My Son Eats Dog food...exclusively!

I have to laugh because my 14 month little boy does the same thing. He LOVES to eat dog food and he loves only her toys! I swear he wishes he was the dog! I don't think that it is anything to be overly concerned about, though. As far as the picky eating goes, I went through this with my son and daughter. I have come to the conclusion that they will eat when they are hungry. I stopped stressing about it and they eventually, it worked itself out. Good luck!

I would def talk to your dr about it and see if you can get someting worked out with his eating habits and the making sure he gets all his vitamins and so forth. I know there are them drinks and yogurt and so forth now for kids. That would be a wonderful start.
I would also buy lil snacking things and leave them sittin out and around for him to get when he wants. Like the toddler things and maybe goldfish crackers or cheese its..things easy to eat and easy to get.
He may start eating more as they are available to him and your not "trying" to feed him or feed them "to" him. They are juist there when hes ready for them.

When my son was little I would sit things on his little table and hed get them when he wanted them! or you can sit them on a coffee or end table too.
It may make him eat a lil more if it looks like your not trying to make him eat!
GOOD LUCK
and the dog food, yeah I agree with everyone else, it wont hurt him but Id try n move it elsewhere or put it up when the dog isnt eating it.

Hi A.,
As far as the dog food all four of my kids have done that, my oldest son tried to make it his only source of nutrition too but now he eats great. I know this does not help the worrying but it is just a stage he is going thru, the best thing I can say is keep offerring new choices till you find something he loves and then he will probably get tired of that and you will have to start again with something else but you will find something. Good luck.

Thats almost kinda funny:D Lots of kids hv ate dog food. But yes it would bother me if its all he wants. I agree with the other moms about keeping it up. Just put it out when its the dogs time to eat. Sounds picky eater too. I really am big about "table time" Is he still in a highchair. The best thing i did for my picky daugher was get a booster seat for the table and we all sat down at the same time to eat. Family time is so importian. Plus he will feel more a part of "Eating time" As he gets to big boy sit with mommy and daddy as u eat he will little by little eat more at a time. Well for my daughter it worked. Hope the best wishes:D
take care
R.

My son was the same, except the dog food, we don't have a dog, so he didn't eat that either. At one time his pediatrician made me write down everything he ate. In 4 days he ate 1/2 a cup of yogurt, 2 pretzel sticks (the little ones) and 6 glasses of chocolate milk -- that was it, 4 DAYS. My pediatrician had me switch one milk serving to that Pediasure drink with the vitamins and stuff in it, and said not to worry. He out grew it. But still has strange eating habits. He will eat like a bottomless pit one day, 2 servings of easy mac, a yogurt, and a cup of oranges for lunch, then 3 days of basically not eating much of anything but picking. As my son was out growing it he did eat breakfast better than anything else. I would give him breakfasts BEFORE I would give him any milk.
Your son is normal and will be fine.

LOL! Hi A.! My 13 month old does that too! AND so did my son when he was younger. All I can say is #1 it won't hurt them. But just keep telling him no and taking it away, he'll evnetually get it!

S.

My children would drink milk and then not eat. I would say cut the milk out, except maybe one glass a day. Milk fills you up faster than water. As far as the dog food keep it put up and only give it to the dog when your son is eating lunch. If you have a cage/kennel for the dog you could try putting it in that. You should be able to hear your son crawl into the cage to get to the food.
Good luck
S.

Hello-
My advice on this one is to stop stressing about it. I know that it can be very stressfull, thinking that your child is going to starve, but look at it this way: when you have hunger pains, what do you do? You EAT. Babies are complex little critters who are either famished and you are constantly feeding them or they plane out and they just are not hungry. Keep introducing new foods to his plate everyday and see if any pique his interest. If you are really concerned about his intake of various foods {vegies, fruits, etc...} check online at Parents.com. They have some nutritious "smoothie" ideas that will maybe help in that department. But just relax a little bit....like this precious age, his eating habits{or lack thereof} will soon pass.

it sounds like your son is lacking something in his system you should tell his pediatrician. when my daughter was 18 months all she wanted to do was drink milk and eat the couch cushions and the backs of my shoes. I told the pediatrician and the did a blood test and she had a very low hemoglobin and had to be rushed to the hospital for a blood transfusion. I found out that they didn't really have to do the blood transfusion that she just needed iron tablets. She had this eating couch cushion and drinking milk habit for several months and her iron got way too low. hope this helps.
K. w

Put the dog food out of his reach, and he should still be getting roughly 16oz. of milk a day. Just keep trying to offer him other foods. Yogurt, crackers, try the Gerber finger foods. He won't starve himself, kids don't have that ability built into them. But, seriously, do put the dog food up.