when she's eating? Maybe she's distracted by him or wondering where he is if he's not in the room?

Matilda has gone through this phase quite a few times in the last 6 months. She didn't eat dinner for 2 months!! I tried everything & in the end I just gave up and 2 nights later she started eating dinner again. She also goes through it for a few days at a time. Her 2 year old molars have been bugging her and she definately won't eat for a day when they are inflamed. They haven't come through yet but I am sure that they are the instigators of the not eating.

I am pretty sure she has all her teeth, though i could be wrong. when she's eating harlie is usually sleeping, in the same room. We thought it may have been the tv distracting her but we now turn that off and she still wont eat. Would rather play. But we shut her bedroom door so she cant and she just gets cranky and wont eat anyway.

Tegan I was going to say with Matilda's dinners it was all behavioural. I know Lily's strong willed as well and does quite a few of Matilda's tricks. With Matilda we developed a 20 minute strategy. We offered her one meal and made her sit in her high chair again and left it for 20 minutes, if it hit the floor we picked it up & offered it again & if she threw it a second time it went into the kitchen & she was taken out of the high chair. We showed no emotions. I developed a great poker face where if she threw it & I would be super angry at her after fixing something special for her. I would walk into the kitchen out of eye sight & breath for a minute & then come back indifferently and say "oh well, try again & if you won't eat it goes away. Too bad you must be hungry, and mummy would really love for you to eat." We also stopped all snacking unless she was really hungry and then we would offer a meal only. We didn't look at the clock... just offered her a meal when she was hungry but no snacks.

The only other thing we did was start eating together, some nights that meant DH eating dinner at 5.30pm when he walked in the door with Matilda and sometimes it was everyone having a great meal together, but it meant a more social eating, sitting together at the table. She enjoyed that a lot more.

I hope something there helps!! It is so extremely frustrating when they won't eat, for some reason that is what gets me upset more than anything else. I guess because Matilda is lean and I worry about her loosing weight, but when it is a behavioural response you have to address it differently than if its an illness or molars or something like that.

BTW this advice was given to us by our Triple P consultant because it all happened around the same time as those extreme tantrums.

Mum had the same problem with me when i was about that age. She took me to the doctor who said not to worry. Shes still eating something and has enough energy and she isnt going to starve herself. Id say if youre really worried, perhaps just see your GP, but unless she's lethargic or doesnt seem herself, id say its just a phase perhaps.

Tegan i think most kids go through this stage and if the weather has been hot for you she might not want to eat much.

I'm having the same problem with Kimberley not eating some nights she won't even touch her dinner. But sometimes wants something a hour or so later. Some nights i keep what she hasn't eaten and give it back to her but she doesn't always have somemore.

Tegan - I also have a fussy eater. I wrote in Kirst EW's thread about a book which is fab and very reassuring if you are interested. It's saved my sanity!

t is a fussy eater though he has got better last year he went for quite a few days of hardly eating anything , this was the same time as he was cuttin g teeth which i thought was pretty normal .. but it turned out he had an ear infection , not a sore one just some fluid between his ears !