I have an 18 month old that I have had for about 6 months. Never any issue with eating. All last week and so far this week she will not eat. Not one bite. She won't eat lunch or her snacks. She just sits and will watch everyone eat. However, when I go to get her plate she opens her mouth and wants me to feed her. I have never had to feed her and I am not gonna start now. She does very well feeding herself and it has never been an issue. I talked to her parents and they both say nothing going has changed at home and she is eating fine. What do I do? Normally at lunch I set a timer and when it goes off lunch is over and that's that. Should I try anything different with her because of her age? For example she has sat with her snack in her hand going on 15 min now and everyone else is done and back to playing.

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Hmmm! Well that is weird? Maybe she is so interested in what's going on around her she is not focused on eating.You think she would eat something after sitting there awhike.Maybe her teeth hurt and she took a bite and it hurt so she's afraid to take another bite? Or maybe something was too hot and sheis remembering that? Just throwing out a bunch of ideas

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That's kinda what I was thinking. I have tried to move her away from everyone and the same thing, she still just sits there. It's strange because she is actually acting fine. So it's not a behavior thing. I just don't know. In most cases I know that they will be pick for a few days but then the eventually eat. But that's not the case this time and she will eat if I feed her but she doesn't need to be fed lol

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Maybe she just forgot!lol If she is acting normal and not throwing a fit about it I would feed her for a couple days and help her feed herself.Kids are just funny sometimes!

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Maybe she's getting teeth? Sometimes that can really effect their eating. I have a 10 month old and one day she was super fussy and then the next day fine and a tooth had broken through. She wasn't very interested in eating or taking a bottle that whole day. Maybe she's getting multiple teeth? Has she been sick? Throat hurts?

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Could it be a control thing? I know she's young for this, but I wonder if the parents aren't being totally honest with you. Maybe someone is spoon feeding her still: dcd, babysitter, grandma? Just a thought. If not, I think teeth coming in is probably a good suspect.

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Do you give her a spoon or fork?

I'd put one in her hand for her, and then let her be. If she's hungry, she'll eat. I have 2 19 month old's here, and I can't imagine feeding them, either.

Her receptive language should be good enough that you can ask her "all done?" and get some sort of response. I'd also give her a 2-minute warning. "lunch is almost over, so if you're hungry, it's time to eat".

Other than that, just like all eating related stuff, no attention, no drama. It's just food.

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Ya I always put the spoon/fork in her hand and she will just sit there and hold it and look around. She doesn't fuss, or anything. but when I have a spoon or fork in my hand and walk by and say "you need to eat" she will open her mouth and move forward wanting me to feed her. When I spoke to mom about it, she said that she has noticed that she is becoming pickier then before, but still eating fine at home. Im not so much concerned about lunch, its the fact that she won't eat any of her snacks eaither. So she goes all day with out eating one single bite. I keep thinking that if she gets hungry enough she will eat but we are going on week 2. I have even tried fun finger foods. Nothing. But like I said, she still happy and actually she is one of my best kids.

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I would NOT feed her. If she is hungry enough she will eat and according to her parents she is eating fine at home so she will not starve. I would suspect teething as well and just ride it out.

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Yeah, stop reminding her she needs to eat. Just give her the "2 minute warning" and leave it at that. She's getting attention for NOT eating...even a little can stir that pot!

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