19 Month Old Wont Eat - Wichita,KS

My oldest daughter would not eat baby food meat and carried that until she was "forced" to eat meat at the age of 4 (by my ex). She was also very picky, she loved mashed potatoes & green beans. As a mom's opinion, it would be best to break her from the bottle. She knows that if she doesn't eat, she will get it. As a person of the medical field, offer her Pediasure, many flavors to choose from, with her meals. If she doesn't eat, keep the plate available, but don't give into the crying for the bottle. She is at the age where she is going to test you with everything. You might keep a container of her favorite fresh veggies and fruits in the fridge, and let her know that if she eats some of what is on her plate, she can have something from her container.

It is going to be a battle, but keep at it. If she will not eat meat, make sure she is getting protein from another source, eggs, for instance. Her "poop" status is due to the abundance of milk at her age and lack of water. Don't forget to offer water also. You may need to consult with you physician, as well.

Hope this helps. A.

in my opinion, i think 19 months is too old for a bottle. my (19 mo) son has been on sippie cups exclusively for almost six months - not because of any "rule", just because he was ready and i was tired of washing bottles! luckily for us it happened pretty naturally, but i'd say it's time to give it a try. that doesn't have anything to do with the eating so i'll just say that i know most toddlers go through this (mine is, and changes his mind on a daily/weekly/monthly basis) and you just have to keep offering her different foods. she won't starve herself, when she's hungry she'll eat it. i had the same problem with my son and meats, and i always made sure to have a fruit/veggie that he'd eat as a side, that way i knew he'd eat SOMEthing of value. another trick i've used as a last resort (when he was sick) was putting some baby cereal in his milk to thicken it up. mostly i use this when i'm afraid he hasn't eaten enough dinner and might wake up in the night if he doesn't have something else on his tummy. good luck and hang in there!

It's like you are me right about two months ago. I relied on the fact that at our 18 month well child checkup, the little pamphlet said that sometimes it will seem like your child is eating nothing. My daughter also drank a lot of milk, but I kept it between 16 and 32 oz, which was the recommended amount from the doctor. I also keep her juice to one cup per day, just to keep the sugars in her diet lower. It is important that they are getting calcium and protein for muscle and bone growth. One of my nurse friends suggested that I try to keep the food focused on the proteins and whole wheats, get the right amount of milk and use the v8 fusion to ensure that my girl was getting some veg and fruit servings. I have been doing that, and her poop stayed very normal, one to two a day. Also, yesterday and today we had a breakthrough...She is just about to turn 21 months, and suddenly the little portions I put before her were not enough. YAY! (I do stick to four meal times a day, I have found that breakfast, a morning snack, nap, late lunch, and supper work well for her. I am also trying not to do drinks within 30 to 45 minutes of eating time.) Hope this helps, hang in there,and keep giving the foods, even if they turn it away. I KNOW it is frustrating to make a meal and throw it away, but soon they will eat!

Hi E.,
My son is 19 months old as well. Some days I can get him to eat everything in sight and some days he will only eat french fries. All I can do is offer it to him. Sometimes I can get away with getting him to eat his staples-grilled cheese sandwhiches, and peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. Our doctor said that he will go throuhg a picky phase and will not want to eat. That he is doing and he is doing it well! Have you tried fish sticks or chicken nuggets? That will sometimes work for my son as well. Does your daughter drink juice? Gerber has some great juices that my son just loves and will drink it at every meal if I let him. Have you talked to her doctor about it? I hope some of this information is helpful!