Would you be concened if you saw regression?

I am going to bring this up at their next well visit but I am trying to gauge how much I should watch this. Jacob eats less of a menu than he did a month ago. I realize toddlers go in and out of phases of what they like/dislike but he is down to no fruit/veggies and eats meat and graham crackers. He will no longer eat puffs, cereal, apples, applesauce, and a lot of other things he was eating last month. We let him feed himself and no, he isn't losing weight but the decrease in variety is shocking to me. I want to blame molars but it seems like a long time this has been happening.

Also, while his receptive language is awesome (he follows simple directions just fine, when he thinks it is a good idea), he only has 1 word right now and it seems like he has misplaced some.

 

Toddlers are crazy like that and it could be something as simple as teething or just trying to figure out what foods he really likes. But I know with me when I get the feeling something isn't right, I can't shake it till I hear a dr tell me its normal, so yeah I would probably bring it up to the dr. I know mine went back and forth all the time with their food so I don't think that part is too far off for his age?
Good luck, hope you get some answers!

 

I think the food thing is common. My DS is like that sometimes. There are days when all he will eat are cheerios and gold fish crackers, and he used to eat a bigger variety. There are also days he won't eat anything with texture and I have to revert to baby food. Then, after a while, he'll surprise us and eat something crazy like lasagna!

 

Both of my boys have done this, but especially Nate. Before he was 1, he'd at least try just about anything we put in front of him. By 15 months he wouldn't eat almost *anything* we served (even mac-n-cheese! :blink. *Slowly* he has been adding things back into his repertoire, and this week ate a bite of broccoli TWICE!!! (This may sound trivial, but it's seriously a big deal; this kid hasn't touched a green veggie other than zucchini in almost a year.) Just keep offering with no pressure to try, and eventually he'll eat more things.

As far as the expressive language, Nate was an early talker but completely stopped saying anything at 13 months. I was almost in a panic because I couldn't even get him to say "woof". It turns out he started walking at that time, and was focusing all of his energy on perfecting that. As soon as he was walking with confidence, he started chattering again.

If you're really concerned, please talk to the doctor, but from what you describe Jacob sounds like a typical toddler.

 

^.^ What Valerie said! Toddlers are insanely predictable in their unpredictability. The only thing you can guarantee is going to happen, is they are going to confuddle the heck out of you and constantly switch up their "norm".

I agree that both issues, the food and the talking, sound like normal to me. Mine are just recently starting to try new things again, for awhile there it was like beating my head against a wall just to get them to eat something at meal time. Molars, also, can take months and months to come in, and can affect eating patterns over and over. And they are probably focusing on learning something else right now and haven't forgotten how to talk, they are just too busy to do it. Mine had only a handful of words before 16/17 months, but since 18 months Rylee has exploded. Liam is following but isn't speaking as clearly as Rylee is.

It never hurts to bring up concerns with your dr for sure, but waiting for your well baby visit is a good idea, I wouldn't worry about trying to get them in earlier unless something else comes up :hug:

 

She could have stopped right there and used that as an explanation LOL!

 

Young children sometimes work on one thing at a time -- if he's busy learning to run or climb or something, he may "forget" about the words he already knows. As long as he is still basically communicative (even if nonverbally), I don't think it's something to worry about. Give it 6 months and I bet he'll be chattering away again.

On the food, he is a little young to be hitting the serious picky eating stage (mine were more like 24 months before they quit eating everything), but maybe he's just ahead of the curve. :laughing:

At any rate, no, I wouldn't worry. (FWIW, my ped had many opinions on how to "cure" picky eating, none of which worked or were very useful to me. So I wouldn't put too much stock in it even if your ped says you should worry, as long as it's a behavioral and not a medical issue.)

 

I'm not sure about the speech regression. The food regression definitely sounds normal to me. My DS used to be a great eater but has recently become pickier. I think it's more of a behavioral thing for him. He doesn't eat well when he is in an uncooperative mood. Yesterday he hardly ate anything. I am hoping it's just a phase. Definitely ask your doctor about it if you are concerned.

 

Sounds normal to me :good: I wonder if our parents worried about us like this...I really doubt it becasue I know my Mom thinks I am insane! :gah:

 

I think I blocked out all toddler insanity. I swear my oldest just ate normally. Jacob is working on becoming the world's best and fastest walker so he can run away from me so I guess he is concentrating on that and not words. I am still following his cues with food and I still offer him whatever we are eating so hopefully one day he will start eating again.

 

Right now DS is going through the same eating issue. Stuff he normally eats, he doesnt care about. he hardly eats dinner but eats an ok breakfast and lunch at MILs. All he wants for dinner is Gerber crunchies. He hates greens and spits them out at me so I have tried finger and back to baby puree. Its like he knows they are green veggies and wont touch em!!

Hang in there! I hear its totally normal too so I am just letting him eat what I can get him to eat. Yogurt is still a big hit with him so between yogurt, crunchies, chick nuggets, and french toast I think hes fine

 

I wouldn’t be concerned at all at this point, but if you are concerned I would bring it up. Parental instincts are important to listen to. But, from your description I would not be concerned at all.



Re: food: are you sure he is getting pickier, or is something else going on or is he manipulating is parents? I can tell you if something is going on, like colds, teething, etc. this can affect appetite. Also, if you will feed him what you know he likes if he doesn’t eat what is put in front of him he will do this because he knows he will get his favorites. Just thought I should mention this, because toddlers are very good at manipulating their parents, and while this didn’t work with us (we weren’t concerned if they wouldn’t eat their dinner as ours are chunky and we figure if they are really hungry they will eat) they DO do this with their grandma. They visited her for a few days and when they came back they were PICKY. And ours love MOST food. If they didn’t eat what she put in front of them, or didn’t eat much of it, she gave them something else she knew they liked. Anyway, just thought I would mention this as manipulation could potentially be a factor.



Have you tried just feeding him what you’ve planned (without offering other foods if he refuses at 1st)? Offering him the same food a little later if he refuses it at 1st? (Will he eat the foods of he is really hungry?)



If he is actually very picky I don’t think developing food pickiness is considered a regression.



As far as the words- what do you mean by ‘misplaced some’? If he had several, lets say 10 or so CONSISTENT words and now has 1, then I’d be concerned. But, we’ve gone through a lot of this with our two, and while ours DO have a speech delay they have not ever had what is considered regression, which I was concerned about at several points. Here are a few things we learned from developmental pediatricians and speech pathologists:

· It IS a regression of they consistently have many words (not just a few!) then reduce to just a few or none

· It IS a regression if they have words then lose them all

· It is NOT a regression if they say a word once, twice, or a few times and then don’t hear it again for quite some time, this is actually pretty normal

· It is NOT a regression if they say a word then replace it with another words



Also you may want to watch if your child is communicating in different ways, your child may have figured out that he can communicate in different ways and might not want to put forth the effort – try to respond to verbal attempts, wait before responding to gestures without verbal effort