Help with My Toddler\'s Health & Eating

[R2ISAP]

My Daughter is 18 months old and we are having difficulties with her eating habits for past 20 days.

Even before that also, she was never interested in food or milk. She just wanted to drink water. We tried with Pedialyte/pediaSure/Juices, she refuses everything. She only likes to eat soft boiled egg. Hard boiled egg is a big no no for her. We don?t give her any multivitamins as she vomits when we give her directly and refuses to drink/eat if we mix with anything

Her immunity system is not that great as well. She gets sick quite often and most of the time she has chest congestion. Her doctor prescribed in-healer and with that usage she looses her appetite. We don?t use any medication other than periodic usage of in-healer.
She drinks only 12 -13 oz of milk/day. 6 in Morning and 6 before bed

The reason for this post is, we are having difficulties with change in her appetite and loss of weight. Until 3 weeks ago, I used to put her 18 months old clothes, Now, I am putting her 9 months old clothes. Weight loss is that drastic. She never used to take long naps before but now she takes 3 hr naps. This is unusually long considering her past naps.
Currently she drinks 12-13 oz?s of milk and one soft boiled egg and water, she refuses everything else. She used to eat some finger foods snacks in school/home before but now she doesn?t. She drinks milk with great difficulty, means we have to divert her while drinking.

I am looking for some help/tips from forum parents:

Here is additional information from day care :

She goes to day care and recently, from 3 weeks ago she switched from 1st step into a Toddler class where she has to eat by herself. She was okay with finger foods in school before.

Prior to switching the class they have been trying to Train her to eat by herself but she didn?t pick up. So, in this class all other kids eat by themselves and she is the only child doesn?t eat. Teacher tries to help her, but she keeps her hands stiff and cries during lunch time. We tried to give finger food kind of food for lunches, she just pick up one or two pieces and leaves the rest. No more snacks /finger foods. She just doesn?t want to eat anything but drinks lots of water.

It continues through out dinner. She sits at tables and looks at food take one or two bites, that?s it. She won?t let me feed her and she won?t eat by herself. Even I feed her, she just stores that bite for 20-30 mins.

This is her schedule: Morning 7:30 6 oz of milk, 8:15 one soft boiled egg. AM snack was offered, but refuses. Cries during lunch, doesn?t eat any wet food, pick up one or two small tiny pieces of chapatti/Idli pieces. PM snack offered refuses to eat. Same with dinner and day closes with 6 oz?s of milk around 8 pm, Sleeps at 8:30 pm

She used to have cough and cold some time ago, cold still continues but cough is gone. Even during her serious sickness she was never this bad in her food intake.

I hope to get some tips from docs and parents from this forum.

Thanks

R2ISAP

[GMB]

Did you check if she is teething ? We have seen same behavior in our kids for few days and they come back to their normal schedule. I am not expert but speaking form experience of 2 kids ( toddler and 4 years ) .

[R2ISAP]

Thanks GMB. She has mouthful of teeth..Found out new teeth a week ago, but still didn't see any change since then.

[VWbuggy78]

R2ISAP what is her weight now? What was it before?

She is clearly not getting enough nutrition, which is why she takes long naps.

There could be problems with her GI tract - not sure if the food is not getting in or not getting absorbed.

How is her motion? Is there diarrhea? Fever?

The symptoms you narrate can be a number of reasons. But the child clearly needs medical attention.

You should take her to a trusted pediatrician.

As a more immediate measure, may be you can add a dab of chocolate flavor (Hershey's) to her milk so that she drinks more. Or try smaller but more frequent portions.

[sumachechi]

She needs to be seen by a paediatrician and evaluated carefully. Perhaps she has Gastro-oesophageal reflux that needs treating( specific medicines) -either way she needs a detailed assessment.

[amaran18]

Check with her paediatrician ASAP. Replacing milk with something like pediasure might help a bit.

[R2ISAP]

VWbuggy78 : 3 weeks back, her weight is almost 13 kgs, now she is 10.5 kg .

Bowl movements is 2 times/day, somedays once. It is like diarrhea, Her food doesn't digest properly, we see food as is in her bowl. We tried chocolate flavor to her milk, she doesn't like any flavors, she tries to vomit if something else is added to her food/milk.

[R2ISAP]

[INDENT]Thanks Suma, I am seeing her Ped this afternoon. Any specific questions should I ask?[/INDENT]

[R2ISAP]

Amaran - She doesn't drink any PediaSure, any flavor to a liquid , is a big no for her including juices

[VWbuggy78]

I don't think it is gerd.

From now on keep a log of her daily activity. Measure weight and temp (use a digital basal thermometer) daily.

Also are the stools yellow? dark?

What is the urine color?

If there is no fever (which could suggest an infection), I am worried that (a) pancreas not secreting enough enzymes or may be getting blocked or
(b) some issue with bile secretion. A blood test can help diagnose these.

An ultrasound can help to see if there are abnormalities in the stomach area.

One option is to skip the pediatrician and go to a gastroentrologist attached to a good hospital.

Also it is urgent that you get calories into her somehow. Does she like sweets - like rasagolla? anything helps. Instead of twice a day milk, try several portions even a small cup every two hrs. If the issue is pancreas, then smaller and more frequent meals would help. You can try mixing soy based whey protein powder (which is tasteless and blends with anything).

Try not to force feed the child.

Mashed potatoes, pureed rice, mashed carrots - keep varying the meals if possible. The variety may help her appetite. Also if she drinks water, add a few drops of lemon (don't overdo this and make it into a lemon juice) to that - can whet her appetite.

You can learn about symptoms on webmd.com

Also doctors sometimes have a tendency to jump to conclusions. Do your homework.
I hope the issue gets resolved soon.