When to worry about not eating enough

[DevaMajka]

When do you start to "worry" that a bf'ed toddler isn't eating enough?

I've been just offering whatever seems healthy, that I'm pretty sure he likes. He often takes a nibble or two (seeming like he likes it), then is done and wants down. There are some foods that he usually eats a lot of (cheese, yogurt, fruit) at a sitting.
Is there a point when you start specifically giving their favorites, to get them to eat more? Or is it generally best to offer a healthy variety regardless of how much they eat? (I'm guessing it's the latter)

Ds is tall (90%ile) and skinny (50%ile on WHO charts. He's in the 3rd %ile for weight for height). He's incredibly active. He's been falling on the charts at evey appointment since he was 4 mos. He nurses perhaps 5 times a day, plus he nurses at night.

I did look up toddler serving sizes, and how many servings he should eat, but he's not eating that much. He might just about meet the servings for fruit and veggies, but for sure not for carbs, and probably not for protein. He probably eats 1/2 of the recommended amount of dairy.

[crunchy_mommy]

I was wondering the same thing. DS has never tried a food he didn't like, he will take a bite or two of almost anything, but that's about all he'll eat. He has a few foods he'll eat larger amounts of (mushrooms, avocado, fruit, GF vegan "mac & cheese", cauliflower, hummus) but even so, he could go all day without eating more than a 1/3 cup of food total... sometimes more on a good day. He's 20 months now & hasn't really gained any weight lately, he's been at 23lbs for several months, but he's short & hasn't fallen off the WHO charts yet... He's still nursing 290922001183 times a day so I'm not overly concerned but I'd really like to see him eating larger portions. I'm torn between giving him his favorite foods at every meal just to get him to eat, and just staying the course, but I think I'm leaning towards continuing to offer him lots of variety. I'm glad he's at least willing to try a little of everything so I want to encourage that while we still have the chance (i.e. still getting so many calories from breastmilk). If he cuts back on nursing or I finally get pregnant or something, I may change tactics... I don't know. Interested to here other responses!

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

DS has never tried a food he didn't like, he will take a bite or two of almost anything, but that's about all he'll eat. He has a few foods he'll eat larger amounts of

Same here! Ds isn't picky- he seems to like most of the foods I give him well enough (except tomato- neither of my boys like tomatoes. But they'll both eat kale chips and asparagus. Go figure. lol). He's just more interested in playing with it, or getting down to go play, than eating. I even let him eat on the run, but he's just too active to eat much that way.

[kismetbaby]

My 12month old is quite picky. He's very suspicious of new foods and will immediately spit something out that doesn't meet his standards. And he hates sitting in the high chair. Sigh. I'm not too worried at this point, as he is still above 50% for weight and still nurses a TON. But I do worry that he'll be a difficult eater and how he'll do when he (eventually) doesn't nurse.

At this point my "strategy" is to keep offering him a variety of foods, but also give him his go-to foods once a day so that at least there is something I know he'll eat. Those foods right now are: strawberries, oranges, dried apple, hummus and bread. Some days he'll eat avocado, some days not, but generally he rejects anything green. Some of the time he'll eat beans and rice.

I did realize recently that I was letting him snack too much just b/c I was happy to see him eat. . .but those were really "empty" calories--things like Mum-Mums (rice crackers) and Snack-peas (essentially just chips) and Puffs. So I decided that I needed to eliminate those snacks and just offer real foods. I think this will help him learn to like more foods and to actually be hungry when the good things are offered.

I'm waiting for the day when he just eats up everything I put on his plate!

[dawncayden]

I don't tend to worry as long as they are breastfeeding. My 18 month old, I don't worry about.
I give well balanced meals for both my boys but only worry about the 4.5 yr olds intake. Since he weaned we have talked a lot about what our body needs everyday. But he was 3 at the point of weaning, so he understood what I was saying.