New Tactics?

Some of you have read that my son, baby numero 2, has always had a good appetite. I never had to worry about him eating, compared to my daughter. His favourites are stuffed tortelloni, sesame chicken, potato in any form, noodles, fruit and all things munch-able like dry fruits, cashews and rice cakes. In fact his first love (after his mama of course) is biscuits and not just any kind but he is partial to a digestive and if there are any chocolate ones then he is all over them! Often he needs to be restrained as he knows no boundaries when it comes to chocolate!

He was able to eat his 3 square meals and snacks in between. But now he just doesn't seem interested in meal times. He barely sits for 5 mins and then wants to do something else. And my boy has always been interested in food! So this is a new one for the entire family.

Now for the last couple of weeks the tables have turned, his daily food intake looks like this:

breakfast bowl of milk and cereal
half a banana/orange etc

lunch 5 bites (previously at least 10 bites)

snacks of fruit, rice cakes etc

dinner again 5 bites

What hadn't changed was his milk intake, but I was scratching my head trying to understand what was going wrong. My daughter on the other hand, well her appetite increased and though she took what felt like ages to finish her meal, nonetheless she would finish up including snacks.

This Sunday I had had enough with my son and refused to give him any post lunch snacks. Of course I carried them in my bag when we stepped out to the Southbank but kept him distracted and just offered him milk or water. And before 6 pm, he sat with a bowlful of chicken curry and rice and gobbled the whole thing up. I was so relieved. Yipee he ate his dinner! I know its a cliche how all moms worry about their children's food, and yes that's me!

And yesterday I decided to do that, again he didn't have much lunch and this time I only carried a bowlful of strawberries with me. We stepped out for afternoon activities and by 530 my kid was ready for his dinner. I was happy to see that he had built up an appetite and again gulped down his dinner of stir fry noodles with tofu and shitake mushroom. That went down with some fruit and milk. We had had a super busy afternoon with activities. So perhaps he was hungry after all the stimulation? Or maybe it was the eradication of snacks? I am happy to not offer snacks, but the problem is my daughter (who is 3.5 years) by 4 pm needs a snack. And as my two are together most of the time, I have to offer them both.

So what shall I do parents? Perhaps I just offer fruit? But then what about my daughter who needs more? It seems only breakfast is on track.

Looking forward to some advice. Wish me luck!