I'm Afraid He'll Waste Away!

As long as his doctor is not concerned, I wouldn't worry too much. I would feed him balanced meals--he will eat when he is hungry. I would not give him only the things he will willingly eat--that could cause some bad habits like you suggested. My daughter was down to the 5th percentile around age one and is now an average-sized three year old. Some kids just need some time to catch up. Good luck!

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it. He will eat when he is hungry. Just offer him food often. If He doesn't like something you can't force him to eat it. My daughter is 2 and she is the pickiest person that I know. She won't eat stuff that she used to like. It is just how they are. He might try food that you are eating if he has never had it before. But don't think about it that much. Kids know when they are truely hungry.

My son has always been in the low precentile for weight. He is 22 months and goes through eating stages. One day he will eat seemingly nonstop. Other days, I can only get him to drink fluids. For his 18 month check up, the doctor shared the following advice: give him milk for the majority of his fluids because it is high in fat; add butter to his breads; and offer high calorie foods. What I have discovered is that my son eats in "spurts." Perhaps it is related to growth? Until he got his molars, he did not want to eat meat. Once they came in, he loves meat to the exclusion of other once loved foods! Unless there is some medical problem (like vomiting), I believe the human baby body is very efficient. I would advise you to not worry quite so much and enjoy this moment.

Hello L.. When I took my son to his 1 yr. dr. appt. The dr. told me that there are going to be days where my son will eat me out of house and home, then there will be days that he won't hardly eat anything. And my son does this in spirts. He'll eat and eat, and then he won't eat a darn thing. My son weighed 24 lbs at his 1 year check up, and he's only gained 1 lb since then, and he'll be 2 in Oct. And I get very nervous when he doesn't eat, but he knows when he's hungry and he's not. If he's not eating much, just make sure he's getting the liquids in him so he can get his nutrients that he needs. Have you tried giving him fresh fruit?? My son LOVES fresh fruit!! Don't worry, if he's underweight, your dr. will be sure to let you know, and come up with a plan. I'm a first time mom too, so I understand your fears.

L.,

Can you find a nutrition drink that he likes or that you can add to a smoothie? Could there be another reason he's not eating? Does he act like it hurts to eat or that he's full? There is a real medical condition that can cause this. Is this just a phase, or has he always not had an appetite? Surely the doctor can tell you whether there's reason to be concerned.

B.

My 17 Month old daughter is the same way. I just keep offering her the veggies and meat and sometimes she eats a little but its fruit and breads most of the time. Sometimes I'll give her those pediatric drinks with all the vitamins for piece of mind.

My 21 month old has always been small (5th percentile in weight) & used to have a huge appetite - now, he seems to barely eat anything, but has actually moved up a tiny bit in percentiles. Our doctor (who happens to be my uncle) isn't worried about him at all. I really wouldn't worry if i were you. As long as he's eating a few things throughout the day, he should be fine.

C.

Hi L.,

My son is 21 months old and I feel the same way a lot. It isn't that he doesn't like things, he just doesn't want to eat a lot. There are times he'll come home from daycare and only eat about 10% of what I sent for lunch but of course he has eaten all the snacks they offer. Until about 1 month ago I still gave him #2 baby fruit because I had a hard time getting him to eat solid fruit. Here are the things I usually feed him... pretty common stuff and maybe not the best but he eats. Chicken fingers (believe it or not the giant eagle brand seems the best), spaghettio's, mac & cheese, Gerber graduates chicken and turkey stews. Around 16 months he started grabbing the bag of bread off the table and eating that plain so now we can give him 1/2 sandwich and I'm guessing at day care that he eats the bread separate from the ham/bolonga/cheese etc. Applesauce is a must. Recently he started eating more fruit but it took a while. At first he didn't like watermelon and now he can't get enough. He likes strawberries and red grapes too. Veggies are tough. Sometimes he will eat potatoes, carrots, peas and sometimes not. I find that if the pieces are small and in a stew like meal, he will eat them better. He loves corn on the cob!!! I am lucky that he likes hot dogs and kielbasi, even bratwurst but I have to make sure that I cut the pieces very small or else he doesn't like to chew it long enough and just spits it out. Pasta is probably his favorite. And he enjoys the Beefaroni as well as homeade so that makes it a litte easier on me at times. We also give him a yogurt every weekday. Just keep trying. Don't stop giving him something just because he didn't like it once. Try again in a few weeks and you may be surprised.

Good luck!

C.

Hi L.!
Both of my girls are consistantly in the 25th percentile and while they're small, it's nothing to worry about. Your little guy will be ok, too.
Look at it this way--he is not in the 10th or 5th percentile. That is when i'd worry. Does the pediatrician seem concerned?

All that said, it's good that you want to get him to eat more well-rounded, healthy things. My daughter goes thru phases where all she'll eat are pretzels, goldfish or graham crackers, but i'm lucky b/c she eats tons of fruit and I just pair her "snacky" stuff with banana slices. She wont eat meat at all, and very few veggies. I used to worry that just those things werent enough but my pediatrician said not to worry and to just introduce things slowly. He also told me to give her a vitamin each day and be consistant in introducing items (like one item every day for a week). It may take our light and picky eaters until they're 5 before they eat more broad items, but it'll happen.
Good Luck! K.

my daughter was the same way, i wouldn't worry. I just never gave in at the end. If she didn't like what was in front of her she didn't eat. And after two meals of being picky that stopped and she just ate whatever. Now she is 3 and right on par with everything growth and development wise. She is very good at trying a lot of new foods too. It takes a lot of discipline on your part too. Don't give in and if they don't eat lunch, don't give snacks, also give the uneaten portion of lunch for dinner. It should work.

Our daughter is 14.5 months old (12 adjusted) and has just switched over to mainly 'table food' for her two meals that she eats per day. She loves to feed herself but I wanted some fresh ideas to pack in as much nutrition as I can because she has issues gaining weight. (18 lbs 12 oz at 14.5 months)
I found this site http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/Toddlers.htm
that has some wonderful recipes and 'tactics' to get your child to possibly eat more and a larger variety.
Be sure to check out the whole site. Lots of good info and ideas. Most importantly, read the front page re: what is normal for toddlers. I know it is nervewracking to see your child barely eat, but they'll eat what they need at the time.
Best Wishes!

I wouldn't put too much thought into percentile, unless he consistently goes down. My dd has been as low as the tenth percentile and at 5 years old remains in the 25th. She's just naturally smaller. Gotta have some kiddos higher and lower to make that lovely bell curve:)
My first 2 kids always got pickier and difficult to feed at around a year. Just keep offering healthy choices over and over and you'll see he'll eventually catch on and start eating them. I gave my dd half a vitamin and around 1.5 and I learned that shredding veggies into things like sauces and eggs made it easy sneak some nutrition in without them knowing (I still do this!) Your ds may be picky due to baby food vs. table foods. I always had success with avacado which is filled with good, healthy fats and tons of nutrition.

I wouldn't worry too much - this is pretty normal at this age. Maybe try adding other sources of protein - cheese and milk. Spread peanut butter on his graham crackers ( I know I know - they say not to give that until they're older...) Offer him lots of choices -he'll find stuff he likes. My daughter and my niece are both 2 1/2 and are consistently below the 25%. They eat relatively decently, a good variety including meats and vegetables, fruit and carbs. Have certain times of the day where he will get his favorites, maybe afternoon snack time, and offer other things for lunch and dinner. If you're serving stuff he likes, offer the other items first and encourage him to earn his favorites by taking a bite of something new. If he sees you eat it he's more likely to try it. I know some kids who won't eat anything they're served but will gobble up the same thing if it's on Mommy's plate. Sneak things like veggies into favorites like mac and cheese. Make things look fun, maybe even add ice cream sprinkles to otherwise boring things like mashed potatoes.

He's not going to waste away, lol. He's fine. Keep offering a variety of foods, not the same ones over and over. 25th percentile is fine. My little guy is in the 10th percentile for height and weight. Both of my boys are just very small kids. My littlest one is so tiny, mainly because he was a preemie. But even my non-preemie is now almost 7 and 44 lbs! That's it! My 16 month old is 18 lbs. And they both have wonderful appetites and not picky about anything! Like I said, try offering different foods..cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, the gerber toddler line is wonderful, cheese, fruits, veggies. I focus on high protein foods for my 16 month old.

My son was VERY picky, but getting better (he is 5), my daughter at like crazy, more food than I would eat, but didn't grow. The one the Dr. was concerned about was HER, not him. My advice is to put a variety in front of him, and resort to "tricks" -- I use to put sugar sprinkles on all kinds of things to get him to eat. My husband though sprinkles on mashed potatoes was the worst thing he had ever seen, but it got my son to eat them. Let him eat what he will eat, he will eventually try more things and eat more. As long as he is till gaining weight and growing taller he is fine. If he stops growing, then you Dr. should start looking into things.

Just so you know, you're not alone. My son is 16 mnths old and in the 10% in weight but 75% height. He also eats limited items and now he's decided to not eat chicken nuggets - his only meat source; naturally he likes sweet things like fruit, graham crackers etc And he won't touch anything new - it's so frustrating!!!
The pediatrician tells me it's normal for this age group & toddlers to be picky, they won't let themselves starve.
I was thinking about getting those supplement shakes in the baby isle (im not sure of the brand) pediasure?

just keep trying, the more familiar foods are the more likely he'll eat them, offer the same foods over and over till he gets use to the smel and look of them or try mixing them in things he eats anyways, add chicken or brocoli to mac and cheese, make mini meatloaf type hamburgers if he'll eat hamburgers so that he gets extra veggies and such that way, and remember his little tummy is only the saize of his fist, so feed him small amounts often, and limit drinks so he is hungy and eats. he isn't going to starve, but if you are that worried about his actual nutrition, you can try the juicy juice harvest blends, or pediasure, or even the drinkable yogurts.

The first question that comes to mind for me is ...is this the percentile he's always been at or has he really gone down in recent well-child visits? If it's the percentile he's always been at, I think there's much less reason to worry. Is his height along the same lines as well?

Some things you can try checking -- how is his..um..elimination? :) If he's constipated a lot or simply just holding it, there's only so much tummy space! If his height is worrisome, too, you could always have his growth hormone checked..but a GI doc might be a better first approach (go for the simpler stuff first:)).

How many ways have you tried to present various veggies? I grew up eating mostly canned (the only fresh we had I would eat were tomatoes and green peppers) and honestly hated most vegetables myself.

My step-son was stauchly against vegetables of any kind until I tried boiling fresh veggies for him. Now he devours them--and not just boiled. Fresh green peppers make great finger food--as do *surprisingly* squash and zucchini! If he'll eat cheese, you could even try a "mini pizza" where you put a slice of zucchini or squash on a Ritz or saltine and put either a piece of an American single or some shredded cheese on top -- microwave long enough to melt the cheese..and viola..kid friendly but relatively nutritious :)

Toddlers (sorry, your baby is now a toddler :)) are notorious for picky and light eating, so try not to worry too much. :) As long as your son is staying on the same basic percentile then just enjoy this time--he'll eat you out of house and home soon enough! :)

My daughter is 16 months so she's a little older than your son, but she hardly eats anything as well. She is very thin. It can be really worriesome, but I have been assured this is pretty common.

The other thing to remember is that in a child's 2nd year (age 1-2), they will significantly decrease the amount of food they are consuming since their rate of growth slows way down.

I've heard the best thing to do is offer many, small meals throughout the day and to expect that it can take up to 20 tries to get a child to eat something.

Hi!

I was just at the GI doctor at CMC with one of my 13 month old twin sons. He's always been on the small side and in the low percentiles. But the GI doctor said it was more about proportion than just what percentile he is in on weight. So he looks proportional, is also on the low side for height so he was not at all concerned. The resident we had initially seen had talked to us about Carnation Instant Breakfast. So that may be something to talk to his doctor about. He told us you just add a little to his milk and it bumps up the calorie count. But in the end, the dr thought he was doing just fine.