Toddler Not Finishing Meals

Never force or trick a child into eating more then they feel they need, you will only create a bad habit of overeating. A toddlers stomach is only about the size of their tiny fist, so more food then that is going to make her feel overly full and uncomfortable. And don't force water right after a meal, just give her access to it throughout the day and let her drink when she feels thirsty. The fasted way to create issues with food is to make food an issue by forcing eating.

My pedi tells us every visit not to force them to eat. At this age they know when they are hungry and will eat when they need to. He tells us to just keep offering the food and let them eat when they need it. They won't starve I promise!

So your sitter over feeds her but you can't get her to eat?

Troll babies are a fickle lot!

You are overfeeding her. Your are also teaching her to overeat and to eat when she is not hungry. At her age, children normaaly only eat until they are full.

This is very confusing-- in your last question you said your babysitter feeds your child too much and now you are saying that your kid isn't eating enough?

hmmm......

Is she a nanny or a babysitter?
Who's in charge of all this?

Um, didn't you already ask this with a different title? Or is this the same post with the title changed? You before accused the nanny of feeding too much. What gives? I don't trust people who play these games.

You're feeding her too much.
She's 15 mos old.
Don't try & feed her when YOU'RE hungry and when YOU eat.
You feed her when SHE's hungry & needs to eat.
Don't expect her to finish huge portions like that.
Her stomach isn't as large as yours. Neither is her appetite.
Sounds like she's a good eater. Just don't over feed her or expect so much

Remember.... a toddler's stomach is really pretty small.

"A toddler's stomach is the size of his two fists put together, so when he's left alone himself to eat until he's full, he will most likely eat only a cup of food (at most) at any one time. "

http://www.netplaces.com/raising-a-two-year-old/feeding-y...

You said something about her eating a full bowl of oatmeal with veggies and meat inside...... how big is that serving?

Here are some guidelines on what a toddler should be eating during the day...

http://www.gerber.com/allstages/nutrition_and_feeding/tod...

It's amazing how little food a toddler can sometimes live on!

Talk to your doctor and make sure your girl is healthy. I imagine she doesn't need the extra yogurt for sure! And you don't need to force her to drink water - if she's thirsty she'll drink it; if she isn't, she probably had gotten enough.

Ask the doctor about cutting down the amounts. As long as the food she is given is nourishing, smaller portions are probably all right. In a few months (or weeks), her appetite may change and she will be hungrier and/or thirstier.

You don't want to get into a food battle with a toddler. It's one Mama can't win.

If you're making her eat after she's full then you're teaching her ignore that feeling and to over-eat. That's NOT a good thing. You're putting too much food in front of her. Her stomach is only the size of her fist and therefore that's the amount of food you should place in front of her per meal.

You need to give her smaller servings and if she wants to snack in between meals, then let her. When she feels full, let her step away. It means she's had enough. You don't need to force her to drink before a meal or after. Let her drink in between meals or small amounts during the meals. She needs to be able to follow her own hunger and thirst cues.

The nanny is making her drink "a lot" of water? She should have water available to your daughter so that when she's thirsty it's there for the having. But don't "make" her drink. Just like having snacks available for when she asks.

Feeding her while she's playing, just spooning yogurt or whatever into her mouth, is teaching her to eat when she's not hungry as well. It's teaching her that she can't even perform a leisure activity or sport or anything without "needing" to eat. No! Don't do that! If she's playing and is hungry, she can take a break and eat where she's supposed to.

I'm assuming here that your daughter isn't underweight; isn't off the charts underweight or in the very low percentiles and is not considered to be "not thriving." If your child is thriving by medical standards you and the nanny are overfeeding her and teaching her to overfeed herself when she's older. Setting her up for a life of obesity.

Why are you forcing her to eat? Is she malnourished, underweight, having "failure to thrive" issues?
Please talk to her pediatrician. Nobody here knows your daughter's health history, so none of us can give you good advice. Though I will say most of us simply feed our babies and children what they will eat. When they are done we stop feeding them. There is absolutely no need to force feed a healthy, normally developing and growing child.
And most people don't give their babies dessert either. No judgement, just saying, that's not normal.
Maybe you need a new sitter, someone with education and experience.

Totally confused...

Nanny overfeeding question and now she's not eating question...

Get a vitamin. Make sure she is drinking milk... offer various foods. Don't force to eat. She won't die...

Good luck!

A 15 month old does not eat like an adult. They eat based on hunger cues. (Illness is an exception) When she stops eating, it is because her body has had enough. Don't try to make her finish what she leaves, because that is undermining her natural cues and can lead to weight problems later. Stop forcing water after a meal too, because that is pointless and has no benefit.

you should never ever force her to eat more than she can. Even at 15 months old she knows when she is full. She needs to stop eating when she is full and if she is not eating anymore, then she is telling you that she is full. The way things are right now, is not healthy at all! I work in a preschool and there was a girl in my class last year who's mom would feed her SO much that she would throw up. Even her dr. was telling her to stop force feeding her. She was 2 years old. She has since stopped feeding her and lets her feed herself, thankfully.
At 15 months she should also be feeding herself. Not being fed by you or the nanny. She is old enough now to learn the motor skills to pick up a spoon and eat or use her fingers to pick up cheerios and eat them with out being fed by someone else.
Stop and let her do it herself! Yes she is being WAY over fed. Do not make her sit there and finish ALL of her food. My kids are 6 and 8 and even they don't finish everything on their plate. Sometimes even I don't. You are doing more damage than good. I'm sorry, but you need to step back and let her be in control of her body and how she feels.

Would you eat oatmeal with meat and vegetables ground in? I would not. She is a baby and eats what you give her but that sounds gross to me.

Perhaps baby is still full from being fed by babysitter. Do not force her to eat. She might be getting ready to grow again. As long as she has wet and poopy diapers I wouldn't worry much. She will not starve herself.

Talk to the pediatrician if you have a problem or a question that is what they are there for.

Have a happy new year and welcome to parenthood.

the other S.

Why doesn't she eat dinner with you? Why is she eating before you? Why is the nanny feeding her? Are you incapable? Arms broken? You force her to drink half a cup of water? Yet you say nanny dearest gives her lots of water daily? Nothing here makes sense.

Her stomach is about the size of her two tiny fists put together. That's not very big is it.....when she's about to have a growth spurt she'll have hollow legs and eat and eat and eat. But when she's not doing a growth spurt she needs minimal food.

She's not hungry. She just ate 1 full bowl of oatmeal with veggies and meat. She wouldn't/shouldn't be hungry again for at least 2-3 HOURS.

Your timing is off. Stop forcing her to eat when she just ate.

I'm confused. You just asked about the nanny overfeeding her.

I think that you and the nanny need to get on the same page. You also need to research how toddlers eat and figure out what to expect of a child her age, both in behavior and quantity.

If the nanny is giving her a lot of food close to dinnertime, she won't want to eat. You wouldn't be hungry, either. If you want her to eat with you, she shouldn't be eating right before you make dinner. If your DD just wants dessert, then take it off the menu. My DD understands now that if she doesn't eat growing food, she doesn't get "sometimes" food. There is a difference in "forcing" a child to eat and "encouraging". If my DD is truly done, then that's fine. She can get down. But no snacking.

As I said in the other thread, tell the nanny to stop feeding her while playing.