Hello mamas! I don't have a clear question, only a situation to tell you about and ask for whatever advice you feel is best for us.
The direct problem is that my daughter seems to have stopped eating. She eats a few bites per meal, but that's all, and she still drinks plenty of (watered down) juice and whole milk. I know she's not eating much because her dirty diapers remind me of our formula and breastmilk days - there's nothing solid in them anymore!
We have spent the past year renovating our house, but the last two months have been crazy busy with hubby home all day every day hitting the renovations hard. He wasn't always available to my daughter, but he was always THERE, if that makes sense. Now he's left to attend a school in CT a week ago, but he'll be back for Thanksgiving, then back to school, then back for Christmas (at which time the family will move to CT).
I am working part time in the evenings (although I already gave my 2 weeks'), and now leave my daughter with friends (whom she knew before the crazy renovations, but she hasn't seen for a couple months). They say she's been pretty lethargic lately, or she acts out. She's become very clingy (this was actually before DH even left).
I have tried to get her to drink some (generic brand) strawberry Pediasure, and one night I got her to drink a couple oz sitting on the counter, out of the bottle, with a straw. I know toddlers go through phases of little eating, and I wouldn't be terribly worried if I couldn't come up with any other reason why she wasn't eating. Has anyone else experienced their children not eating when spouses leave? Is it just her age? She's already cut her molars, and she didn't act like this for teething ever before... If she's missing her dad, what can I do? We talk on the phone every night, but I can tell it freaks her out a little to hear him and not see him. Please help! Thanks!
It's time for a trip to the doctor. She may be constipated believe it or not and this is nothing to let go until tomorrow.
I wouldn't worry about it. I would, however, cut back on how much she drinks. She may just be filling up on juice and milk. My 10 year old did the same thing at that age, so we just cut back on her "muk" and she started eating more.
I would definitely call your pediatrician right away. Write down all of the 'symptoms', the diapers, the moods ie. lethargic, acting up etc. and let them help you!
I would be concerned that she might have heavy metal toxicity poisoning with all of the renovations. What kind of renovations have you been doing? Has there been any painting, new carpet, or any new thing that would release toxins in the air? I would take her to a homeopathist who can quickly test her for heavy metals. It happened to a friend of mine during a renovation--except she was in her 70s.
Good luck!
Hi,
I am truly sorry that you are going through a situation at the moment, I think she misses her dad and most of all seeing him here for a while and now he's not around, she misses his touch and I would say his voice.
You should take her to her pediatrician and have her get a check up, it may be nothing at all. My son is two and he does not eat meat at all, he loves to drink a lot, not soda, but fruit juices, water and supplements, he loves fruits and vegetables and turkey meat.
His pediatrician said it's OK, so maybe she has a bug or going through a food change.
Good luck.
It could be a reaction to her enviromonet, her daddy being there and then gone, a phaze, she is ill. You need to take her to the DR and get her looked over for starters. Just because she isn't running a fever doesn't mean she isn't sick. You can also cut back on how much liquids she gets at meals. She could be filling up on milk and juice at the beginning of eating and then not eating her food. Make her eat at least 1/4-1/2 of her food before she gets the sippy cup.
If the DR says she is fine and she isn't filling up on liquids, then just keep offering her foods you know she likes for the mean time. Keep and eye on her after the move to see if she comes out of it after things settle down.
Good luck!
S.
How long has she been on whole milk? I found out at about her age that my son was lactose intolerant and it was causing him to have a lot of the same symptons you are describing. The biggest thing was being very clingy and lethargic. The pediatrician kept telling me that these were not symptons - it wasn't until my son was seven years old that I found out he is highly allergic to many foods. Looking back this has explained a lot. Basically, I started documenting how he reacted after drinking milk and found out that this was the cause of his changes in personality. I am not a doctor but sometimes I feel you need to take matters in your own hands and prove your case. I am sure it is scary to watch your child give up food. I pray that it is emotional and not physical. Good Luck!
A little about me:
I have been married to a wonderful husband of 19 years. We have one son Lane born on Feb 15, 2000.
K.,
I would take her to the doctor. With renovations going on in your house, you never know what she could be breating in or touching that may be making her sick. My suggestion is that any time you cannot easily pin point a cause, see the doctor. No question is a dumb one, except for the one that goes unasked. I hope she gets better!
K.:)
Hello, i am a mother of 3, ages 13,10,and 2 1/2.This is very normal all 3 of mine went through this. Most toddlers eating slows down around the time they start walking,lol they seem to just be to busy to slow down and eat at this age.There growing also slows down around this age so they tend not to eat as much.She won't starve her self, she will eat small amounts an keep on going on with her day...Try to offer her new foods toddlers tend to get bored with food and like to try new things to.Good luck she will do fine. You could take to your Doctor and he will most likely tell you this is just a phase. It will repeat its self around 2-2 1/2....
I am not answering your question just want to help you out a lil... My husband works out of town all week and home on weekends...We have 6 kids all together and we use video calls every night. My 11mo old gets to see daddy every night. All he would need is a laptop with web cam with a mic (most laptops have them). <y older computer we just bought a web cam with mic built in ($60-70).
I totally feel for you! My little boy is 15 months old and he had recently stopped eating for us, too. My husband is also military but not currently deployed. He was doing the same thing - not eating at all - no matter what I introduced as food. But he would always take nice big sippy cup of milk. We tried everything we could think of as far as experimenting with different food items. We figured he was just getting bored of same stuff but no matter what we did he still wouldn't eat. Again, he would always take a full cup of milk. So he was pooping all day long and it felt like I had a little baby on my hands again. Well, we finally just had enough so we decided to avoid giving him milk. He threw the biggest fit! It was really tough listening to him yell. But........after one day of not getting milk.....he is now eating again (and eating very nice big portions again). We figure the problem was that he liked the milk better so he was using that to get full each day. I felt horrible for not letting him have any milk all day BUT it really did work. By the end of the day he was willing to have whatever we gave him. I just didn't want to deal with a difficult child so I kept allowing him to control me by serving him what he wanted. Now the control is back in mommy's/daddy's hands - and all is back to normal. Every child is different so this may not work at all for you. Just saw your question and wanted to make sure I told you what we had been through to see if it can help you. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Really the best advice to give you is to check with your local doctor. She could have developed an allergy to the food and maybe it's causing a bad bellyache, which is causing her to avoid food. I also know that it can be very hard on kids when dad is away. My son is very young but his dad was deployed twice to the desert this past year. I did notice that my son would be very irritable. He wasn't eating whole foods yet so we didn't have the problem of him not eating. But he gave me problems putting him to bed and all day long he was just very cranky. Kids (no matter what age) can tell when their routine is different. So as you said - it may just be that she needs dad home. Sorry I can't be of more help!
Hi K.. I have a daughter who is a year older than carolyn. She too has gone through phases when she had no interest in eating. Usually they only last a few weeks and then she'd get her appetite back. I figured if she wasn't hungry, she probably didn't need the calories bc she was going through a slow growth period. You may want to check with her Dr just to be sure there's nothing else going on, but I would say that as long as the phase doesn't last more than a few weeks and she's not losing weight, it's probably not a big deal.
Sounds to me like she may have a bit of a bug. They always say as long as kids are drinking, they are ok. Try some of her favorites and if they are a no-go, I would almost say for sure it is a bug. It could also just be all of the confusion and she may be a little sad that Daddy isn't there. If it hasn't been going on for more than a week, I wouldn't worry about it, but you could always call her pediatrician to be sure. My almost 3 year old had a bug last week and she still isn't eating much-just snacking and drinking. She hasn't eaten a meal in 5 days, though.
It sounds like she is meeting most of her calorie needs with that whole milk and juice. Change the milk to 2% as she does not need the animal fat. Don't let her drink while eating. Get her on a food schedule. 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks should be sufficient. Make the snacks healthful, not liquid. Many children this age like tiny pieces of apple, pears, peaches, cantaloupe, honeydew, etc. Don't give her more than 1/8 cup at a time as sometimes the amount can just look overwhelming. The watered down juice should only be once a day after a meal or small snack. Don't allow cookies or other sweets as they provide calories and contribute the the person not wanting other foods. V.
My son went through phases of being disinterested in food as well. I suggest you take your daughter to her pediatrician and have her checked out. Explain what's been going on with her and what's been going on at home and let her doctor check her out thoroughly. If she's fine medically then you can feel comfortable knowing that she's just struggling with all of the changes going on in her little life. Give her lots of love and encouragement and if possible, see if your husband can make a video of himself this way you can play that for your daughter. This way she's seeing him everyday. Once you all are back together if her temperment and appetite don't get better then you may want to see another doctor to make sure that she's medically still healthy.
Kids are very resiliant but they are also affected greatly by change to their lives and routine so as long as you're aware of that and are giving her extra love and reasuring her that Daddy will be home soon then I think she'll come out of this just fine.
You may want to make a calendar so that each day she cross of 1 day and this can be the count down to when Daddy is coming home!
You may also want to get out pictures of her and her daddy so that she can look at them and find comfort in having them available to her when she wants them.
Good Luck!
I would take her to the doctor and let him make sure there is nothing physically wrong with her. Many things could cause a child not to eat. At least you could rule out physical problems that way. Hope she is feeling better soon.
From: A former military brat
Katie G posted a question that is similar to yours today - could you check out my post there? Maybe all the responses would be helpful.
My opinion is that emotions that are not frightfully strong (i.e seeing a parent die, violence, something like that) do not cause the loose stools and the complete lack of appetite. These seem like physical symptoms of digestive health. I would certainly cut out all milk products and try to go with rice and bannanas, adding some other veggies and fruit as she improves. See the rest of my post and respond if you would like more. Good luck,
J.
Isn't there some type of rule of thumb for the number of dirty diapers or wet diapers. The fact that she is lethargic worries me. She could have an infection. TAKE HER TO THE DOCTOR...
Hi K.,
I would seek an immediate evaluation from your pediatrician. Not eating is a serious issue which should definitely be evaluated. She is probably clingy and cranky because she doesn't feel well.
Also, is the house being renovated pre-1967? Is there lead paint? I would also mention that to the doctor.
Best of luck to you and your family!
K. Banks
p.s I grew up in Wilton, CT so if you need any CT info, let me know!
My daughter loves chocolate milk so I make it using the carnation instant b'fast mix which adds some nutrition in her diet. I've also found letting her snack on solid food helps. She eats 1/2 graham cracker or handful of nuts or 1/2 cup of chex mix. That helps make up for lacking solid food in her meals. Get as much variety as you can and if you continue to worry just take her in for a checkup to the doctor to make sure she doesn't have any digestive issues. Good luck.
What was her eating patterns like prior? Sounds like she ate pretty good and now she's not. My kids are picky eaters and have always eaten very little. The doctor always says that they will eat when they want and as long as they have energy and are acting fine. However, there are a couple things that sound different than my situation. The fact that her behavior has changed and that she is lethargic and the diapers don't have any solids would be red flags for me. I would take her to see the pediatrician and see what they say.
As for suggestions about missing her dad, have you heard of skype? It's a video conferencing thing that we have used when my husband goes over-seas. You both need a video camera that you can get for your computer if your computer doesn't have that capability. Also I've heard of kids sending something of theirs (like a stuffed animal) with their dad and then the dad can take pictures of that animal in various places that the dad is. Kinda ties her to her dad a little more if he has one of her stuffed animals.
Good luck,
K.
Please take her to the doctor.
i'd get her weight checked to make sure she isn't losing weight. if she is, i'd check in with her pediatrician to make sure nothing internal is driving it. she's not being exposed to anything during the renovation that would make her not feel well, is she? (ie, lead paint, asbestos, fumes?) good luck.
