Should I be worried?

[starlightsound]

DS is 21 months and has slowly gone from an awesome eater (loved avocado, sweet potatoes, peas, pasta, berries, apples, meats, hummus, EVERYTHING!) to only eating a few items. Mainly applesauce, plain greek or regular yogurt, bananas, whole wheat bagels and peas. He just won't TOUCH anything else, not even his old favorites!

He's still actively nursing 2-4 times a night and 2-3 times during the day (I work full time so he's with a sitter or DH 5 days a week). We've been trying to play it down, not wanting meals to be a struggle, but I'm getting nervous that he's just not getting enough nutrition.

Am I overreacting? Should I stop nursing in the evenings until after meals? He's got a stubborn streak a mile wide and he will hold out and not eat dinner, just wait until I nurse him. Is this a phase? Is it time to wean? Advice please, mamas!

[butterfly_mommy]

I found that DS started to get selective at around 20 mons or so and he slowed down eating a lot. Then he started eating more and he goes through food jags were he loves bananas one week and refuse to eat them the next, etc. Anyway I don't worry about it, there really is nothing you can do but offer him healthy food throughout the day. I also nurse him whenever he wants to nurse, before or after meals is fine as my milk is more nutritious then pretty much any other solid food, this is one of the big reasons I am so happy to be nursing my toddler .Toddlers are notorious "picky" eaters

On selective days I do what I call a "picnic tray" were I use a 6 cup muffin tray and put a different food in each one with at least 3 cups being something I know he will eat and one being a type of dip the other two cups are a new food or an old fav that he had stopped eating.

Smoothies are also something that he will "eat" even on the most selective days and you can put all kinds of stuff in them.

Then I keep in mind what Dr. Sears says about how our job as parents is to provide healthy food often to our child and their job is to eat it.

[kdtmom2be]

I've heard that the book Mothering Your Nursing Toddler is a great resource for questions like this. Might want to check you library? Our LLL book stash has a copy and the LLL leader recommends it all the time.

[starlightsound]

Ooo, I'll ask for that book at our next meeting! Thanks for the reassurance... I keep wondering if he's bored with the same foods, but he won't even try anything new!

Sigh... just a frustration I try and not let show. It's just hard as foodies to have SUCH a non-eater!

[Llyra]

It really is so normal and typical for one-year-olds to get really picky, and to start eating so little that you worry they're going to starve. They don't starve, and somehow they manage to get all the nutrients they need to grow and thrive.

I get my ideas about feeding kids from Ellyn Satter:
https://ellynsatter.com/showArticle....99&section=397

All you need to do is to keep offering a variety of healthy foods at regular times, and let him do the rest. Restrict his access to junky carbs and sugar and stuff like that, and his appetite will guide him to just exactly what he needs. I think you're right to downplay it. If he figures out that he can get a rise out of you by refusing to eat, then it becomes a power struggle issue, instead of just a meal.

Kids this age are slowing down a LOT in their growth. They don't need a lot of calories to fuel that growth, and they don't eat consistently. They may eat a lot one day, and then nothing at all seemingly for three days, and then have two good days. Or some kids focus on one meal-- they eat a great lunch, but nothing else all day, or patterns like that.

Don't stop offering foods because a few times he's rejected him, and don't start only offering his few favorites. Just keep making good meals, and he'll eat then when he's hungry, and he won't when he's not. Try to to even comment on how much he eats. Put your energy into making mealtime pleasant and teaching age-appropriate table manners.