My ds1 basically does not eat. I know it's normal for toddlers to decrease their food intake, but I don't know what's normal? Today he ate half a piece of multigrain toast with butter, one piece of plain rye mountain read, about a teaspoon of a vegetable and egg fritter and maybe a teaspoon sized amount of cheese. He drank a normal amount of water and bf maybe 4 or 5 times during the day as well. I know the bm will be filling him up, which is why he's not eating much, but is this ok? All the advice says to cut back milk but I'm assuming they mean cows milk, bm is different? Should I try and limit his bfs or just go with the flow? I just worry that he's not getting enough nutrition I've seen all the things that go around fb about how much goodness a certain amount of bm provides a toddler, but food is there for a reason too, right?
Both my kids weaned around 2.5 and they suddenly started eating more. I would say the breastmilk is obviously giving him all the calories he needs at the moment, so he is just tasting foods.
What do you want to do? If you're happy to just keep feeding then do that. If you want to wean him then maybe try just doing a morning and night feed.
I would be looking at him and how he's going, rather than tallying food intake.
Breastmilk really is a great source of nutrition and even at this age can form a good part of his intake plus other supplementary stuff. So yes, he does need other food as well, but perhaps not an enormous amount. Is he growing, developing, healthy? If you're concerned, you could ask a GP to order a blood test to check for deficiencies. I was amazed to find my barely-ate 4yo had perfectly normal blood! It was quite reassuring, as I felt sure he must be anaemic or something (and he wasn't even breastfed at that point).
You could try cutting feeds and see what happens - does he eat more? does his growth/healthy improve? (if that's been a concern) Or, if he seems ok, you could just carry on and see how you go. *most* of the time, it's not really necessary to cut back on breastfeeds as kids naturally regulate themselves; as they need more food, they take less milk. Everyone's a bit different when it comes to eating. Some kids really do well on breast milk for longer than others. Is there any chance of allergies/intolerances? That sort of thing tends to influence eating patterns, also, as kids seem to just know that they need to stick with the breast milk and avoid any foods that might upset them.
Have you seen the book "My child won't eat?" by Carlos Gonzales. It's a good read if you can get a hold of it.
His weight and growth I would say are good, I weighed him on the w/e and he was 13.5kg not sure how tall he is but he looks healthy. Developmentally he's good, at the bottom range of talking but ahead in other things.
Not sure about allergies/intolerances. I never had any but dh did, ds1 has never shown any reactions to anything he's had. It could be a possibility though...
I'm not looking to wean him, I've been pretty happy with letting him choose when to wean himself. I was concerned because there's really not much info out there about extended bfing and eating that I was able to find and I didn't want to be doing him any harm. Your replies were very reassuring so I'll continue to just see how we go and continue on as we are. I'll also see if I can get my hands on that book. Thanks again
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2.5yo eating and bfing advice
I've seen all the things that go around fb about how much goodness a certain amount of bm provides a toddler, but food is there for a reason too, right?
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