Please Give Suggestions?

he doesn't eat at all, except sometimes?
sounds like he's a picky eater, and a self-sufficient little fellow who either doesn't need a lot of interactive play, or is perhaps still too young for it and still engaging in parallel play.
what do the professionals at his day care say?
khairete
S.

His age would be helpful but from your last question, where you mention he has a sensory processing disorder, I'm guessing he's not a toddler but more a preschooler?

You mentioned all the problems you were having feeding him in an earlier question - so I would strongly suggest seeing a pediatric dietitian. We have one in the family. They work with people exactly like you and your son. They are experts in this field - and often work on teams (my relative does) so if there's more to it than just diet (say they have to get another specialist involved) they will do that. They have the resources. I'd start there.

So food sounds like a challenge - can you send food with him? If so, send what he eats well with - you can always round out his daily diet at home and try to get him to eat the stuff he needs but won't take there. I did that with my picky eater. I'd give him fruit and veg before dinner when he was ravenous and he gobbled them up.

One thing I'd suggest is - if they are letting him start with milk or fill up on milk, ask them to feed him first (if he's old enough to be eating first - and not reliant on milk for the majority of his diet). I found mine were really hungry when they woke up too. So if he doesn't eat at mealtime, maybe they could try a snack when he wakes from nap. Our daycare was great that way - we just had to work with them.

As for play - it's very common for some kids to play on their own at daycare. Usually as they move towards preschool age they start to interact more. It depends on their personality too.

Age is the most important thing you left out.

Up to age 2-2 1/2 kids do parallel play. Especially if he's been alone at home with only adults. He isn't familiar with kids and he might do parallel play for another 6 months or so. They don't really play with each other. They might both be playing cars but it's unorganized. They don't say "Hey, let's play races" or "I am driving this way, you drive that way". It's more like they're playing side by side but not with each other.

If he's older then maybe he's an introvert and is happy playing by himself. He's had 3-4 years of it. He will eventually learn to play with others. I'd assume that's why he's in child care if you don't work.

It's also normal for kids to decide to not eat and to eat only things they like.

Is he a picky eater at home? Well, let me rephrase that, are you a picky chef? Do you follow some food ideals that the child care center might not be like? If you only fix certain foods at home then this is new to him and it will take him some time to learn to try new things.

Does he eat when he gets home? Is he having BM's? Is he drinking other fluids? Is he dehydrated?

I wouldn't worry unless he was losing weight and that concerned the doc.

But until you mention his age and he's older than 3 1/2 I'm going to say he's being perfectly normal. Although I'm not surprised he's not eating cereal or pancakes or something like that when served at breakfast and he's not eating at least the fruit or eating a few bites of something at snacks or lunch.

How old is he?
If he's a toddler - they don't really play well with others yet.
They play next to each other - it's called parallel play.
During preschool or kindergarten they play with others a lot more.

Our son did his own thing for the first 2 years of preschool. The other kids did circle time, he looked at the teacher like she was nuts to suggest he join in. By year 3, the kids were fighting over sitting at his lunch table with him...he had totally assimilated ....but on his own terms.

He would also eat only a limited number of things...as I recall it was bread, cheese and cheese nips.

I think something which has helped me in those whole parenthood journey: Accept that our kids develop as they need to, and baring some special issue, they all develop what they need to..but never on our "timeline"!

How old?

If he's age 3 or older, then I'd talk with the teacher. One of mine was a bit shy, and the teacher helped a lot. She would give him special jobs to help her (handing out materials, etc) that had him interact with the other kids. During story time, when she asked questions of the kids like "what do you think will happen next?", after calling on a few kids with raised hands, she would sometimes say "Joey, what do you think?" even if he didn't raise his hand. She also had play stations set up, and when she divided up the kids among the stations, she would make sure to put him with 1 or 2 other kids she thought would best click with him. All those things helped to break the ice and get him interacting with the class more.

i suggest you add the childs age. makes it easier to know whats expected of a child.
what does his pedi say about him?
one of your previous questions is about military divorce precedures, so if you are going thru the process that can have an impact on a child
talk to his daycare provider, do they think hes normal? if you think there is a problem then talk to his dr, have testing done. early intervention can help if the chile qualifies for help.

So hard to answer without knowing his age. Can you edit your question to indicate this? And how many hours is he there? Do you work full time? Part time?

When you say he "only drinks milk" do you mean that he is an infant under 1 year and is primarily on formula or pumped breast milk, with some table food? Or is he a toddler and a bit of a picky eater, turning down everything but milk? Does he bring food from home, or is he being fed food by the day care provider, and perhaps it's food he doesn't recognize? Does he make up for it by eating at other meals at home?

Playing alone is totally normal for kids of a certain age - at best, they do parallel play and don't necessarily interact much. If he's under 3, that's normal. I'd be surprised if he DID play with other kids or engage in games or other activities if he's 2.5 or under.

Have you talked to the provider? Are they concerned? Does he cry when you leave? If so, does it continue all day long? If it's only for 10 minutes, that's normal. How does he react to changes in routine, to new kids, to new activities, etc.? Does he sit for story time, does he express interest (verbal or non-verbal) in what's going on? Those are all questions I would ask.

Your previous questions have been about divorce, sensory problems with food textures.

Please tell us your son's age.

Have you and his dad split up, and is your son aware of this? Have you gotten him help for his eating problems and sensory food issues? What do you do to help him eat well, besides offer him food that he likes? Is he (and are you) getting nutritional counseling, or any other kind of counseling?

"Doesn't eat anything at all" and "will sometimes eat" are kind of confusing statements. Are you supposed to supply his meals for the daycare or is it part of the daycare situation?

Please give us details. Age, daily food intake, doctors' input, therapists' suggestions, what you've tried, etc.

If you haven't gotten him therapy for sensory issues and if he's upset about changes at home, that can all factor in.

While I appreciate that your son "just has a communication" issue, I am very concerned that all his caregivers understand that he cannot socialize as well as his speaking peers and he knows it. He also has his issue with eating. Please, please, get an Early Intervention appointment now. Or get an evaluation at your local pediatric hospital. Now is the time, I promise you. All my best.

You haven't said how old your child is. Update your question with his age.

it's prob ok for some kids to go through process of adjusting to a new environment. but if he hasnt resolved since june, it could mean he suffers from anxiety. in other words does he have fam members who are timid, shy quiet etc.. shyness or fear of new evnts or surroundings can be serious inflicting emotional lifelong pain if not remedy early. you can do your part by boing watchful and providing lots of love, kindness but avove all, reassurance, in other words selfassurance. the daycare provider can do the same, must pull him "in" with other kids. best wishes