1 Year Old Barely Eating

I used to swear that my 15 month-2 year olds (I have 4 kids) lived on AIR and milk (usually chocolate) until they were almost 3. My soon to be 3 year old can and does eat one and a half Costo hot dogs at a sitting. He eats 3 eggo waffles for breakfast (with syrup and butter). He can eat 10 chicken nuggets and the rest of a happy meal if allowed. But he lived on air, snacks, and chocolate milk for a year. Baffling.

Take a deep breath and relax. You are doing a great job, All kids go through a phase when eating is not a priority for them, it will pass. Try giving her things she can feed herself. My kids seemed to want to eat more when they were in control. Messy I know but if she eats??? Good luck and dont worry, kids dont starve themselves. They will eat and like i said it will pass!!!

I really, really recommend the book "My Child Won't Eat!" It's published by La Leche League and is pretty new--I think it came out within the last year or so. You could order it from their Web site at www.llli.org or borrow it for free from your local La Leche League group's library. It might be tricky to find it at the public library just yet.
Since you're still nursing (good for you!) you can feel confident that for whatever your daughter's solid food diet lacks nutritionally, she's getting nutritional perfection from you. You might consider attending a LLL meeting to chat with the moms there. Many of them have nursed babies into toddlerhood and are also familiar with food and teething drama and could offer you ideas and reassurance.(Come to think of it, you may also like the book "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler," also from LLL. It is not as food-focused as "My Child Won't Eat!" but it's very helpful and unique in its discussion of toddler milestones.) You can find a local group at www.llli.org.
At almost one, your baby may not need much more than token amounts of solid food. Dr. William Sears talks about erratic toddler appetites in his books "The Baby Book" and also "The Family Nutrition Book." He says some days you want just half a sandwich, and some days you want two sandwiches, no big deal, and toddlers are the same--they are busy developing and will get what they need when they need it. (After all, they are not "broken" like the rest of us and do not necessarily keep eating out of habit or for entertainment when they are completely stuffed, like me at Thanksgiving!) Dr. Sears also says it's OK to go for an overall balanced *week* nutritionally instead of fretting that every day is perfectly balanced.
I have also read that toddlers often need to try a food as much as ten times before it's familiar enough for them to like it.
Personally, neither of my boys ate much before they turned one--it was mainly to feel and play with the food and appreciate the texture a bit. I am a much lazier mom than you ;) and felt like it was easier to just lift my shirt to top them off than to try to make something special that would probably end up spilled. We were also dealing with food allergies (something to consider if your daughter were not acting otherwise happy and healthy) and I knew my milk was the best thing to help us with that. Now my kids are 6 and almost 3, and are scrounging around the kitchen ten minutes after dinner looking for a fourth or fifth helping! My pediatrician says it's a preiew for when they're teen-agers! ;)
My kids do like to cook with me and are enthusiastic to try things they've helped make. Soups have lots of sprinkling and pouring they can help with, and anything with a dip is fun for them, too. I often use muffin tins and put something different--fruit, dips, cheese bits, crackers, etc.-- in each compartment and serve what we call a "nibble tray" for lunch. It's always a huge hit with my children (don't tell them it's an easy way for me to clear out the fridge). Your daughter might be too young for that yet, but it's worth a thought for the future.
Hang in there, and do see if you can find that book.

Hi J.,I'm having the same problem with my little boy. After trying so many things I noticed he loves citrus and sour things... So I grab his sippy cup with lemonade or tangerine juice and let him have an ounce before trying any solid food. There are some days when I do not have to grab that juice and he is Ok with water or apple juice. I also started to feed him with my hands because everytime he saw the spoon coming he just turned around to avoid me, it sounds nasty but hey it's working for me. I go outside to feed him also sometimes so he opens his mouth without thinking he is about to get fed. I know you run out of ideas, hopefully mine are new to you.
Good luck.

First off, this is definitly normal! I have a 1 year old boy and he is very hit and miss with his eating. He is very miss when he is teething! He eats half as much as normal the closer the tooth gets to popping through the skin. As long as he drinks and eats a little and of course keeps pooping, I let him eat what he wants.

The 2 things I would suggest to you is to not make your husband leave. If you plan on eating fammily dinners for the rest of your lives then it is "bad practice" to not have your husband there. Maybe she would respond better from him if he gets more involves with feeding her. It doesn't always have to be you!

The other thing is, to stop pureeing food. At one she is old enough to have her food in chunks that are soft and are baby size. My little guy loves fresh grapes sliced up and fresh cherries sliced with the pits out. He loves bannanas and carrots and peas. With it being summer time, there is so many fresh things to choose from, try and get some "new to her" fresh in season fruit. My baby has been loving raspberries from my garden outside and I bought blueberries yesterday and he really loved those! However, he has totally quit eating on me if I try and feed it to him. I just put a towel under his high chair and a bib on and I let him go for it....it seems to have helped with him eating a little more when his little mouth hurts from all of those teeth! Good luck!

I agree with the other moms that this is very common. Not all kids go through this, but many do. The good news is that kids won't starve themselves. The key is to only offer nutritious foods and your little cutie will do just fine. Just don't give in & give her less nutritious stuff just to get her to eat. If good foods are her only option, she will eat enough of them and she will do well. I know it's stressful! Hang in there!

I know how frustrating this can be! If she is going to the bathroom and growing at a healthy pace( which is what the check-ups are for) then don't worry! I have had alot of friends with this issue and all their kids are healthy! My 9 year old became picky a few years ago and the pediatritian said not to worry as long as he is growing at a healthy pace. Just stick with the healthy offerings, a one year old can really have anything! Kids also figure out quickly what gets them attention and power, so don't make a big deal at all! She will get hungry and eat! You are doing great! Good luck!

My goodness - your house sounds like mine! I'm always shooing my husband out of the kitchen because our 14 month old gets so distracted! I asked this question a couple of weeks ago and got a lot of nice answers (don't know if you can just search for similar topics on here or what). But, I did end up taking our daughter to see her doc and that was the most reassuring thing for us. The doc said that part of it is that she is probably filling up on milk throughout the day and the other part is that she is just being a typical toddler and being picky because she can be. She reassured me that a serving size for a baby this age is only 1 tablespoon! When you look at how much fits in one tablespoon, that's not much, so if your daughter is getting even that, she'll probably be fine. She also suggested that I start with a protein first - cheese, yogurt, etc since she looses her patience quickly. Thankfully, those are some of things my little one actually eats. I still worry that she's not getting all the vitamins and nutrients she should, but I'm learning to just be more patient with it. When she's hungry, she'll let you know. It may also be a teething thing - our doc suggested some motrin; you may want to ask your doc about that. I'm sure you're doing fine though - just keep offering but if she doesn't seem interested or starts playing, eating time is done. She'll let you know when she wants food! Good luck!

J.,
We had the same problem with our now 18 month old son. He refused to even taste any food. Then, one day about amonth ago something just clicked and now he will at least taste almost everything he's handed and is eating more and more. It is literally like a switch turned on in his head and he's now ready for food. I know how frustrating it can be, but hang in there!

At that age she really does just need a small amount. Babies stop growing quite so fast, so they don't require as much. Just make sure what you do give her is as healthy as you can make it. If you are concerned you might try holding her on your lap and letting her eat off your plate. Eating is a very social, intimate thing for babies, and I think when it suddenly becomes an individual thing it can be hard on them.

But long story short, generally a hungry child will eat.

Dear J.,

This happened to my third child, praise God, because if it had happened to my first I would have been tearing my hair out also. I would say that your child's current eating patterns fall into the far range of the "normal" category.

My third daughter didn't eat any solid foods, not ever, until her first birthday. Then she started eating as if she'd always done it! (She's still a HUGE milk fan, however.) Her health was perfect.

Also, it's extremely common that children who are teething eat less than normal -- their mouths hurt!

So I want to give you hugs and tell you that she will eat when she eats. Make sure you're giving her healthy breast milk or formula -- no juice. And please don't give her cookies and crackers (and other junk carbs) all day in an effort to get her to eat "something". Terrible lifetime eating habits and poor health start with all those junk carbs & juice that you see people's toddlers snacking on.

J.,

I don't really have much advice because my 10 month old girl is doing the SAME THING! We just keep trying to give her foods, but she prefers to nurse much more. Just like you, my LO is nursing more often right now. My pediatrician said that sometimes it's the heat of the summer. They prefer liquid to solid foods, but she told me not to worry because they sometimes do this. As long as her weight looks ok, she told me to just keep an eye on it.

Chrissy

Oh my heart goes out to you. My daughter who is now three was exactly the same way. She would rather breastfeed for a quick five minutes and then continue playing and refused to eat. When I weaned her she seemed to be eating more because she was more hungry and couldn't just fall back on the breastfeeding to hold her over. I finally had to wean her cold turkey at 18 monthes because she just didn't want to drink cows milk. Anyways if you decide to wean you can buy heavy whipping cream in the refridgerated section and add a tablespoon or two to her whole cows milk. It makes it a little sweeter and pacts in more calories. Or if you don't want to wean her yet. Try different things like macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, string cheese, rice cakes,olives. Also fish crackers and fruit snacks seemed to be real winners at this age. As long as they are getting calories. Then you can work on getting a more balanced diet later. My daughter didn't eat things for a long time because she has a hard time getting used to textures but as time has gone by her appetite has gotten better and better. Even though it was stressful, I have learned that I can't pressure or force her to eat. Because it backfires. It has to be her choice. But at mealtimes when our family sits down together I put a little bit of everything on her plate just so that she has the option to try it if she wants and she has surprized me several times by picking up a piece of meat or vegetable and trying it. And now there are several things that she willingly eats. So I guess in our case I just had to have patience, and realize that if she was hungry then she would eat. And also offer a variety of things over and over again. Sometimes you have to offer the same food several times for them to finally start eating it.

You're doing great! Don't worry too much about it. She won't starve herself, and for my daughter, teething (three or four teeth at once) it meant no eating solids until she was out of pain. You're such a good mom to be so aware of your daughters needs. Really, though, don't worry too much. My kid did the same thing and she grew out of it. Furthermore, if you're still nursing, she's getting what she needs. I had to stop nursing all together to get her to eat solid food anyway, not to mention she was done herself. Anyway, hang in there, you're doing fabulously!

HI J.,
Good News -- Your baby sounds entirely normal! :) It took me quite a while to accept that a few teaspoons of food here and there really add up through the day. Especially since you are still nursing (congratulations!) and your baby seems content and she is pooping every day then she is probably getting plenty to eat.

We try to snack through the day too. To reduce the amount of time, I make an extra large batch of veggies (carrots, peas, green beans) and fruit (sliced grapes, mandarin oranges) ahead to use as the base food, then we just combine those with crackers, pieces of fruit, bits of this and that through the day.

Don't let snacking keep you locked down to the house -- toss a few tablespoons of your base foods/crackers into a couple of small tupperware cups or snack bags and let her snack as you take her along. Taking snacks along as we grocery shop keeps our girl entertained and reduces her general grumpiness.

Around 12 months our girl started getting quite distracted by my husband and our dog. I have to put our dog outside whenever our daughter eats. Maybe you can shut kitty into a bedroom with a few tasty treats when baby needs to focus on eating? Since Daddy's are very entertaining and distracting, he can help as he passes through by talking to baby about her snack and encouraging her to take a bite or sip of water.
Good luck settling into your new place!
best,
K.

I would suggest that maybe it's all the change going on in her life. I've heard that when a baby is going through big change they focus more on that than anything else. So, moving, teething, and learning to cruise/walk...those sound like some things that might be a little more important to her to focus on than eating. As long as she's nursing more (which she may be doing because of all this change for extra comfort) I wouldn't be too worried about it. She'll eat the food when she's hungry. Just relax when you sit down to feed her. She'll catch on to your tension if it's there and that could be another reason she won't eat. If she doesn't want something or spits it out instead of getting upset just say, "Ok. You don't want that? No problem." and move on. If she won't eat anything in a sitting then just say, "Ok. You're done? Then we'll get you out." and just get her out of her high chair and let her play or whatever. Then try again later. This has been something that's been really hard for me to do, but once I started doing it my little girl started eating better. Eating seems to be a hard thing to help your kids get but she'll get it soon enough. Just keep nursing her so at least you know she gets something. Good luck!!!

HI,
I worried about my children getting enough to eat and my Dr. told me that kids know how much they are supposed to eat, we adults sabotage them and they struggle with weight problems the rest of their lives. Small, tall, lanky, that is what is supposed to be the norm. My son is 4 and weighs 30 pounds. My other son is 21 months and he weighs 30 pounds. Just have some stuff available for your daughter to snack on. We give multi-vitamins (the chewy gummi bear kind) and have apples and crackers and carrots available for the taking whenever. We also only save juice and milk for meals. The rest of the time they get water.

Just know that your daughter knows how much she is needing to eat and let her be the judge. That way you are teaching her to listen to her body and not ending up with eating problems.

J.,

You have mentioned several possibilies why Jillian is not eating like you would like.What would be so terrible if your daughter does have a definate food preferrence? Is she liking a nutritionally sound variety of food?
Would it surprise you to hear that many of the toddlers of today are choosing to not eat meat?
It sounds like she is eating enough to create a normal BM.

what I would suggest is that you keep a good record of what she eats and what is going on around her when she does.
Is it the surrounding environment that affects her eating?
Is there something consistently that she does not eat?

What I am inviting you to do is be a food detective.

With my whole heart,
C.

As long as she continues to gain weight, there probably isn't a problem, but you could always get her checked just to be sure. All three of my children have always eaten a lot during growth spurts and barely anything during a time when their growing is on hold. I've always allowed their bodies to determine how much they eat and they've all done great. They eat when they are hungry and they don't when they aren't. Once I learned about this and learned my oldest daughter's patterns of eating, it sure did save me a lot of worry...and my younger two daughters a lot of power struggle with mom!

Our pediatrician warned us that eating would dramatically slow about this time. The best approach is to offer a balanced amount of food at mealtime with a sippy cup of your milk. When she finishes all of what you gave you can offer more of her favorite. If she does not eat everything, don't give her more of her favorites. If she throws the food indicating she is done, she is done. Take her away from the food and the table. The caloric needs dramatically drop as growth in the first year was exponential and now is slowed. So don't panic, just offer a balanced meal at mealtime and that's all you need to do! Good luck. G.

This is normal. Don't be so hard on yourself. You are doing a great job and she is lucky to have you as her concerned parent. If you offer her 3 good meals and even 2 snacks a day, she will be fine. According to Dr. Phil, no child has ever starved to death that had parents that offered them food regularly. Especially with how she is having BMs, she is doing great.

My 5 year old was like this her first 2-3 years. The peditrician suggested this was one thing she could control and suggested not making eating an issue or it could carryover into years to come. The peditrician said children eat when they are hungry and she will not starve. So, don't wear yourself out and don't stress. Try to stay away from constant snacking to cut back on your work, but at the end of the day she will be fine. If you want you can offer high calorie foods if she is thin like olive oil in oatmeal, peanut butter, or avocado.

don't worry too much about it. two things my husband decided we refuse to make a battle out of is sleeping and eating, both can cause kids issues for the rest of their lives. . . i'm sure you know enough adults with sleeping and eating issues?! nursing is awesome and with that you can know that she's getting a little "protien shake" made up of all the essential things when she nurses. at age one, it's still just tasting time. other reasons she may not want to eat are the teething, which you seem like you already know and also sometimes kids don't eat things if they have an allergy to them, it's the baby's body's way of saying. . . this probably won't work well for us. i have a 2 year old who was on the very chunky side for a while, she was strictly breastfed til almost 7 months, and i feel like she still barely eats anything, but you know, there are so many signs of healthiness other than what you see going in their mouths. alertness, development, interaction, and even very slow weight, head and length growth. if you're up for it. .. continue nursing as long as possible and you seriously don't have to worry about her lack of eating because your milk is designed specifically for what she needs. good luck. . .

It sounds to me like she is just being a normal 1 -year old BUT I would definitely call her pediatrician and see what they suggest. My son (17 months) has never been a huge eater and when he was about 12 months old, I felt like you did. The pediatrician said that kids pick up on your anxiety and aggravation and won't eat on purpose. Sure enough, I did a good job of faking that I was unconcerned. "Fine, you don't want to eat, no problem." Away with the food. All of a sudden, food was alot more attractive to him! Good luck!