Eating or lack of.

After reading this post by Sarah, I decided to write about Lil's eating habits as they're starting to worry me so any advice would be gratefully received.

She picks at her breakfast and will have a mid morning snack, usually a banana which she'll eat. She isn't the slightest bit interested in lunch, whatever I make her, however yummy, she turns her nose up at it and will only pick at some rice crackers or Organix tomato snacks. Dinner, she'll eat (most of the time). It nearly always consists of some type of pasta dish with vegetables (filled pasta or veggie lasagne) or fish.

This week, however, I've decided things really need to change. Not only is it frustrating, after freshly preparing her meals only for her to throw her plate off the table or feed the dog her meal, I'm worried she isn't getting the nutrients she needs.

Is it because she's suffering so badly with her teeth? Could this be why she's off her food? I remember, before she got ill on her birthday, that she used to eat every meal and more. She really loved her food and it made me so happy to see her eat well. But now it's all changed and it's started to upset me. Could it be a (long) phase she's going through? I hope, whatever it is, she snaps out of it soon.

Meanwhile, I've started writing up meal plans for the week so I can prepare some meals in advance and know everyday what we're going to eat. Overly organised? Maybe, but I feel like I need a little more structure to meal times.

This week we'll be eating:

Fruit Burst Muffins
Bran flake Pancakes
Mushroom and Chickpea Burgers
Chicken and Spinach Spaghetti
Fish and Chips
Chickpea Patties

Do you have any great recipes we could try? Any lunch ideas are welcome too.

Let's see how we get on. Wish me lots of patience.


14 comments:

  1. Dont worry your little girls sounds like a typical girl!...I have a 17 month boy that eats all day and loves his food, but when his teeth are hurting he just picks and just let him get on with it and dont worry.

    I have also noticed with friends little girls that they do not eat hardly anything compared to most boys...I look after Sidneys cousin one day a week and she is 14 mths and has the same appetite as your lil, she will have the odd day where she will eat more but most days hardly anything and just picks, her mum worried for ages but now just accepts it and doesnt get stressed about it and let her be.

    My friend read somewhere though that even at this age you still need to feed some of the food to her whilst she is feeding herself and I try this with Honey and she deffinately eats more when I do this.

    hope this helps but don't worry your little girls sounds completely normal and looks a healthy child!

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    1. That's such a relief, thank you for sharing! I try to feed her whilst she feeds herself but she has none of it 'No Mummy, me...' little madam! xxx

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  2. I think that sounds pretty good! It's a very healthy diet and a fair amount of it is being eaten. My children are older and now eat pretty well, but as toddlers used to run away and not eat a lot. Someone once suggested that you should look at what they're eating across the whole week, not just on a daily basis, because some days they're just not really bothered.

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    1. Sometimes she does eat a lot but it seems to be more of her not eating a lot at all at the moment. It's great to hear your children eat well now, I guess it's just something I need to work through! Thanks for sharing xxx

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  3. India is EXACTLY the same. She'll nibble toast in the morning, throw lunch across the room and only eat dinner. She is 100% worst when she's cutting teeth. It's a worry, but she will be fine, and all of a sudden she will turn a corner. It's swings & roundabouts all the way i think. Florence is now 5 and we still go through this!
    Off to check out the recipes you posted. We have made the chickpea patties & the whole fam are fans!
    x

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    1. So relieved to hear, maybe it's a girl thing. I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. I LOVE food and hope that soon she'll go back to loving it too, especially your recipes I'm planning on cooking because they look amazing. xxx

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  4. I hope I didn't worry you! We all have our things to worry about. I am so very lucky that Stanley has never had any teeth issues... but food is where i like to fret!
    I have to say though after actually photographing what he does get in him it looks a lot better than I had remembered. You know I think I do that thing where I think it is really worse than it is...I reckon if you make notes/photograph a weeks worth you'll see that actually lil eats fine. And she looks heathy enough so I reckon all is well. Good luck and thanks for posting those recipes - I really want to make the breakfast muffins!

    Oh and quick lunch ideas that work here are sweetcorn. On the cob. Stanley is actually obsessed with it. Humous. And smoked mackerel pate he likes. M & S do awesome mini submarine rolls that are the PERFECT size for smalls to eat. Try that, especially if lil enjoys her fish...

    Looking forward to your update and more meal ideas!!! xoxo

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    1. No, not at all. I've been worried for a while and have found relief in sharing her habits and knowing that it isn't unusual. I think I'm doing the thing that you do, thinking it's worse than it is! She seems happy enough (when her teething settles down for a day or two) so I guess I'm just being silly. The breakfast muffins are delicious and the best part is you can freeze them, she did eat some of it today and it didn't go on the floor so I'm guessing she liked them!

      Thanks for lunch ideas, I'll get her interested in lunchtime if it kills me! xxx

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  5. This all sounds normal to me, Freya is 17 months and has good weeks and bad weeks. Perhaps instead of a morning snack, try giving her an early lunch to see if she eats more (sometimes works for us). I do more finger foods at lunch such as smoked salmon or smoked mackerel fillets with pitta bread or breadsticks, veg and pate. I'll try anything really especially when ill or teething (when she nibbles on food she usually loves). We do have more good weeks than bad now so it does change. Great books for recipes are river cottage baby & toddler cookbook & My Daddy Cooks.

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    1. Good idea! I'll try that from tomorrow. How did Freya take to mackerel? My Mum keeps suggesting them too so I'll give them a try. And thank you for the cookbook recommendations. Lets hope this teething eases up soon xxx

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  6. Henry has very similar patterns actually too - except that he eats a big breakfast (2 weetabix), he has a banana at every opportunity, so once a day if we have them in the house a pathetic lunch and he'll only eat dinner if it's pasta. Coco definitely went through long phases of not eating very much at all so I'm not worried and also Henry is scarily large! Mackerel pate (mackerel mixed with cream cheese) is a big hit in this house and rainbow rice (any veg in the house chopped and mixed into rice) has it's moments, but often ends up on the floor and it's a bugger to clear up, ditto with scrambled eggs. I tend to find the more effort I put into cooking the more likely it is to be rejected, so old school baked beans and fish fingers appear on our menu a lot! I like this menu sharing though, if I ever get around to updating my blog again I might get in on the act!

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    1. Lil is the same with dinner, that kid loves pasta! I'm going to try the mackerel pate, thanks for the tip! Fish fingers are my go to dinner, especially with baked beans! She'll always eat that. Funny things, toddlers! Yes update it, it's been aaaaaaaaages! x

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  7. I wrote about this with Joshua a few months ago as his eating habbits were one of a few things causing concern to me. He now see's a dietician as I was worrying he wasn't getting enough of what he needed, do you know what they told me?! Let them eat what they want to eat when they go through fussy phases-which they all do. You won't get them to eat something they don't won't without force, and force will make them react negatively towards food even more as they remember it. It's best to ride it out, give them what they will eat and occassionally try and on the sly introduce more things, but don't worry! It's all normal-that's straight from a professionals mouth! x

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    1. That's SUCH a relief, thank you for sharing.xxx

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