LO is not the best eater in general (doesn't seem to be a big eater, not much of an appetite, etc) but in the mornings, he just does NOT seem to want to eat at all. He eats dinner at 6:30pm, goes to bed around 7:45/8, wakes up between 6 and 6:30 and then will have maybe 7oz of milk. He then won't want to eat anything for hours. Today he was up at 6, and I finally got him to eat a banana around 8. It seems extreme that he should be able to go 12 hours (including 2 hours of awake time) without anything more than some milk. Anyone else's toddler not hungry in the mornings? Should I keep pushing, or just accept that he might not want to eat until 9/10am?
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R doesn't eat great in the mornings either. She does better on the weekends when she will get up and play and then lets us know when she is hungry. We also don't give her milk till she eats. Otherwise she fills up on milk and won't eat.
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LO always has at least one meal a day that she just doesn't eat. And she's not a big on snacks, so sometimes it's a really long time before she gets some food in her belly. We've quit fighting it and just assume she'll eat if she's hungry and we make sure to offer healthy, filling foods throughout the day. Maybe cut back on the milk or don't give it until he sits down. He's probably filling up on that, especially if he doesn't have a big appetite. Sometimes LO won't want anything but milk first thing in the morning, and then doesn't eat any food until a few hours after drinking it.
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This sounds okay to me. Xander (17 months) usually goes 12+ hours between his dinner and breakfast the next morning. Often even longer because he eats at daycare and some mornings he just wants to play first before he eats.
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Is the weather really hot right now? I find that heat can have a big effect on appetite.
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He's probably filling up on milk. I wouldn't push food and make it a power struggle; id cut back the milk if you'd rather he ate. Mine eats around 6 and then is happy to eat breakfast anywhere from 8-9 and often drinks just a few almond milk sips. Yesterday he skipped lunch. Toddlers are weird.
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Yea, we have the same issue many days. I tend to think my LO is also filling up on milk, but she demands that first thing in the morning, so I'm not sure what to do. I try to give her around 4-5oz only.
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J MUST HAVE his milk first thing but I find if I give him less he will eat more. We used to do 6-8 oz but have been doing 4-5 so he eats. Some mornings he eats a ton and some he barely eats so I try not to worry too much.
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C generally eats very little in the mornings, unless she doesnt eat dinner well and she is hungry when she gets up. Im the same way, so Im not super concerned. She sleeps 11-12 hours at night, so dinner is normally around 6 and then she gets up between 7-8:30 and might have a piece of cheese or something.
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LO actually eats the most in the morning, but she's not ready until an hour or two after waking up. We nurse first thing and then she wants to read and play for a while. If I try to get her to eat right away she gets peeved lol. Sounds pretty normal to me. I don't like to eat right away either.
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Thanks all! So it sounds normal, but I should probably cut down on the milk and see if that helps. So funny--I spent MONTHS trying to get him to drink milk, and now he's drinking it to the exclusion of other things!
@loveisstrange: he can eat a really small dinner and then still not want breakfast though--he's just not a good/big eater!
@hellobeeboston: @NovBaby1112: yes--first thing out of his crib he says "milk, milk!" We'll see how cutting back on it goes...
@scg00387: my perpetual fight with his food/eating habits!
I am trying to be more relaxed and not make him eat breakfast, but if we're leaving the house to go somewhere I do try to at least push a banana or something (like this morning). Good to hear that your LO can go 2-3 hours after waking too though. @lamariniere: it has been warm, but our house never feels too hot (A/C is on while he sleeps and I turn it on in the living room when we come out here). I definitely agree thoug, when it's really hot I barely have an appetite either!
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I would just accept and keep offering food at different times. I keep hearing that babies/kids will never starve themselves and as long as they are always offered a variety, they will take in everything they need throughout the day/week.
With my LO, sometimes he eats very little at breakfast time, then an hour later when he is playing and we are cleaning up/getting ready, we feed him a few more bites from his breakfast and he eats it! Makes it for a great morning snack as we are wasting less food overall by just giving him the rest of his breakfast later.
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@californiadreams: I do try to save bits from the meals he doesn't eat and serve them as snacks, but I'm afraid that if I kind of make it an "open kitchen" policy (where if he doens't eat at a meal he can just eat later) then he'll never be motivated to stop playing and sit down and eat, you know? Maybe he's too young for me to worry about that though,
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I would cut back on the milk and see if that helps. Sometimes we eat breakfast at 7 if the kids are up so maybe you could try to offer food first since he is up early.
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@hilsy85: I see what you mean. My LO is 20 months and we sit down for meals 3 times a day so I feel that routine is pretty well established. I just don't worry if he doesn't eat a lot as I know he will make it up later. Either with snacks or a later meal. That's what I meant.
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@hilsy85: do you ever do larabars or plum organic go bars? They're dense and an easy sell if I'm in a hurry for some reason to get him to eat. miL was here the past week and insisted on trying to get him to eat stuff and he literally skipped dinner twice
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@scg00387: hm no. I could probably get him to eat a muffin of some sort in the mornings, but I hate to give him carbs and no protein. I might start trying smoothies, since I've had success with those in the past!
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My 17 month old doesn't really eat breakfast. I nurse her first thing in the morning and then she just snacks on her grab cup of cheerios but never has a meal in the morning.
Does he have weight gain issues? If not, I wouldn't worry about it. Kids eat when they're hungry.
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I agree about the milk. C is also now refusing water and wanting milk all the time. She would get a cup full of milk after waking up, refuse breakfast with us and then be starving around 9. I gave her half a cup of milk with her breakfast and she's been eating fine.
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I also agree with the milk. 7 oz is a quite a bit! And I like the idea of trying smoothies.
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I agree that he's filled up on milk first thing in the morning and that's why he's not hungry for breakfast until a few hours later. My pediatrician emphasized to only offer milk with meals never on it's own bc it encourages kids over a year to rely on a liquid diet rather than getting nutrients from solid food.
If your LO seems hungry first thing in the morning I would feed breakfast right away and offer the milk with his solids. When my LO was super little she wanted to eat right when she got up. As she got older (18 months) we would wake up, get ready, change clothes, and she would play while I made breakfast. She would easily go 14 hours between dinner and breakfast bc she slept so much. At 2 years 8 months she has dinner around 6 and breakfast around 8:30/9:00...so almost 15 hours
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@Sammyfab: agree...starting around 18-20 months my LO's milk intake went way down as she ate bigger meals of solids. Sometimes 7oz is all the milk she would drink in a day...but then she had days where she drank around 20oz...it fluctuated a lot but I would say over time her milk intake has gone down and is around 10-16oz a day at a little over 2.5. She definitely drinks more when she doesn't like what I'm serving for meals
I am trying to be more relaxed and not make him eat breakfast, but if we're leaving the house to go somewhere I do try to at least push a banana or something (like this morning). Good to hear that your LO can go 2-3 hours after waking too though. Reply
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