failure to thrive.

Anonymous

dont worry too much as other people say they will eat when hungry my to sometimes go for bout 2 to 3 days before eating an we make sure theres plenty of fruit an snacks around when they do.

Anonymous

My boy loves his food his like his mother put food in front of him and wonder where it is in about 5 seconds, my idea to this is don't be scared to try new foods and products and always change it up, baby jars are handy but convinent at best, mash real fresh food and if the problem presist and your not sure go to your doctor they may know someone like a nutritionilist who can help, if they are of an older age group try giving them something that your eating even! May sound like not so good a solution but at least if they see you eating and try it at least you will know there eating!

mizim

My 1yo has been labelled as "Failure to Thrive". My advice would be, go to your GP, trust your guts more than anything, and push if you have to. They see so many people that sometimes you need to bug the heck out of them. And if you want to see a paed then keep on asking for it. When you go tell them everything you notice, everything you do etc.

sneakierbiscuit

I don't want to diminish your concerns.

I'll address a few points that have arisen in discussion:

1. "underweight". Babies weight charts include babies who are formula fed, and children who are formula fed tend to be heavier than breastfed babies. So for those parents who had "underweight" kids, it might have been they were a reasonably normal weight for breastfed kids. Also, "underweight" is not lower than the 50th percentile. It's usually only the kids who fall into the top 5% or bottom 5% that are a concern for being overweight or underweight. I had friends who were concerned because their child was "only" in the 40%, which is actually fine. Children have a wide variety of heights, shapes and sizes. Going by the average can be misleading, because there's a naturally wide range of perfectly normal levels. You don't expect all 13 year olds to be the same, right?

2. "children won't starve themselves" - that's true in most cases. However, if you're dealing with a real illness, either physical or psychological, children may indeed eat so little as to put their lives at risk. An example of a psychological illness is "selective eating disorder" which can occur in young children and even remain into adulthood.

3. Hiding healthy foods - that's a good technique for children who refuse vegetables in their plain form; grating them into muffins or pasta sauce etc. However, if your child will not eat muffins or pasta, it's not a good solution. Worth remembering for the future, though! It's also worth remembering that you need to offer a child a new food at least a dozen times. So a lot of patient persistence is required.

4. Involving them in growing/picking/choosing produce. An excellent thing to do! Worth a try. Your child's difficulty seems to go beyond this though.

So my advice? See a pediatrician. Get them to check the child for physical digestive problems or allergies, and ask them about psychological disorders like selective eating disorder. Perhaps they can refer you to a specialist in children's nutrition. Their answers may depend on the age of your child.

Good luck!

isaacsmum

I agree with Tasha on developing a baby's eating habit. You have to keep trying and let the child understand what is nutritional food and what is sometimes food. Jamie Oliver has it so right on this topic. If your child rejects a meal, dont be discouraged, it could be for a variety of reasons, but stick with it so they have good eating habits, as we cant be with them everywhere.
In terms of failure to thrive, my baby girl was in the lower percentiles when she was being breastfeed, but once she was 12 months and onto cows milk, her weight has caught up. She is a petite build and will always be as we are not big.
I also have a friend with a toddler diagnosed as failure to thrive by the childrens hospital. They have grommets inserted and since he is sleeping and eating better and is catching up.

Anonymous

Hi i have a 5 year old that wont Eat fruit or try any veg try macaroni and great a few vegies into it cook it up and put some greated cheese over the top its taste

buttonpops

My 2 year old failed to thrive when she was younger and would only eat a teaspoon of food for a meal at 1 year old. She was put into hospital a few times and fed with a nasal gastric tube but that only gave her severe pains and she always lost weight until she returned home and felt safe again. Anyway once the doctors/nurses had stopped pressuring her to eat all the time she started eating several more spoons of food each time. Now she is the same height as other children her age and rather fat (unlike the rest of the family). So dont worry too much, your toddler will probably catch up in their own time.

Anonymous

If kids have a fixed routine in their life, like from the day they are born if as a mother if you make a flowchart for your baby feeding-sleeping-bathing after 10 am-feeding-sleeping-evening playing-late evening feeding then early sleeping. kid are fixed to that chart....if you get lazy following the your own chart then babies start getting used to that...

Anonymous

Hi Im a solo dad and when there was shared care with the mother who just feed the kid with lollies and sweets i couldnt get her to eat..Now however I dont give her lollies/sweet drinks or any other sugars and she eats really well.
Regards Steve

Tasha

We have toddlers come into the preschool environment who parents say will not eat. They say we will never get them eating the healthy food the preschool provides as their child is a fussy eater ( only eats biscuits, yoghurt, cheese, no fruit or veg), and they are amazed that within a few says not only does their child eat the food they love it. At preschool we provide only healthy options (cooked lunch) and healthy morning and afternoon teas. Parents say their children will not eat this and insist on bringing a packed lunch with back up foods of biscuits and yoghurts (just in case), We assure them that their child will eat the food as we have seen this scenario for many years with many children. Children should be given choice such as would you like sauce with your meal or you can eat your lunch or go and play, but not an option of if you dont like this you can have this, or this or this. If you give children a choice where they know they will win they will win. They also need a role model, if a parent does not eat the healthy food a child will not either. We sit with children at meal times, we discuss our days, at first children may push the veggies around their plates and even spit into it, play with it or push it away ( they are waiting for the biscuit). After a few days they learn the biscuits are not coming and they begin tasting the food and soon they eat it. And then they begin to enjoy it. Children enjoy being social and they also mimic their teachers and their peers. If they decide they dont want it and are disruptive they can leave the table, if they want to come back and taste the food or just sit with the group allow them. But do not allow them to have alternative foods. You have made them a nice meal and that is the meal. Get them involved in the cooking process. Our children will rarely eat spinach cooked in a heap but they will pick it out of our veggie garden all day to munch on, along with the beans and peas. They also love peeling the broad beans and cooking them up for lunch, where as if I cooked these up from the shop I doubt any of them would touch them. It is a process but children need to learn good eating habits early and they learn them from good role models. If you have had your child tested for allergies and foods are not causing them discomfort then their eating habits are a learned behaviour. And if your child does have food allergies it is even more important to ensure your child is getting the nutrients they need through good nutrition.

sandra

My first daughter was always underweight and her baby health nurse basically accused me of neglect,I was devastated and took her to a paeditrician who asked me what she ate which was a pretty fussy amount of stuff,did she run around with plenty of energy which she did and did she sleep well of a night which she did-he then told me to tell the baby health nurse to go and get stuffed!!You just have to keep offering food and eventually they'll eat,forcing them just makes issues with food -my dad used to force me to eat veges and now I won't eat most of them.My second daughter didn't eat dinner for a year(not even a mouthful)but I kept dishing it up to her and one day she decided to try it-I'm glad I didn't give in and make her a sandwich because she always ate a healthy breakfast the next day and now she's a good eater.

Holdengirl

I havent personally had a child fail to thrive - my kids eat anything lol - but a toddler will not let themselves starve, if they get hungry enough they will eat so just make sure you have healthy and filling foods available for them.

momi

they have gone five days without eating anything and only taking small amounts of milk/water.when they do eat they wont eat anymore than a few nibbles and never any healthy.wont eat fruit and...

hi, have taken them to a gp/paedeatrician? they'll be able to tell you if they're healthy/meeting milestones, and will most likely have tips for getting them to eat.

Holdengirl

they have gone five days without eating anything and only taking small amounts of milk/water.when they do eat they wont eat anymore than a few nibbles and never any healthy.wont eat fruit and...

How old are they? If they drink breast milk or formula they would be getting a big chunk of what they need from that.
Maybe you could try muffins - banana/apple/carrot etc that way you can hide the fruit and veg in a treat.

angel

I havent personally had a child fail to thrive - my kids eat anything lol - but a toddler will not let themselves starve, if they get hungry enough they will eat so just make sure you have healthy...

they have gone five days without eating anything and only taking small amounts of milk/water.when they do eat they wont eat anymore than a few nibbles and never any healthy.wont eat fruit and veg.only yoghurt and custards and cheese