My 15 Month Old Will NOT Eat.

Your pediatrician can refer you to the children's hospital feeding clinic. It helped my son tremendously when he had similar issues.

HI B.

I have a fifteen month old son too and his eating habits have grown a little more challenging as he gets more independent. I am currently going through him not wanting me to feed him anymore. It pains me a little (dear god it's a mess) but I just give him a little spoon and let him do it himself. Meals take about twice as long and it's anyone's guess how much he's eaten, but it seems to soothe his tantrums to have some control over his food. Also at this age when children still aren't able to say much - I would highly recommend teaching him some baby sign language. It doesn't have to be proper sign, just the same gestures accompanied by the word over and over. You will be surprised how quickly he'll likely pick it up. We've just been doing it for a couple of weeks and the two I've worked on a lot are more and all done. It's already eliminated a lot of frustration for my son to tell me he's done eating instead of just tossing his remaining food on the floor!
Also, don't panic. I know that's easier said than done, but it's highly unlikely he'll starve. If you're really concerned he's not getting enough nutrients, talk to his pediatrician about a shake supplement of some kind or some kind of toddler formula you can give him in his sippy cup. Oh and if you haven't tried YoBaby yogurt I would highly recommend it. It's made with whole milk, cereal and fruit blend and doesn't have high fructose corn syrup or any other junk kids yogurts are sometimes full of.

Lots of responses on the eating side...I have a suggestion on the communication side....have you tried "baby sign language"? I did it with my daughter, and it helped tremendously in those months of very few words, but wanting to communicate, to help get the point across and curb some tantrums. There are books and DVDs about it - check your local library - "Baby Signs" is the one I used: http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Signs-Talk-Your-Before/dp/0071... I started at 6 months, and by 8 months she was digning back to me - it is pretty easy, you just make the signs for important wors every time you are talking to your baby....milk, juice, water, eat, more, please, thank-you, mommy, daddy, help, hurt, yea, no, outside, car, diaper, kiss, hug, sleep/tired....are all important ones, and it took a couple months, but my daighter was able to tell me when she needed all those thing by 9-10 months old....you son should pick it up fairly quickly if you use it consistently yourself.

Like the others said, maybe he just wants to "do it all by himself" - get used to it, it will spread to other areas like getting dressed, climbing the stairs, etc. Try not to make it into a big deal, or he will resist even more. BUT I would suggest to also not just cater to him, either, sit him in the highchair when it is time to eat, give him variety of things on his tray to pic up and eat himself. I don't mean get him one thing after another till he finds something he wants - I mean give him a balanced "meal" of whatever you intend to eat, like a fruit sliced up, a veggie cut up and maybe steamed to be a bit softer, and some protien - yogurt, eggs, chicken, etc. and then maybe some goldfish or other carb...and give him say 20 minutes to do as he pleases with it. I suggest you get a large vinly tablecloth or shower curtain to put down on the floor to collect any mess he makes. If he doesn't eat anything, too bad, get him down when you are done eating. Offer him a try at it every 3-4 hours during the day, once he gets hungry enough and knows he is not gong to get extra attention for being stubborn/naughty about eating, he will start eating. I would make sure he is getting at least a couple cups of milk or a toddler formula ar toddler "ensure" type drink each day for nutrients....but also like another said, don't let him run around drinking constantly, have a drink with meals, and a few sips of water in between....not cup in the mouth all day long.

Good luck - I am struggling with a 6 month old who doen't want to do anything but nurse - hates bottles whether brestmilk or formula and doesn't liek infant cereal aor pureed foor - homemede or store bought....so we are starting finger foods right off the bat, basically....should be interesting - we each have our own battles!

Jessie

VERY IMPORTANT:
kids will eat when they are hungry.
if you keep trying to force it, it just becomes a power struggle, and quite the show for your kid - hey i can get mom worked up if i just fight her with food.

as long as he is playing, talking, walking, doing all the normal things that he does... he is MORE than fine.
if hes tired, lethargic, sick acting, you know your son, if hes acting abnormal, dont panic, but make a doctors appointment and talk to the doctor about it.

but im guessing that hes just playing games with you, and with food, and thats normal and just fine. he really will eat when hes hungry, it could be that hes just not as hungry as he has been.
making him eat will only teach him that he shouldnt listen to his body and when hes hungry and when hes not... and then you set him up for unhealthy eating .

just have patience. offer him small amounts of food and have him sit to eat it for a while, and then put him down. make regular meal/snack times, but nothing else in between that. he will get the idea, that he can choose to eat when you serve it, or he has to wait until the next snack/meal time you know? in my huose, eating something every 2-3 hrs at most is what seems to work best. offer ONLY WATER when its not meal time.

good luck. write to me if you need more help

I agree with first poster on the power struggle issue. It's the age where they start to assert themselves and fighting over food is one of the most common ways in which toddler's push the boundaries.

You could try augmenting the crackers with something else - peanut butter, jam, etc... and see if he'll take that. My son is on a jelly sandwich + Ritz crackers and peanut butter kick lately. Oh, he'll touch other things like fresh fruit but veggies, meats, etc... he's been really reluctant to eat.

Of course my 16 year old daughter is the same way. Some days she eats, some days she won't. Can't force her, either.

Some days he eats nothing off his plate, other days he eats most of it. If he's hungry he'll eat, if he's not, he won't. I wouldn't get too worked up over it as long as he's getting enough milk during the day.

He won't starve, really. It's a phase, he'll grow out of it.

L.

My daughter is not that bad, but when she doesn't want to eat, I give her yogurth, or slide american cheese. I made home chicken soup and she likes that. I have given her hotdogs, I know they are not great but at least she eats them. Have u try scramble eggs?... Good luck!!

Hi B.,
I have a 16 month old who is a very picky eater as well. other mom's told me too that at times he may only eat crackers or pancakes or whatever for a while then switch to another food. Sometimes my son would not want to sit down and eat dinner, so even though you're not "supposed" to cook with your baby in your arms, I would say "want to help mommy cook dinner" in a fun exciting voice, he would "help" me cook and then when we were done he got excited to eat what we made! Like the other mom's said, he may only want finger foods, keep trying over and over. I know it's exhausting to heat up meals and then have them not eat it, but all of a sudden one day he'll he'll pick something up and eat it and you'll be amazed. Another trick that worked for us, was I would hold a bowl of something like strawberries and would "offer" him one and he would take it, thinking he was in control of what he was eating I think. Good Luck, don't worry too much:)

My son was the exact same way and now he is 2 and still has his days like that. For about 3 months all my son would eat were chicken nuggets! (FOR EVERY MEAL!) But they do grow out of it. He needs to do things his way for a bit and then he will realize that he really is hungry. Just so you know he won't starve himself. Just go with it for a bit and don't stress out. Give him what he will eat + what you want him to try. Very small portions of what you want him to try. It will work. They say it takes trying something 16 times for a toddler to take to it. Good luck. Keep trying. Your doing great.

You have a little guy who is trying to find his independence and trying to get some control of his environment. Totally normal. Try not to think of it like "oh, he only ate gold fish today" but try to get some balance over the week. He may eat only gold fish one day and then the next day he may eat some canned carrots and applesauce. Then the next day maybe some cheese or yogurt. As long as he is getting some nutrition throughout the week, it's fine. My pediatrician told me about that. It's totally a phase and the more you try to take control over it, the harder it will be. Just offer him a good balanced meal and if he only eats the gold fish, that's fine. Don't make a big deal about it. Next meal offer more balanced nutrition. By the end of the week he will more than likely get what he needs. Every baby goes through this. It's normal. Just try not to fight him on it because it makes it harder on both of you.
Good luck!

are you trying finger food? my son went through a phase where he didn't eat spoon food but ate anything he could pick up. he just didn't want us spooning it to him or feeding it to him. had to do it himself. berries are abundant this time of year and are healthy and kids usually love them. my sons is nuts about berries. bananas, apple pieces, other fruit, cheese bits, grated carrot, crackers... check out toddler finger food if you need more ideas. good luck

Just remember it's YOUR job to put healthy food in front of him frequently and HIS job to decide how much/if to eat! If he's breastfed and you haven't weaned yet, don't! Breastmilk (and formula) are still the most nutrient dense things. I find that it is REALLY relaxing to have a nursing toddler-- no more pumping (YEAH!) or worrying about supply, because they're eating solids and when they don't eat solids good, you just relax knowing they'll nurse good that night!

Your making it to much of a issue first of all. Babies and Kids are smart he's gonna power struggle with you here.

Sit him in his highchair (not a booster) 3x a day for meals and put a variety of things on his tray. Don't even worry about using silverware you can put the silverware there but don't push it. You can pull the chair up to the kitchen table and eat alongside him and talk to him but DONOT tell him to eat or even mention it. Let him be. If he eats great if not oh well. DONOT make a fuss about it either way. Kids know when they are hungry and when they are not he isn't going to starve to death. Kids also go in weird streaks of eating and then not eating especially around teething times or growth spurts. Besides the 3meals a day in the highchair feel free to offer him a AM snack a hour or so after breakfast and a PM snack right after nap time is done.

The more you push this issue the more he's going to resist and your gonna have a power struggle.

My 11mo.old has not been eating at all lately either her teeth are buggin her but I keep offering and some days she eats some days she doesn't. I had this same philosphy with my now 8yr.old daughter and she is the best eater in the world and not picky. I never ever make my kids clean their plate or force them to eat. If they don't like it ohwell not a big deal. The more you make it a issue the bigger the issue will be this goes along with potty training too.

I forgot too: WATCH his liquid intake, if he's constantly got a sippy cup in his mouth drop that habit he's filling up on liquids. There is no NEED for a toddler to walk around with a sippy cup. They need a sippy cup at meals and an occasional drink (not an entire cup) but a drink here and there throughout the day.