Worried.....they don't eat much at all!

Both of my boys have very little interest in eating most days. They would rather be playing. It has gotten even worse since we got rid of the high chairs. Some days I'm lucky if I get them to take a few bites at each meal. Is this normal for this age and how can I feel more confident that they get enough to eat? The few foods I can be guaranteed they will eat is yogurt, waffles, apples/grapes, crackers, toast, and they love spaghetti and pizza. We throw out alot of food and it makes me crazy!

I'm hoping some of you have some advice. Also I was hoping maybe you could share some of your kids favorite foods. Maybe I just need to try some new things. Thanks!

 

In some "family cookbook" I read, the author says, "When I say 'My family liked this,' I mean as appropriate for their ages. My 3-year-old, like most, seemed to live mostly on plain noodles and air."

One of my DDs has been exactly the same since about age 2.5 and is still that way at 4.5. She eats a lot of the things she likes, a few times a week, and the rest of the time lives mostly on fruit and very small servings of carbs.

If they are hungry and don't like what you're serving, they'll complain. If they're not hungry, they just won't eat. That's been my experience, anyway.

As far as minimizing waste -- don't put food on their plates unless they ask for it (or just give them a tiny bit if you are a "just one bite" family) and don't make anything that you aren't willing to eat yourself. I eat a lot of fish sticks for lunch at work. :laughing:

 

My kids dont eat much at all-it's so weird!!
But I guess if you think about how small their stomachs are maybe they just dont need much? ardon:
This is something that frustrates me too.
My pedi has told me to chill....not to worry that they wont starve themselves... :laughing:

 

I have little bitty toddlers and have to make sure that what they do get is healthy and I do a couple things on top of that. I put cheese or butter on everything! I also give mine a carnation breakfast drink every morning. I also try and do a smoothy on the day that I really feel they aren't eating well, and I put a bunch of veggies and fruit in it.
If your ped says they're weight is fine then I would just make sure that what they are eating is healthy. They won't starve themselves but they will hold out if they know you'll give in with the good stuff :laughing: At least mine do ardon:
Good luck!

 

Ditto pps. Offer healthy stuff, and let them figure it out. If you see signs of malnourishment (dull hair, brittle nails, looking pale, lethargic, lagging developmentally) then I'd talk to the pedi - otherwise, they're probably OK. There is just such huge variety in kids' appetites. My kids are pretty big eaters (sometimes they eat more than I do!), and they have a cousin almost their age who eats almost nothing. When they were visiting, A & I had a very tiny meal (for them), and I made some comment about it, and my SIL said that that would have been a HUGE meal for her DD. Who is, btw, a totally healthy, active, smart, and not-pipsqueak little girl. Go figure!

About the waste - I almost never throw away food, unless they've done something really gross like chew it up and spit it out or rip it to shreds or sneeze on it. If they don't eat all of their portion, I just wrap it up and save it for another time. I hate throwing away food!

 

Same here.

I agree with Holly. All you can do is offer healthy choices. Sneak it in if it makes you feel better. I am certainly not opposed to doing that. I sneak fruits and veggies into anything I can....pancakes, oatmeal, spaghetti sauce, ground meat, scrambled eggs, etc... I also still offer fruits and veggies (as is) in hopes that someday they will start eating them. Until then, I sneak it in. Somedays are better than others and their are days where I feel like I throw away a ton of food.

 

I read a book once that said to not look at what they eat day-by-day, but rather week-by-week. Once I done that I didn't freak out so much about them not eating good one or two days out of the week. On days they don't eat well, I also do the carnation instant breakfast, we do alot of string cheese, raw veggies that are already precut, and ranch dressing (they'll eat anything covered in ranch). My girls have lots of hit and miss days, some days they only pick (they get lots of fruits that day because I know they'll eat those) and some days they can really put it away. If my girls say they don't want it, I usually put it on their plate anyway..sometimes they'll eat it even though they say they don't want it when they think I'm not looking..little punks.

 

There are days I swear my two are going to be hungry because they've rejected just about everything I've offered them - and then there are days that they never stop eating. Toddlers! :gah: Your two sound very typical. :hug: Oddly, our "problem" is that our boys don't want to eat any main courses - if we just gave them fruits and veggies all day, they would be thrilled.

 

Jori, I don't see anything wrong with eating mostly fruits and veggies.

 

This thread couldn't have come at a better time! I was so frustrated today--made my kiddos veggie burgers on buns with ketchup and creamed spinach for lunch and they wanted nothing to do with them! They seem to sustain themselves on goldfish and pasta (I love that pasta and air quote by the way!) My pedi also told me to chillax, but easier said than done when it comes to YOUR babies. I just started giving mine a multivitamin (my choice, not pedi) and am going to try the carnation instant breakfast--great idea! And just keep on keeping on with it. Food wars are NOT fun!

 

Oh Bex, me either - I'm quite proud of their tastes in fruits and veggies - I just worry about their protein intake.

 

My two could also live off of fruits and veggies. They really have to be in the mood to eat any kind of meat (I guess they get that from me). Neither one of them are big eaters and sometimes I do swear that they live off air. I just offer them meals and leave it up to them as to if they want to eat it. I do believe that they will not starve themselves because when they are ready, they'll usually eat something. I'm another one who hates throwing food away, so if they don't eat it, I will wrap it up and save it for later.

 

Thanks everyone for your advice and recommendations. All in all I have very healthy boys I think...so I guess I just need to chill and look at the overall picture and not just meal to meal. Some times, however, I think they get grumpy because they are hungry. When I notice this I try to offer a snack if it is not meal time.

I guess my other thing is that we really don't eat much meat in general. I really don't crave it much and so never really fixed it for the boys. Recently we decided as a family to try to eat vegetarian. So now I'm really struggling to find things that my boys will eat. We are planning to still eat milk, cheese and egg products which still gives us some options.

Thanks again for everyone's advice and suggestions.

 

A fantastic book to help you relax about how much your kid eats is "Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense" by Ellen Satter. This book has made feeding my kids so much easier and less stressful for me.