Toddler who won't go to bed, doesn't like to eat, craves chocolate and sweets, dark circles...

[anyalily]

My thread title says it all.

My DD is 2.5 and has never been a good eater. She is still breastfed.

The only thing she will reliably eat is something with chocolate. We don't give her tons, but she has a little something everyday, like chocolate milk or ice cream.

She will sometimes eat pancakes, white rice, hummus, broccoli, quesadillas, chicken nuggets, burritos... but just little nibbles.

She won't go to be before midnight, nap or no, and it is often a lot of high energy restlessness at bedtime. Last night she was up until 1:20AM!

She has dark circles under her eyes a lot, mostly in the later part of the day so it may just be tiredness.

She had bloodwork a year ago and nothing was id'd, not even anemia. It wasn't looking for allergies, just major problems with white cells, etc.

Please help me get started identifying possible food intolerances. It is hard to do an elimination diet because we are so concerned with her getting enough nutrition... She had surgery to remove a benign cyst under her tongue that started her solid food aversions, but more than a year later she is still a difficult eater. I have considered weaning her just to nighttime nursing so she will eat more during the day. Sometimes she just refuses to eat and waits until I get home. She is slow growth and we are always concerned for her.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and advice!

[mama1803]

Two things jump out at me right away...

The first is a possible deficiency of zinc.  Zinc deficiency can cause loss of appetite (or to never really have had an appetite).  Zinc also is responsible for taste and smell.  I suffer from a heredity condition that results in low zinc levels.  The loss of taste and smell really does affect appetite--it is hard to eat when nothing really tastes, even when you are hungry.  People with impaired senses of taste and/or smell will gravitate toward sweet and/or really spicy foods because that is the only things that register.  So zinc deficiency could be the cause of the picky eating and the chocolate craving.

The second is magnesium deficiency.  Chocolate is high in magnesium and many people's cravings for chocolate actually disappear when their magnesium levels are brought to normal levels.  Because many people find that magnesium is tough on the gut, they opt for epsom salt baths as the magnesium is much more easily absorbed by the skin than in the digestive tract.  Most people also find that magnesium is very calming and a epsom salt bath actually induces sleep.  We use both epsom salt and magnesium chloride flakes for baths as I have long suspected that my entire family is deficient.  We notice a difference in sleep patterns right away.

HTH

[anyalily]

Wow, MAMA1803, thanks so much. I never even considered that! We do give her a gummy supplement, I wonder if that gives her enough of a zinc boost or if I should supplement further?

I have epsom salts at home right now. We'll try a bath tonight! Do you guys do nightly baths?

Thanks so much for sharing something else for me to consider.

[DevaMajka]

Funny- I was going to say mag and zinc too. Just make sure you don't go too high on zinc. This page has UL's listed.

[mama1803]

Originally Posted by anyalily 

Wow, MAMA1803, thanks so much. I never even considered that! We do give her a gummy supplement, I wonder if that gives her enough of a zinc boost or if I should supplement further?

I have epsom salts at home right now. We'll try a bath tonight! Do you guys do nightly baths?

Thanks so much for sharing something else for me to consider.

From what I understand, zinc is difficult to absorb.  Something like only 30% of what's in food is absorbed.  I guess it depends on how much is in her gummy supplement.  When I have to supplement zinc, I notice a big difference in just a few days.  I hope that is the case for your dd.

We do nightly baths.  Some people here on MDC have the opposite effect with magnesium--it makes them wired and hyper--but I think they are the exception to the rule.  Lots of people here also use a product called Natural Calm which is a power that you make into a fizzy drink.  That might be useful if your schedule doesn't allow for daily/nightly baths. 

[Brees_Mama]

My 3yo is this way too. He self weaned from BFing at 12mths though. He gets allergy (skin/prick) tested on Tuesday.

[Brees_Mama]

I should mention that he also suffers from severe reflux that has been there since birth. He's on Prevacid solutabs for it. He's "afraid" of most foods, he avoids them. I guess he thinks they'll hurt his tummy :(