Sisterhood of Motherhood
The Baby Sense blog

ANTOINETTE:

Hi Meg

I am so worried.  Daniel (1 year old) doesnt want to eat.  For the last 3 days he has hardly eaten a thing.  I offer him his food, he usually takes about 2 mouthfulls and spits them both out, and then turns his head and refuses the rest.  He seems to be hungry as he fusses loads before his meals as I prepare them, and looks like he cant wait to get his food, then he refuses it and seems to be fine.  He will happily eat some of the fruit I offer him, but most of it usually ends up on the floor.  Is this usual?  Do you think he could be unwell? Teething maybe - I blame every hiccup or winge on teething though - and still only 4 teeth.  Do I need to worry?

MEG:

Hi Nette

Toddlers and food - Yippee!! Toddlers can go off food at the drop of a hat and appear to exist on nothing but air. Usually appetites get the better of them and they start eating within a few days.

I think he is porbably coming down with something or about to teeth. But that doesn’t stop the worry. A few ideas:

• Give him what he likes (fruit or whatever)
• Don’t feed him yourself - give him a soft spoon, you use a soft spoon too and let him feed himself some finger food too at each mealtime
• Give him an appetite stimulant like Blackthorn berry elixir - the same thing we recommend in our Jungle Juice recipe
• Don’t let him snack before meals
• Limit juice so that he isn’t filling up on sugar
• Loose the bib for a few days
• Let him sit on your lap when you eat and pick off your plate
• Make a dip (veggie or humus or yogurt) and let him ‘dip’ nutritious foods like bread and carrots
• Scrambled egg and biltong are great fussy eater snacks

Above all DON’T FIGHT - you will loose!

 Hope that helps

Meg