Peter, that is, and it is driving me slightly insane. He went from not eating vegetables (which was worrying enough) to not eating anything (dinner tonight), even things he normally loves like bread. Mealtimes are becoming battles, which I always swore they wouldn't, but I am running out of ideas on how to deal with this.

He does need more food. He ate almost nothing for dinner yesterday, had his normal cup of milk before bed, then woke at 5:30 crying and I'm pretty sure it's because he was hungry. He then went on to eat an entire Weetabix at breakfast, more than he has eaten at breakfast for a week.

Any ideas? Or any recommendations for a good multivitamin for a 21-month-old? At least then I might stop stressing quite so much about it all!

Thanks.

hi there

We have big problems with Max and not eating. There are lots of good liquid multivitamins which you could get in Boots (or any other) we have a tablet one for Max but your not supposed to use it before they are 3 I think to make sure they chew it properly.

As for the not eating we just let him get on with it and it does tend to go through peaks and troughs - I did used to get very worried about it but it's not worth it now as whatever we do makes no difference.

Do you always offer 2 courses or is it - eat all this if you want that??

I offer a second course if he has at least tried with the first. So he got a fruit bar at lunch when he ate half a chicken goujon and a chip (although no peas) but nothing at dinner when he refused to touch anything. I won't ever refuse to give him his cup of milk as long as he still wants it before bed, so I know he isn't going to be on an entirely empty tummy, but I don't want to reward bad behaviour and he has definitely inherited a sweet tooth from the two of us.

Thanks for the tip about the multivitamins. I'll swing by Boots tomorrow.

Isaac is a poor eater too. He eats very little unless it's pasta! and he will not eat vegetables in any form. I've given up worrying too now as we too have found nothing makes a difference. He just isn't a big eater and is fussy about food. He will hopefully grow out of the fussiness, apparently I was the same as a toddler!

When we went to his toddler xmas party the other day he was one of the first to leave the table and that was with lots of sweet stuff on offer too! He just isn't that bothered with food.

I'm going to check out the multivitamins. He does eat some fruit though at least!

If he refuses his main we do still offer fruit but he won't always eat it!

Al goes through whole weeks where he will not eat a hot meal (will eat sandwiches/toast and fruit etc and always breakfast) and then suddenly will start eating them again - it's very weird but I try to just let it go as he will not be persuaded if he has set his mind to it! Like you I still always offer a cup of milk before bed although I won't offer him anything sweet if he hasn't eaten his main.

Hhmmm I'd ignore it. E is 20months and regularly goes through stages of not eating his tea for days on end, recently we had two weeks of only wanting his brekkie. One thing I've learnt from the others is ignore, ignore, ignore. If he doesn't want his tea then I just clear up and go back to the kitchen. Il always offer supper on days he has no tea, itl be an hr or so after so he doesn't see it as a substitute for his main meal and at least i know somethings in his tummy for bedtime. He goes through these phases then reverts back to eating normal again.

Minidex is a good vitamin supplement - not sure what age you can use it from but it's excellent for getting their appetite back and giving them a boost.

pippa has always been the worlds best eater, but even she's started to go through a phase of refusing to eat, i do the same as woomummy and ignore it when she does est just keep offering food as normal and she eventually goes back to eating
xxx

Thanks, ladies. He actually ate some apple at lunch - woohoo! I'll work on ignoring it, a lot easier said than done, especially meals where it is just him and me and I have done a bit of cooking. *sigh*