My 19 month old has STOPPED eating

[geomum]

My daughter had stopped eating since past 2 weeks. YES she has stopped eating anything and everything even biscuit, cake, icecream, pasta or toast (which used to be her fav things). This has happened gradually over the past 1 month or so. For instance yesterday in the entire day she had half glass milk and 3 potato wedges and today since morning she has had just half glass milk, I tried giving her so many different things but she refused this was after 1 hour of play in the park. The doctor says she is fine, just get her to exercise more and she will eat, but I am afraid it isnt working. We are worried sick how she is surviving eating barely anything at all. Please advice, do I see a child nutritionist? Any references?

[carang]

she will eat when she's hungry. honest. i know it's scary, frustrating, annoying etc. but it is true. put food out and tell her it's there. then leave it. stop pressuring her to eat. put some crackers, cheese, fruit etc on a little plate and just say, "here's some snacks. if you're hungry, you can have this." and then walk away. DO NOT bug her, do not cajole her, do not nag her. just leave it.

do the same tomorrow. at the table, if she doesn't eat, then take the food away. offer again at the next meal time.

i promise you, she will eat. it does absolutely no good for you to (1) stress out about it as it then becomes a power struggle and (2) offer her a million things or (3) give her the attention that she's getting because of it. children this age cannot yet distinguish between "good" attention and "bad" attention. i would instead praise her when she does eat something.

[geomum]

Cara thats what I have been doing, not forcing her just preparing her meal and putting it on the table. I just made pasta for her with corn and zucchini, after it sat on the table for 15 minutes and she showing no interest I took it away. In the morning I did the same with the French toast but she ate 1 tiny piece. The thing is she is not even eating cheerios or biscuits, nothing at all which is making me worried.

[carang]

all you can do is keep offering it to her. she will eventually eat.

the other thing i was wondering is: is she getting sick? i know my kids go off food (as do i) when i'm getting sick... is that a possibility?

[Frenchy]

I had exactly the same problem with my son around the same age... from eating everything, he ate nothing, or such small bites, I was wondering how he still could find some energy ! For more than 2 months he has been eating like a spoon of white rice for lunch, a craker for dinner... and his milk. Every meal time, I was just throwing away all his food. So I just went on giving him only what he accepted to eat (bread, crakers, chocolate, rice, chocolate yogourts, some cereals) and I just left his bowl in the living room, and eventually he would eat little to little during the day.
Now he is going to pre-school and we are doing more activities, so he's more hungry, and suddenly his appetite is back... he would try more things, accept eggs, cheese, bolognese, patties (in which I put salmon, potatoes, carrot...), bread (I make my own with wheat flour and flax oil)... so at the end of the day, he is fine.
Appetite also goes with their growing chart, sometimes they are not growing anymore, and suddenly they are 4 cm bigger...
Unless your daugther seems tired, always grumpy, is not sleeping well... it should be fine, but it can take more than a few months to get them back to "normal" !

[mumsy]

Could she be teething? The big molars usually come out around this age.

If she's ok in all other aspects ie. active and alert etc then probably nothing to worry about too much. However if she's losing weight, then there's no harm to seek a second opinion and also to put your mind at ease.

[thanka2]

Most children do this and I agree it is frightening and annoying to parents. My son did this right around 12 months and I brought up the issue with both is American doctor and his doctor in HK and they said just let him be--if he's hungry or wanting to eat, he will. If he's not, then he won't. Also, consider this, babies have baby fat for a reason--it's a protective layer of fat so that if they miss a few meals they will still be able to survive. And, actually, your daughter IS eating--she hasn't completely stopped--even a glass of milk and a few potato wedges is worth something. It's just not as much as she was before. Now, if she refuses to drink any liquids and also refuses 100% all of the food for more than 24-48-hours, I would take her directly to the hospital. Otherwise, just be thankful for the few morsels she is accepting and keep being consistent but don't stress--welcome to "toddlerhood" where children decide when or if they are even going to eat.

[snagito]

How stressful for you..

Try varying the location of meals to see if that makes a difference. Take finger foods to Cyberport podium grass, or a nearby park or to the beach - the weather's great these days and could be a fun thing to do.

One way to reduce the tension of the upcoming meal where you know she may not eat and are worrying is to not cook specially for her at all - just let her have leftovers/share your meals for a week and see how that goes.

How about smoothies -does she like those? Can get a lot of nutrition in that way. Maybe you could try a multivitamin supplement, at least you may feel less worried if she has that.

Hope this is helpful - hang in there - she will eat when she's hungry.