Toddler Doesn’t Eat

[quant]

I don’t know if anyone has advice on this but my 16 month old son doesn’t eat. Not just a picky eater - like doesn’t eat, he is exclusively breastfed to this day. He ate yogurt and some other small things around 7-8 months and then randomly stopped. Since then he sporadically will eat something then not eat again for a while.

We’ve had him evaluated with early steps - not autistic, other than eating development is fine. Currently in feeding therapy which is helping with getting him to start putting non food items in his mouth. Had his giant adenoids removed two weeks ago which has greatly improved his sleep but not the eating. Wife and I are hitting some lows the last few days wondering when he’s going to eat. We’re terrified of him having to go on a g tube one day or something.

 

[godschilde]

@quant I would be so worried as a parent! I'm certainly not a medical professional but I would say that averages for development are just that, averages. Some kids start way earlier on things, some are way later. The adenoids may have caused pain when eating, he may have had less pain on the times he's tried to eat. Also, babies do love to breastfeed! It sounds like you guys are doing a fantastic job with him, try to breathe and be patient with it and yourselves.

 

[quant]

@godschilde Thanks for the kind words!

 

[sls]

@quant You've tried all textures and all taste profiles? Or what about leaving different types of food within reach scattered around and pretend not to be watching? Try not to jump straight to worrying about the extreme fear of tube feedings- there's so much that can happen before then. (OT, meeting with an ENT perhaps, getting a swallow test. )

Edit: Perhaps he's been in pain to swallow and still is, in recovery. The odds of this working itself out are high. Hang in there!

 

[quant]

@sls We do try to present as many textures as possible and we do the whole put food down and pretend not to watch. You’re probably onto something with swallowing and recovering from the adenoids. Thanks for the hope

 

[savedlongs]

@quant My oldest was like this. I made little snack trays with muffin/cupcake tins and put a variety of different fruits and snacks in them and let her graze and pick at it. Same with the three major meals. As someone said above, they could still be recovering and are afraid of swallowing. He's also at a very curious and exploratory age that everything is a lot more interesting than eating. See if grazing perks his interest. If that doesn't work, talk to his pediatrician and see what they think.