My 15 Month Old Does Not Want to Eat.

My son hardly ate a thing until he was almost 3. I tried everything and finally he just started eating. He didn't walk until 17 months and he is just fine now. He is 4 1/2 and completely active and eats everything I put in front of him. Don't worry, he'll eat when he wants to. Just keep trying. Best of luck. Also, I gave my son whole milk and still do to give him extra calories. Hope that helps!

A.

Take away the milk, and when he gets hungry he will eat. Is he still sucking a bottle? If so, think about only giving him a bottle of milk at night when he goes to bed.
Sometimes they are just plain lazy, and would rather suck than eat food when they are hungry, and this could be the reason he is not walking. Keep working with him on the walking thing, he will walk! Good Luck.

Hi R.~ Is he eating any foods? When I took my son in for his 15 mos check up my doctor told me that sometimes at his age they go through a phase where they only eat a few things? So thats why I thought if he was eating a couple of things he is probably ok. Have you tried feeding him the same things you eat and maybe at the same time you eat? I know my son gets upset if we are all eating and hes eating something different? Just an idea?

As far as the walking goes, my doctor told me around 18 mos is when they start to try other things to help them walk.My son started right around 15 mos. He is almost 16 mos now so he is not too far from your lil ones age. Is he standing and walking around furniture at all? You could talk to you doctor and see if there are somethings you could be doing to help him out? We kinda helped my son stand and then once he was walking around furniture we moved him to open space and held his hands and kinda guided him... Hope everything works out for you!

Just keep offering a variety of healthy foods and he'll eventually try one or two. Every kid has a different tolerance for "new" - just keep trying.

And don't give in to the temptation to let him snack during the day because you think he must be STARVING. He's not!

Also, he should be drinking full-fat milk until he's 2 - babies' brains need the extra fat until then.

Good luck with your little guy!

Many children don't eat much. In the USA we ruin our child's ability to recognize their hunger/full signals. Many kids are obese today because parents push food on them. You child's stomach is only the size of his fist. If he is drinking a lot of liquids then he won't need food. Also he could have sensitivity to certain foods and knows he will get a tummy ache when he eats. Kids are smart, they know how they feel. Listen to him and let him tell you what his preferences are and when he is full.

Hi R.,
I have a 15 month old who is kind of doing the same thing. This article helped me out a lot:

http://www.parenting.com/article/Toddler/Behavior/Ask-Dr....

and this one:
http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/fit1.asp

And try not to worry about the walking. As long as he's slowly progressing (i.e. pulling up on things, walking while holding your hands, cruising, etc) then he'll just do it at his own pace. My daughter didn't walk until she was 14.5 months old and I spent way too much time worrying about it. She did it in her own time. Boys tend to take longer to walk, especially if they are bigger in size.

Good luck!
Hilary

most kids do not like to be fed. i would put some puffs or something like that on his tray and just leave it there. see if he will eat it himself. walk away don't bug him about it

See your doctor. It's that simple.

B. L.

Hi R.,
Sometimes when children are refusing to eat it is because they have some delays with the development and coordination in the muscles in their mouth. Has he begun to babble and talk yet? Did he have trouble breast or bottle feeding? If so, you should consider taking him to a speech pathologist for an evaluation. You can find one near you by searching on the web for "Speech Pathologist pediatric". It's always worth having him checked out before it goes on too long.

If the not wanting to eat is a new thing, maybe he is cutting a tooth. My son will only eat a little yogurt or applesauce when he is going through this. If not, you may have a picky eater on your hands and that's ok. My oldest is like that and being forceful is not the way to go. Just offer healthy choices and he will find something he enjoys even if it is yogurt 3 times a day.

My son is almost 17 months old. He goes hot and cold on food. Seems like some days all he wants is junk food and then other days, he's eating apples, grapes, oranges, veggies, etc. I guess their tastes run in preferences like ours do too. But, I find he eats the healthier things when he really is hungry. Breakfast is always his best time to eat and he eats a lot then!
My son started walking at 15 months. Although he'd been pulling up and cruising furniture since 9 months, he just wasn't interested in turning loose til then. And I swear he just started walking out of the blue and hasn't stopped. Now with his independence has brought all kinds of new attitude! I read a parenting advice article that said around this age when kids start walking, they are just so interested in the world around them that they don't have "time" to eat. This was so true for him. He was in and out of his high chair in record time and sometimes eats on the go. I will just push food in his mouth when he's playing or walking around, like it's "mindless". I don't know if this is a healthy habit but it must be better than not eating anything. He's just so busy, doesn't have time to eat!
Good luck, talk to your pediatrician. And: Do you think he needs whole milk?

as long as he isn't drinking too much milk, or losing weight, I wouldn't worry about it,

as far as the walking my first son didn't walk till he was 15 months, my second at 12 months and my third at 20 months, just keep offering him the opportunity to walk. When my first and third finally started walking they both pretty much just got up and walked... no wobbling or falling they just decided they were ready and did it. and they haven't stopped since. the Dr was a bit hard on me for not pushing my 3rd to walk but I knew he would when he was ready...

Sounds like you have a very,very picker eater. My daughter went through that phase and I was worried, but after speaking with teh physician and family I was better. My physician told me as long as she was drinking milk and receiving a liquid vitamin my child was fine. It's common for children not to eat because there so busy doing other things. Have you tried giving your child the V-Fusion juice which provides a serving of juice and vegtables with each serving? I continue to provide my child with that juice, because she eats but remains extremly picky. About the walking, when the time is right for your child it will happen. And I had a nephew who would only walk when people were not around, it was so funny. He wouldn't even walk around his parents until one day they snuck in on him and when he noticed them he fell to the floor and begin to crawl. Best of luck

my daughter does the same thing. she doesn't eat. Try giving him pediasure so he can at least get all his nutrients that's what our dr. told us to do. it helps.
Good luck!

hello. The other mothers have given really good advice. The only thing I would recommend is changing to whole milk. Babies need the fat for healthy brain development. I think you can go back to 2% when he turns 3.

I know your main question is about eating, but I have a question first: Is his weight OK? Is he gaining like he should be? Does he have enough dirty diapers? If so, then at least you know he's getting calories in. If not, I'd start with a visit to the pediatrician to make sure nothing is physically wrong. Assuming nothing is wrong, consider the following:
Cut down on his milk comsumption. If he likes it, he'll drink it and it will fill him up so much that he won't want to eat. I'd try to make sure that he doesn't have any milk before mealtimes so that he's hungry. My daughter was so picky when she was about 15 months and although I kept trying to get her to eat certain foods, she would refuse. I just never gave up, meaning I offered her the same thing more than a dozen times and eventually, she'd eat it. Now, at 4, she'll try lots of new things eats many of the foods that as a baby she refused over and over.
Try to hide foods within other foods, too. Meatballs are a really easy food to make where you can add lots of shredded veggies to the recipe (zuchini and carrots are easy to hide in there). That way, one meatball is actually a meal.
If you child refuses to eat fruit but drinks juice, try this: Add water to a jar of baby food so that it's liquidy enough to drink from a sippy cup. Your baby will get the entire jar of food and will hopefully develop a taste for fruit along the way.
Most of all, keep trying over and over and don't give in too easily!
Good luck!

M.

My 2 1/2 yr old is a VERY picky eater also. We give him some V8 Splash juice sometimes. On the bottle is says it provides a full serving of fruits and vegetables. They've got different flavors too! Since I know he refuses to eat some of the meals that we prepare, I know at least that he's getting some of his nutrients from that!

Hope this helps too!!

I run a pediatric therapy group(speech, occupational and feeding therapy) in Richardson. We may be too far for you to come for feeding therapy with us, but feeding therapy early is SO MUCH EASIER than feeding therapy later! There is a reason he isn't eating. You just need to figure out what it is and correct it now. We see kids who are 12 and eat NOTHING but pancakes! Now that gets tricky to fix!
Not walking at 15 months isn't a huge issue. He's late, but not "disordered" quite yet.
Do a google search for "feeding therapy" in your area. It's so common! And so many moms take on the challenge and just become short-order cooks. There are so many other things you could be doing with your time and energy!

They all go through that. is there any snack that he will eat. or see if he will drink pedi-sure.