2.5 year old REFUSES to eat

[FOURtunate]

I am not new to this parenting thing. I am a Mum of four children aged 2-12.

My problem is that my son, aged 2.5 years, will not eat meals. He eats dry crackers, corn thins, toast and chocolate. That's it! He will only eat sporadically, and never much. However he drinks about 250ml of milk a day, and about 250ml of juice a day.

He is losing weight, and not sleeping. We have noticed that his behaviour is worse than just terrible twos stuff, and gut feeling is that he is probably a bit deficient.

He will not eat meat, fruit, veges. Nothing but dry foods.

It's terrifying. My other kids had this probelm sometimes, but never for this long.

He has a history of prematurity, severe reflux (Losec, Zantac and Gaviscon).

[poshBecks]

Oh goodness!!

Might be worth a trip to a dieticion (sp?) When my 2.5 year refuses to eat I dont offer him anything else. What gets put in front of him is what he has. If he'd rather yoghurt (or whatever) too bad. He has to eat the other stuff first. After a few weeks, I had no more problems.

Though this seems a bit more serious. Ask your doctor what they think. :o

:hugs: I hope you can sort it out soon!!

[MamaSage]

I agree with Beck, in offereing no alternatives, and none of the things he is relying on to eat he may start eating normal food. BUT if he is losing weight I would get him to a Dr - it may be something more sinister.

[FOURtunate]

I have done a few things such as:

Cutting down on his fluids, particularly milk

Allowing him family meals only (eg none of his fave dry foods, and sweet foods)

Nothing works. Might take him down to the GP again, and get him a referral to a specialist.

p.s. PoshBecks - I still love seeing your little Jerry Maguire boy!

[InSaneOne]

you can try making it fun and reward him for eating proper foods. - do up a sticker chart where he can get stickers for eating certain amounts of real food. when he gets to 5 stickers (in a day) he gets one of his favourite foods as a snack. then when he gets to certain totals (like 10 or 15+) stickers in a week he can choose a small toy (matchbox cars or dinosaurs are good - cheapy ones form overflow or crazy clarks are ideal) then when he has reached a big goal (say 50 stickers) take him to the toy shop to get a bigger toy.

if you have foxtel try watching the house of tiny tearaways. i think dr tanya is helpful in overcoming these sorts of problems. also a visit to the dr wouldn't hurt just incase he has a bigger problem that is stopping him from eating.

[bronny-jane]

my dd is the same, she'll eat fruit though, and sausages, but its hard to get her to eat at meal times, should i just make her mini meals through out the day instead?

[Washerwoman]

Hi. My DS sounds just like yours. He has a history of reflux as a baby and was on Losec and Soy formula. Not long after stopping his losec at 16 months or so he slowly stopped eating meals. He eats snack foods, bread, fish fingers and now, thank God, meatballs. I still can't get any fruit or veg into him except sultanas and corn thins. This has been going on for nearly a year.

We have recently been to see a paediatric gastro who blamed bowel impaction and put him on a regime of laxative. His appetite improved for a while but not his choice of foods.

What concerns me is that when he is starving enough (we have tried everything too) he will occasionally try a piece of meat or potato wedge but will choke and gag on it. He doesn't seem to know how to bite and chew heavier foods.

How do I get to see a dietician or speech therapist ? DO you think they could help us?

I have 4 kids too and none of my others have been like this.

Any help is welcome.

[the pero clinic]

Dear Angeldoula,

I have noticed your more comprehensive question in the “Other” section and have posted the response there.

the pero clinic