My 1 year old refuses to eat. What should I do?

amother

Mon, Sep 14 2020, 12:09 pm

My 1 year old refuses to eat any fruits, vegetables, or meat. She only wants to drink milk. What should I do to get her to eat?

yamz

Mon, Sep 14 2020, 2:13 pm

Is this a new development? Or did she never want to eat?

Does she eat bread? Scrambled eggs? Is there any food at all that she is eating now?

If she is having a lot of milk, she is probably filling up on that, so she isn't hungry for food. I suggest trying to cut back on the bottles/sippy cups of milk. Try to offer her food before the milk. And also offer water. Keep offering different types of food, don't get discouraged. Children often need repeated exposure to new foods before they are willing to eat them.

Also, many parents find that their otherwise picky toddlers will eat soups. You can add small pasta shapes, pieces of chicken, and different types of vegetables cooked until soft.

Good luck!

FranticFrummie

Mon, Sep 14 2020, 3:11 pm

Don't offer water before meals! The Rambam was very against this. You can easily fill up on water, get a stomach ache, and then have no appetite. If your stomach is too full of water, it will also affect digestion.

If you put your child to bed with a bottle (WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS???) then at least make sure it is a water bottle, and not milk. Your pediatric dentist will thank you. Google "bottle mouth".

Keep offering a wide variety of foods at every meal. Have your child in a high chair at the table, and put a little bit of everything on the tray. If your child wants to "steal" food off of your plate, then let her! She may decide that whatever you are eating is much nicer than whatever she has. I got DD to eat a lot of new things by letting her reach onto my plate, even though she had the exact thing on her tray. LOL

FranticFrummie

Mon, Sep 14 2020, 3:17 pm

PS: Do NOT react if food gets thrown on the floor. Kids LOVE the throwing food on the floor game! It's the most fun a toddler can ever have. The more attention it gets, the longer this phase will last.

Simply pick it up, and ask "All done?" If she pushes it away or turns her head away, make sure she sees you take it to the trash and say "Bye bye!" while you throw it away.

If this makes her cry, offer her another bite, and say "More?" See if you can get her to take it. If not, then the next step is "All done!" and that's the end of dinner.

Rinse, repeat. Hopefully they will outgrow this stage by the time they are 21! LOL

ectomorph

Mon, Sep 14 2020, 3:22 pm

Is this new or old? If new, take to pediatrician to rule out strep throat etc. If child has had this long term, and no obvious cause, get bloodwork to rule out anemia or lead which can cause poor appetite.

If she's losing weight take to GI before it becomes an emergency. Make the appt 2-4 weeks out, before you really need it. You can always cancel if she recovers.

Obviously I'm assuming you offer a variety of food regularly, and are doing the basic feeding things that work with most kids.

Stars

Mon, Sep 14 2020, 3:25 pm

Stop bottles cold turkey (unless there’s a medical issue). There’s no reason for it. From now on give her milk in a cup but not for an hour before meals. If she’s thirsty give her water.

ChanieMommy

Mon, Sep 14 2020, 3:41 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

My 1 year old refuses to eat any fruits, vegetables, or meat. She only wants to drink milk. What should I do to get her to eat?

Does she have problems with chewing and swallowing hard food in general? Would she chew on bread and swallow?

Does she eat banana? Babyfood pots?

If you want her to get used to the taste of fruit, you might want to make her smoothies, to mix a tiny little bit, and then progressively more of the fruit into the milk... But this only works for fruit that have no acidity, otherwise the milk gets sour...