My 15 month old is not eating enough

She's never been the biggest eater but lately she takes one or two bites of her food and she won't take anymore. She had strep last week and now she's on antibiotics (amoxil) and the Dr. said she's teething which could definitley add to this. Does amoxil have a side effect of decreasing appetite? I sometimes force her to eat foods that I know she likes and I feel like I'm a horrible mother and that I know I shouldn't force her to eat certiain things but every time we take her for well checkup the Dr. says she didn't gain enough weight. She's at the bottom of the charts. I know its wrong to force and I try not to do it often but if I don't make her eat, she would literally be content with maybe 3 bottles a day (nowhere near enough). She does drink whole milk and she's pretty good about taking bottles so at least I don't have to worry about that. She's also b"h developing on schedule. Any seasoned moms have advice for me? Should I worry or not? Is this just a stage? What would you do if your baby wasn't eating and needed to gain more weight? I just feel more comfortable being anon but I'm totally legit.

Platinum Member Joined: Jun 22 2008 Posts: 6429

if she can drink whole milk put her on a high calorie drink like Pediasure, first the bottles she drinks will be worth more calories. It's totally possible that her loss of appetite is due to meds and teething, wait a week or 2 till everything settles.

My daughter is finally on the charts, right at the bottom but at least not off. we changed her to a higher calorie formula and give her whatever foods she likes no matter how weird it is.... we buy the junk food she likes too.

Active Poster Joined: Aug 02 2005 Posts: 97

If she is developing appropriately, you probably don't have much to worry about. I would just try to make the meals "count" as much as possible, you know? Try to offer only fattening foods- healthy fattening. My DD loved avocado at that age. I would just cut it into small chunks and sprinkle some lemon juice and salt on it. Also peanut butter on whole wheat bread (assuming theres no allergies) is a great fattening and wholesome meal.

Gold Member Joined: Feb 12 2008 Posts: 2386

Always read the drug info that comes with the medication!
Antibiotics make you nauseous and can even cause diarrhea and vomiting. Completely normal. It's also normal for toddlers to have days where they eat practically nothing and days where they eat tons.

Diamond Member Joined: Mar 17 2008 Posts: 3557

My ds - who is a good eater - lost his appetite completely after his last bout with strep. It took a little while to get it back. I think part of it was also because while he had the strep, the things he ate hurt his throat so he would refuse to eat them. Even after the antibiotics got rid of the strep, he was used to avoiding food, so he kept at it for a little while.

I wouldn't force it. These things can really become a power struggle with toddlers and backfire at you. Learned this the hard way.

Last edited by grin on Tue, Dec 21 2010, 12:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

first off, any kind of sickness or teething is going to decrease one's appetite - old and young alike. second of all, never force a child to eat because they're "not eating enough", certainly not if this is determined merely on the basis of growth charts. If a child sleeps soundly at night, is developing steadily and within norms, and is usually healthy - s/he's eating enough for his or her needs - even if the charts say differently. Don't forget, the charts are determined by the average child - not necessarily the healthiest (which can be significantly different, in today's rather obese world) and doesn't take genetics into account either.

forcing a child to eat, even foods that they generally like, can backfire and create serious eating problems and an overly underweight child. In general, a child who is offered healthy food choices with no forcing will eat a balanced diet that fills all their physical needs, as proven by Dr. Brazelton in a famous experiment years ago.

You could try to cut down the amount of milk s/he drinks to encourage eating more solids. It sounds to me like a lot of bottles for that age.
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Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional. (I haven't finished growing up yet; I'm still a work in progress - until 120!)

A stuffed nose (post nasal drip) can make one lose their appetite.
A sore throat can make eating painful and make the person not interested in food.
Same for teething pain.
Make sure your child iis getting enough liquids. Keep high calorie foods on the table in easy reach. But don't force.
This too shall pass beH.
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Really Awesome Mom!

Silver Member Joined: May 27 2008 Posts: 528 Location: NY

omg OP, I feel like u'r describing my son exactly. He's almost 15 months, off the charts and is content with three bottles a day! the only difference is that he's been a picky/hard eater always, not just now that he's also teething.
I am working on getting feeding therapy for him but let me tell u, I worry about this constantly...
Just want to point out that pediasure is not cholov yisroel. Make ur own decisions /speak to a Rav if this is an issue.
The ideas of avocado pieces/peanut butter on ww bread are good - what other fattening foods can I give that hopefully he'll take? I need more baby food/good fat ideas for him desperately.

is your main concern is matching the child's growth with the dr's charts? is the child usually healthy? is s/he developing nicely? is s/he generally happy, content, sleeps well? if so, forget about it - s/he doesn't have an eating problem and the charts won't matter one iota 20 years from now.

In any case, I see no reason to focus on high-calorie foods - better to focus on high-nutrient.

(my dr. once wanted to check ds' height more closely since he was a short 2 yo. He was my 3rd, so I knew enough to opt out of this time-waster. Sure enough, he's almost 6 feet today, kah.)

Silver Member Joined: May 27 2008 Posts: 528 Location: NY

OP, yeah my dr. recomended feeding therapy as a way to help him learn to eat better - truthfully, I'm not 100% sure myself what they do/how they do it, but I've heard from others too that their children who were picky eaters got this kind of therapy so I'm going to try it and see if it can help him eat and gain weight.
Regarding the cholov yisroel thing - it depends what you call Halacha. According to us, it is halacha to eat cholov yisroel, and only bec of certain situations in America at certain times was this heter given. According to my Rabbonim, not eating cholov yisroel today has no place whatsover. Of course in ch'v a life and death situation even treif is allowed to keep a person alive, but we're B"H not talking about something like that here. I dont want to get into it more over here bec. this is the wrong forum for it, but I want you to know, just for yourself, before you 'get irked' by people who keep halacha the way it is supposed to be kept, that there is a lot more to CY than you may even know, if you just grew up eating it. Like I said, there was no such a thing in the last century - this heter came about here in America where there was no other dairy and being that the govt. required certain ways for dairy to be processed, R' Moshe Feinstein gave a heter that you can rely on the govt's 'hechsher' (in quotes) that it is pure cows milk and nothing else inside. But this came as a result of a situation at that time in our history. Do you know how many religious Jews in Russia went w/o basics so that htey dont consume non-cholov yisroel? There are plenty of ways for me to figure things out for my son. Yes, he is skinnier than other kids his age and off the charts, which is why I am worried about him and trying to find solutions, but it doesnt mean I have to give him something that is, according to our perspective (and I say this to be politicaly correct bec. I think of this as the truth for e/o), not 100% okay.
I am sure everyone here who reads this that does eat cholov akum will start with major bashing, of the frum, close-minded, chalav yisrael-eating folk out there, bec. that's what seems to be the popular opinon on this site - anyone who's too-frum is the close-minded, wrong one, not the one thats possibly more in touch with halacha, with whats right, so if it does turn into that I will just leave this discussion, but OP, I want you to knwo that I wrote all this (I couldve just ignored that statement) jsut so you know there's more to CY than you may have learned and realized and people who are strict with it are strict for a reason.

Can you find whipping cream with a good hechsher? butter?

Add some to your child's milk and shake it up... I'm sure she won't notice, in fact, the milk will taste even better. Also, if she eats yogourts, cottage cheese, 'white cheese'... mix in a little whipping cream in those too.

If she will eat oatmeal or cream of wheat, add a big chunk of butter. Oatmeal with melted butter is quite tasty.

(I have a 2-year-old who I am trying to fatten up.)

OK ra_mom, that I hear - if she was cranky, not sleeping, and losing weight, I agree that is a bad sign. is it caused by a health issue? do you know the source of the problem?

Butter and whole milk are healthy for adults too.... just in moderation. Non-dairy creamers are poison! Petroleum-product fake whipped cream is poison! Margarine is poison!

At least your body knows what to do with butter and cream, margarines aren't digested properly. I'm wondering why someone was fine with butter, but disagreed on the whipping cream... it's the same thing. If you whip cream for too long, ti magically becomes butter.

The body needs fats in order to properly absorb vitamins and minerals. Animal fats aren't the best, but processed oils are worse.

IMO, obesity comes more from eating large portions of un-flavorfull, un-satisfying foods than from eating natural foods that have fat and calories in them. With small children, unless they are truly off-the-charts fat, there's no need to worry about them gaining weight.