Hasn't Gotten Better with Eating

I have a 8, 5, and 2 year old. All 3 went through a PHASE of not eating much at 2 years old. They are more observant and distracted by things to do and play with. Eating is not a priority at this age. Keep trying with food you want her to eat. When she is hungry she will eat them. Do not give her junk to fill up on and cut down on unhealthy snacks. Snacks and juice can fill her up and then she won't eat at mealtime. If she is growing I wouldn't worry about it. She will eventually eat. All humans have to.

Don't blame yourself. This is what 22 month old children do. It is typical development. My 2 older kids did it and now my 20 month old is starting. At this stage of development kids are gaining control of their lives and learning independence and finicky eating is all part of the game. Kids will not allow themselves to starve. It is ok to let her choose what she wants instead of giving her what you think she should have. The other day my son went into the pantry and got himself some cheese and crackers while I made a wonderful breakfast that he used to love. He ate the crackers and I kept his good breakfast out for when he was ready which was about 30 minutes later. As frustrating as it is it is a good thing. And this too shall pass.
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have you tried lunchables? if i open one (i always take the cookies out and put them to the side out of her view so she'll eat everything else 1st) if i just leave it out opened (or put her in the high chair to eat) the moment i walk away, she's right there, digging into the lunchable. sometimes throughout the day i'll just toss a little bit of a couple different cereals in a bowl and leave it on the table in whatever room she's running around in so she can pick on what she wants. also pretzels...i've never met a kid that didn't like pretzels. when my daughter wasn't eating right, a friend of mine gave me a little advice that actually helped her eat just about anything..."When a kid hardly ever eats, it doesn't matter what they're eating, as long as they eat!" now he said this to me because i was complaining that for almost 3 weeks, she barely ate anything other then pretzels. you have to remember that they're getting vitamins daily whether it's the polyvitamins, or flintstones chewables...they do get their vitamins. if they don't happen to eat healthy, all that matters is that they eat SOMETHING...and remember, they won't starve themselves. kids can be extremely weird when it comes to eating, my brother wouldn't eat anything except pasta when he was younger, and my cousin wouldn't eat anything other then "dirty" bread (anything other then white bread) and devil dogs! and she's now a healthy teen that will eat just about anything. i would try mac N cheese and chicken nuggets, and even the lunchables...just try (or have your mother try while she's watching her) to just put some kind of finger food out in whatever room she's playing in, and if you walk away, and don't try to force it...she'll go over and pick at it. it's better to have her pick if she won't sit and actually eat a meal. good luck, and sooner or later, it WILL get better...from what i'm told, my cousin didn't start eating real meals until she was nearly 5. i know it's crazy, and you don't think you can handle the worry that she's not eating right, just keep up the vitamins, and trying to offer her SOMETHING to "graze" on and as long as she stays at a healthy weight, then i wouldn't worry about anything. i hope this helps, even if in the tiniest bit. good luck.

Oh, my...you are worrying too much...I'm a mother of three with a 3 1/2 year old as my youngest...what your daughter is doing is Oh, sooooo, normal...if she's growing she's getting what she needs....at this age they usually drink a lot of milk...i used to give my son vitamin enriched choclate milk...and calcium oj is good...And her eating habbits...a few bites is really all they need...and do not feel guilty about working...your so lucky to have your mother as a baby sitter....and routines and kids...as soon as you get her on one, she'll change it...believe me it ..sounds like your daughter is fine...just keep doing what your doing...plop her on your lap and read her a book if she's not hungry...give her twenty kisses, be grateful and get some rest. (I'm married, 43 w/ 3kids, 12, 10 &3).

My 11 year old son has always been a picky eater too. What's most important is that she gets fruits and veggies, I think. Also make sure she gets a good vitamen.

Don't feel bad about the scheduled routine...kids, honestly, will eat when they are hungry, routine or not. My 4 year old has taught me this, in experience. I am horrible about sticking to a good feeding routine, but it doesn't seem to matter. He will eat when he's hungry. I can't keep him at the table if he's not hungry. On the other hand, my 11 year old will take forever to finish his dinner. We have to set limits for him on it, because he will try to avoid his veggies. Which we are now telling him that he has to have some.

My daughter is a really bad eater, she is only in the 1% (she was born small to begin with) but what she seems to like is those Dr.Praeger's vegetables pancakes. She's now 17 month and weights only 19lbs. She doesnt let herself starve and when she is hungry she usually show me where the cookies are !!! Dont worry and stress over this, It will pass. Good luck

Don't worry this is totally normal. For some reason when they get to the two's they stop eating as much as they used to and they get fusy about what they eat. My son did the same thing at that age and the doctor told me not to worry. Well he was always a picky eater and still is but it became worse at that age. All kids begin to thin out at that age. They continue to grow but do not gain weight. If she is in the 90% for her weight right now she will probably drop but there is nothing wrong with that. Continue to give her what she will eat. Fruit is great for her and she knows what she needs. You can continue to give her things that you make, many pediatricians recommend that), and eventually she may eat it. However some kids are just picky eaters, like my son and it isn't good to give them a complex about food. So just leave her be and don't make it out to be a big deal.

One thing you may want to try is feeding her foods that aren't so rich and heavy for lunch. Just try giving her some yogurt (they have organic whole fruit flavored yogurt called yo baby, my kids both love even my picky eater) or some organic canned vegetables that you can heat up.
Good luck!

Wow, your daughter is in the 100th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight!? That is great!
It sounds like you already know that this is your own "worry freak" issue. Try to back off with insisting she eat a lot of food all the time and she will figure out how to self-regulate the food she eats. Be gentle with yourself and her. Don't feel bad about your working. It will all work out.

I have 19 month old twin boys. I have found that when they don't want to eat, if I leave the food on a table in the living room they will walk by and eat some here and there. It's kinda like snacking all day I guess, but for breakfast I will put the plate there around 7:30ish and take it away around 9ish. So it's not like they have it there all day long, I leave each meal about an hour and half or so. Most of the time it's gone by then. It seems to work really well and the boys think it's fun to have food at there play table.