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not eating cus of teething or a phase? grrr!

the only meal sam properly eats is his breakfast (cereal and an apple or banana, plus 9oz of milk) he hardly touches his lunch or dinner and im beginning to really worry about him :\( i thought it was teething because he is cutting a few teeth atm and theres possibly a molar coming thru too (its too dangerous to put my fingers that far back, ill lose them lol) but even when hes had medecine, teething gel AND teething powder, he is still refusing any food. what usually happens is ill sit him in his high chair and he will start moaning/crying as soon as the food is put down in front of him and ill pretty much force him to have a taste (sounds mean but its not, it works sometimes lol) and once hes had a taste he will generally eat a few mouthfulls and thats all he will eat :\( if it is a phase, how long can i expect this to last? its been going on nearly a month and if it is teething and not a phase, surely it cant be healthy for me to be giving him calpol every day for almost a month?! image i really dont know what to do. im not sure if the doctor or health visitor can help? arghh! its so stressful and i just really dont know what to do with him! his nappies arent as frequent as they used to be (today i only got 2 dirty nappies) so i know its affecting him. sorry this was long, i really need some advice on what the best thing to do is

Replies

  • my plan of action today is to cut out all snacks and hopefully he may eat more proper food, also not let him drink anything for 15 mins before meals so that doesnt fill him up either. kinda ruined it this morning by giving him 9oz of milk and then toast...which he didnt eat much of. well done emilie :lol: gonna wait an hour and try him with some porridge. i hope he eats more today :\( xx
  • Sorry haven't really got any answers to your questions, but just wanted you to know that you're not alone! At the best of times Lily is a fussy eater and then she'll go through spells of hardly eating anything which I put down to teething, but like you I'm never sure if it is teething or just a phase.
    When Lily is refusing food I try not to push it and force things on her and just go with the flow - even though I want to pull my hair out in frustration. She'll usually pick at finger food / snack type things so when she's like that I'll let her eat them instead 'cos I figure it's better than nothing. Usually after a few days Lily's back to normal (well her normal fussiness!)
    If Sam is going through a phase, then sorry I've no idea how long things like this can go on, but I keep reading everywhere that a toddler will not starve themselves and will eat when they need / want to. In the meantime, I'd offer his favourite dishes and I'd continue to offer plenty to drink. It's important that he has plenty of fluids so I'd probably not cut back on this.
    If you're worried about the calpol, then perhaps don't give it him for few days and see how he is.
    If he continues to refuse his food or you're still worried then I probably would speak to either you're GP or HV. You might think it's not worth bothering them about, but they probably see this all the time and may be able to offer some good advice.
    Good luck
  • thanks baby cakes. so far hes eaten a piece of toast, 2 apples (he asked for these himself, hes abit obsessed with them atm lol) and a few bits of another piece of toast. i managed to get him to eat the toast by leaving it out so im doing the same with his lunch which is a chicken sandwich, but all hes done so far is rip the bread apart. im trying to tell myself if he is hungry enough he will eat it!! xx
  • I started a thread a few weeks back as, after being an excellent eater all the way along, Daniel (15 months) had started to refuse food and it was driving me nuts. I think they just go through these up and down phases, and come out of them whenever they're ready. Daniel is now eating three meals a day and snacks and two bottles of milk and is back to normal. It might have been associated with teething as two top back teeth are now through, but it may just have been a phase. He always drank his milk, and was generally still quite keen on mashed fruit and yoghurts so he wasn't going to waste away! No child at this age will let themselves starve, but I know how frustrating and worrying it is (and how much food gets wasted as you try and tempt them with the contents of the fridge and cupboards just for them to drop it all on the floor!). Good luck for the rest of the day. Someone also told me to look at what they eat over the course of a week, and it usually balances out, but some weeks are always better than others.
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