Nursing 2 1/2 yr Toddler Barley Eating At All.

[Ydolem]

I recently went from full-time, 40 hrs a week, to being a stay at home mom again.YAY!! We also moved to a different state at the same time. Major changes right? I was nursing Ocean (2 years and 7 months old)  in the evenings and weekends. He was at home with Dad eating food just fine. We moved and it was quite hard on him. He was hitting himself in the head when he would meet someone new or getting angry. It has subsided quite a bit now that he is settled. He is quite sensitive when it comes to change. During that same time he started to nurse 24/7. I thought it was because he was adjusting to our move and because him Momma was now home and he was catching up. During all of this he started to eat less and less. Now it is to the point to where he will barely eat at all. Maybe a bite here and there during a meal if that on most days. He is nursing like a champ tho. He is ALWAYS attached doing his nursing aerobatics or just watching a movie next to me with my ninny attached to the corner of his mouth! :) I am worried that he is not getting what he needs or that I should be really worried about his lack of appetite for food and should take him to a pediatrician to make sure nothing is going on with him. What would you do? I am trying new foods and different approaches with it and am giving him vitamin supplements. he is a big boy. 42 lbs and in 4T clothing so he is not losing weight. I am not sure if this is normal enough to just wait it out. My other 3 were picky toddlers but never anti-food. Any suggestions welcome!! ~~Melody

[dimitroff03]

Hi!  My son is 21 months old, nurses a lot, and doesn't eat much food.  Some days he doesn't eat any solid food at all.  He's a big boy - 47lbs, wears mostly 4T/5T clothes and is as healthy as can be.  I have never worried about him getting enough calories, vitamins, fat, protein or anything else because I know that breastmilk is complete and as his body requires more he'll start eating more.  So I know this doesn't answer your questions exactly, but I at least wanted to encourage you that you probably don't need to be worried about his nutrition as long as he is nursing and seems healthy otherwise.  My hunch is that you are doing the best thing for him by meeting his emotional needs right now.  He'll adjust and fall into a rythym again that probably won't require to be atached to you 24/7 forever. =)

You could try encouraging him to eat more food by making meal times/snack times an extra special activity.  Let him help you choose what to buy at the grocery store, help you prepare things in the kitchen, invent new food combinations.  Maybe you could start making food art together and he won't be able to resist it!