WhyBaby’s not eating right now. It’s the heat. She won’t eat when it’s hot. She did the same thing last year when she was an infant and scared us to death.
She will drink, however, so I’m not so worried about dehydration. She’s drinking lots of formula (about 25-30 ounces a day) and around 10 ounces of water besides. So her fluid intake is fine. But I’m starting to worry about plain ol’ calories.
This site says she should be eating about 1040 calories a day (she’s only 26 inches, very small for an 18 month old), but the formula’s only giving her 500-600. She’s been on this strike for three days now, and the weather doesn’t look like it’s breaking anytime soon.
Her doctor says “she’ll eat when she’s hungry, don’t worry as long as she’s drinking.” But I’m worrying anyway.
So I turn to the Doper Parents for tips, tricks, reassurance and scolding. Am I worrying for nothing? Should I go get some of those nutritional shakes? Anything else?
Pedialyte popsicles worked pretty well. Pedialyte has a lot of electrolytes, it’s sort of a Gatorade for babies and toddlers. Also, both my kids were teething when they were 18 months old, so I used frozen waffles, and that seemed to help cool their gums as well as put something in their tummies.
I really don’t know anything at all about babies, but I’d suggest cutting a banana in half and freezing it. It’ll be cold and she can eat it like a popsicle while it softens. Kind of messy though.
Err, I hope 18-month-olds can consume stuff like that. I wouldn’t know.
I am having the same problem with my 2-year-old. Between the terrible twos and the heat, she is very cranky and won’t eat anything (at least, not for me…my daycare provider seems to be more successful with her). I am torn between getting her to eat by giving her any kind of food she wants, and fearing that I am spoiling her by giving her any kind of food she wants! The things that have worked for me lately are yogurt & bananas. I made her PB&J last night, which I don’t usually do for dinner, and let her eat it in the living room instead of her high chair, which I never do. It worked fairly well…she ate about 1/2 the sandwich. I think the problem is that in this heat, she just doesn’t feel hungry. I am the same way, and it’s hard to get someone to eat if they don’t feel like it. Keep giving her the formula (Pedialyte is a good idea, too), and I think she should be fine.
I wouldn’t worry about it, as long as she’s not getting deyhydrated. If you just can’t help yourself, though, I would make homemade popsicles or smoothies with lots of yogurt, bananas, etc.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much, as long as she’s getting plenty of liquids. Kids seem to go through phases, where one month they don’t eat enough to keep a bird alive, and then the next month they’re making sparks with their spoon on the plate; the heat’s probably not helping matters, either. Just keep on offering light, cool fare at regular mealtimes and snacktimes; she’ll eat when she gets hungry. It’s hard not to worry, isn’t it? But she’s not going to starve herself. If she misses a few calories and vitamins this week, she’ll make them up next week.
I should have mentioned that she doesn’t tolerate cow’s milk or yogurt. She gets wheezey when it’s going down and then 24 hours of burning diarhhea. (Weird thing is she drinks milk based formula, eats ice cream, cheeses, and whipped cream just fine - as well as milk cooked in anything. Doctors can’t figure it out, but there must be some fragile protein in there that’s easily processed out that she can’t tolerate.)
I will try a bannana smoothie, though. I bet I can make it with formula, and maybe pedialyte as well.
If that doesn’t work, I’ll go buy some baby cereal and try that. Thanks for all the ideas, everyone!
My landlord came by to fix a ceiling fan and said she looked like she was losing weight! Ack! (I don’t think she really is, but I did not need to hear that today!)
I’d vote for offering her appropriate amounts of yummy, healthy food and then keeping the heck out it. Unless she’s got major health problems she won’t starve, she’ll end up the same size by the time she’s 20 either way.
Food is such a mne field in terms of pressuring kids to eat when they aren’t hungry and turning what she eats into a source of family concern and a way to get all the attention in the world, you know this drill. Before long food has all sorts of symbolic meanings that screw up one’s ability to eat normally.
All I can say is that don’t go there girlfriend. Yes, it’s difficult to do sometimes. Still, do not go there.
One of my friends when I was growing up had a very plump little brother. He spent a few years in early childhood barely eating and he was quite skinny at the time. His parents tore their hair out, doted on him and did everything they could to make him eat. They finally took the advice of one of the many specialists they took him to and totally ignored his eating behavior. They offered food and then pretty much ignored whether or not he ate it. He didn’t eat for two days. Then, when not eating stopped buying his parent’s attention he ate everything in site and never stopped.
My mom did this when I was a baby and said it worked like a charm. Juice is full of calories too - about 180 a serving - but I’m not sure if that’s sugar in the ones I’ve had and checked (minute maid OJ etc) or just the juice, so you’d want to check the labels assuming you’re only giving her real juice at her age.
I’m with WhyBaby, the heat and all has caused me to have no appetite for the past two weeks. They tell you not to grocery shop when you’re hungry, but I’ve left the store empty handed once and with just milk and apple sauce since, so feeling like you’d rather never eat again is no good for food shopping either.
I have to echo the ‘don’t worry if she’s drinking’, because I’ve heard that from my father-in-law (pediatrician) enough times. Jimmy’s not much for eating in the heat either, he’s just a bit older than your little girl.
One of his favourite things is mandarin oranges, the canned type.
Well, that went poorly. She wouldn’t even *try *the smoothie. She did, however, drink a few sips of her brother’s Slurpee! :smack: And she also ate about 6 of his jabanero (sp?) Doritos, to boot. (She likes spicy stuff, but that surprised me!) So much for nutrition today. Sarahfeena, I know exactly what you mean about “spoiling them” at times like these by letting them eat what you normally wouldn’t. For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’ll make a huge difference in the long run.
She also took *three *naps today. I think she’s decided to just sleep her way through this heat wave. It’s raining now, and feels a little cooler, and the forecast is only in the mid-80’s tomorrow, so maybe that will help.
So cereal in the bottle in the morning, and than I’m going to stop stressing. If she’s still not eating by the weekend, we’ll go sleep over at my mother’s, which has central air.
You said she likes spicy food? Kid Kalhoun did, too. I’d give him the spicy bean bowl from Taco Bell and he LOVED it! Might want to try that. Ya know, protein and all…
I had one of those kids who didn’t like eating at times. Her doctor gave the same advice as yours. I’d add: stop reading sites about how much a kid should be eating! Don’t worry. There’s enough hardship in parenting without adding to it!
I gave up trying to make her eat. She was extraordinarily healthy. And at 30 now - she has never been overweight and never dieted. It has never been an issue because from a very young age, she just didn’t eat unless she was hungry.
So celebrate the fact that, unless you push the issue, you probably won’t have a weight problem with your child. It is MUCH harder to make a really enthusiastic eater limit intake. Enjoy your child!
As long as the doctor sees no problem - stop thinking about it! The more you make it an issue, the more she will push back. Toddlers have a sixth sense for our worry and our attempts to control them, and when they sense they have power, they use it with a vengeance. One can hardly blame them - they control so little in their lives!
Regardless of weather, my kid eats only dairy products, wheat products, peanut butter, bananas, raisins, and (when allowed) junk food. (Well, and breastmilk thank goodness - hopefully that acts as a sort of “multivitamin.”) Our doctor thinks she’s fine, she’s in the 75th percentile for weight and height, and bounces around like a flea on meth.
My other thought is, if WhyBaby’s sleeping a lot, she might have some kind of mild virus, rhino- or gastro-, that makes food unappetizing, or she’s teething.
I’ve been on a hunger strike for, uh, something like 38 summers the way you define it. My mother still doesn’t understand why I’m not interested on having a hearty dish of lentil “soup” (considering how little liquid her version has, calling it soup is just a reference to her soup’s ancestors) accompanied by salad and followed by stew and two pieces of fruit. All I’ll have for lunch is the salad “mixta” (with tuna or boiled egg or some such, for a bit of protein) and a piece of fruit; I drink a lot. The fact that it’s 40C outside doesn’t seem relevant to Mom.
Those calories are a yearly average. Kid needs less when it’s hot, since she’s not using calories to heat up. So long as she gets enough proteins and vitamins she’ll be fine.
(I don’t think she really is, but I did not need to hear that today!)