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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:40 pm

Yeah.. I've decided not to obsess about him not finishing his meals anymore. I'm just going to give give him cheese or yogurt to supplement the breast milk.

He does eat ... when it's good food!

No problem giving him Unagi rice.... but porridge... ha ha.. I think he doesn't like porridge or anything soupy now. Gotta learn how to cook better!

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:12 pm

don't worry about him not finishing up the food...
Most important he must enjoy eating..

Jeriel loves to eat..sometimes he finish up his food and sometimes he don't..we never force him but will let him know that later there will be no food if he is hungry until the next meal..then he will say ok...He will say he will drink milk.

since we stop his bottle when he was 2, his milk intake drop but he still take min 2 cups a day...

Jeriel is able to differentiate junk and non junk food. We do not stop him totally from not taking junk food..but with limit and as long as he take his proper meal. He knows that healthy food like fruits n vege, we will give him anytime and as much as he want...

when he has poo poo problem, he will tell us that he must take more water , vege and fruits...too much junk now ehm ehm also cannot come out.

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:33 pm

Hi Channel,
Glad to hear that it's natural for many toddlers not to finish their food too.
I just read from this website http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/Toddlers.htm that

"A good rule for serving sizes for toddlers is 1 tablespoon per year of age or 1/4 of an adult serving per year of age! At the next meal, use these measurements exactly and see for yourself how little food a Toddler should actually be eating. We bet you will be quite surprised!"

So maybe I've been giving him a bigger portion than he could eat. I guess I thought he would eat more as he grew bigger. But I've recently read that some toddlers may not need so much food. My son has always been a grazer, so I should not be surprised about his eating habit. Confused

Paik Ling, I started making Sean eat by himself too. I gave him the fork and it looks like it's working. Of course, I changed the menu too... he he he

No more porridges or soup for a while

.

The fork helps him spears his food easily. it's still too early to tell if it'll work in the long run. But I think he's enjoying his meal more. Very Happy

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:38 pm

That's good news, Mar.

I've not increased Bryan's portions since he was 1yrs old but he just snacks more now plus he eats a little of what we have during our actual mealtimes.

Oh, by the way, I even need to change cutleries/plates/bowls ocassionally just to keep the interest level up! Rolling Eyes

Site Admin Joined: 10 Dec 2004 Posts: 897 Location: Penang

Hi

I know the food problem is very common in children. I had my fair share of problem. However I pick up a good tip from a book.

You see when children are hungry they will eat anything. Believe me, this is true.

Therefore, do not feed your child junk food, snacks or sweets before meal time. They can have those after meal. It really works. No need to make special meal.

Another tip is that try not to wean off bottle so soon. Many wean off and the child milk intake is affected. Emily who is going to be 4 still drinking from the bottle, 8-9oz each time. More milk -> stronger bones in the future.

Just my 2 sens
michelle

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:33 pm

I agree with Michelle that when a child is hungry, he/she will eat almost anything. At the same time, I feel that snacks are important as well for a toddler can only stomach a small quantity at one time. Snacks help keep the energy level up for an active toddler.

Mar - a thought just crossed me. Have you tried feeding Sean soya bean milk? You can buy un-sweetened ones from pasar malam.

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:45 am

Michelle - Alas, my boy doesn't like formula or even Cow's milk. when he doesn't get to eat enough solids, I'm the one who suffers through too much nursing. And he gets up more often at night to nurse more often. It can get painful after being suckled so much when he's hungry.

He's also never been a big eater. He'll only eat 5-6 small spoonful, and that's it. So I have to offer him food every once in a while, just to make sure he gets enough to eat. The problem is when I'm working. When he refuse food, other people at home don't really try to offer him other food to make sure he eats enough. Then at night, I suffer. Confused

Paik Ling - Yup.. just got him a new Mickey Mouse plate. He seems to be more interested in the plate. He keeps trying to tip the food of the plate so he can see the pictures! LOL Laughing

Have also tried soya milk... even gave him the sweetened one. ( also chocolate and strawberry cow's milk) The moment he sees whitish liquid, he'll run away or if he was in his chair, he would push away. The few times I've managed to get any milk in was to get him distracted with playing and spoon him a spoonful at a time. But that's really time consuming, and he only drank at most 1.5 oz.

He'll eat and drink yogurt though. Unfortunately, the ones he like are fat free, which isn't that suitable for him. Gotta try other brands, but sometimes it's just so automatic to buy the same thing again and again. So forgetful

.. Have to remember he he he

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:26 am

I agree with Michelle that milk is good...

For jeriel we got to remove the bottle from him because he tends to use bottle for comfort and slept off with his bottle..we tried to stop that habit but then fail. So we decided to stop bottle and introduce cup to him. So far he will finish min 2 cups per day or sometimes 3. Initially introduction of cup was a challenge but soon Jeriel is ok with it.

Regarding food, why don't try letting your Sean to eat with adult...he may enjoy himself more eating with adult..you don't really have keep offering food to him When he is hungry he will ask for food..

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:35 pm

Chanel - I stop trying to give milk in a bottle. He just runs away. I've tried spoon feeding, with a straw, as well as directly from the box. He runs away to other people and use them as his shield. My in Laws and my husband don't want me to force him. They're very easy going people. So if he doesn't want, they won't push. So they'll tell me not to force him. I don't want to force him either. Sad

As for not offering him food and he'll asks when he's hungry. He does ask and we give him when he ask for food. But most of the times he ask for nen-nen at the most inconvenient time, i.e. when we are outside! It's rather difficult to look for breast feeding room most of the time, unless I go to places with good breastfeeding facilities.

Once we were at Mega Mall. The breastfeeding room was filled and the people didn't look like they were leaving any time soon. We had to go home and breast feed in car (which is what usually happens).

So I'd like him to eat a good meal if he doesn't want milk. He still gets his breastmilk at home. That's another thing that's probably going to be difficult to wean from. My husband is not in support of force weaning. So it's an upward battle

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:51 pm

Hmm...I can imagine how difficult it is for you Confused

I suppose the easiest thing now to do is just to go with the flow.....

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:03 pm

Good news!

I tried again with chocolate Dutch lady milk again and managed to trick him into drinking about 1/2 pack.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:49 am

Well done boy...he will soon get use to drink milk..don't worry..take time and he will soon get the habit..

Keep trying...

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:05 am

That's super good news Mar

Like Chanel said, it's all about habit and conditioning Laughing

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:42 am

Yup.. yup....

Keep trying... just keep trying.....

It's a slow process, but what to do?
Hopefully this introducing to new milk and then weaning doesn't take too long