FUSSY TODDLER NOT WILLING TO EAT: A CASE STUDY
Ruchi Agarwal (name changed, resident of Mumbai,Maharashtra) had a 16 month old daughter who had suffered two back to back viral infections with high fever. As a result, her daughter had lost all appetite and refused to eat anything. She would only drink milk throughout the day. When Ruchi contacted me, her daughter had already lost 2 kgs in 4 weeks. The daughter would be irritable and cranky most of the time. She would refuse to go to the mom and toddler program with Ruchi.
Ruchi took a one month package with me. After consultation with her pediatrician, Ruchi was asked to stop milk immediately for her daughter.
I gave her a detailed meal plan every day. She was asked to maintain a food dairy and check in with me over a phone call every night to report the following about her daughter:
- What did she eat
- How much did she eat (in terms of spoonfuls and katoris)
- How often did she eat (she was asked to note down the time)
- Her mood and general disposition (Ruchi was asked to note down her observation of these psychological factors on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being very irritable and cranky; 5 being very cheerful and palyful)
Ruchi had to share a picture of the food diary with me daily in addition to the above.
Week 1
Day 1:
Week 1
Day 2:
week 2
Day 1:
Week 3:
Day 1:
As you can see, once her daughter understood that she will not be given milk, she slowly and gradually started eating. Her appetite also increased gradually. Her mood improved and by the end of week 2, she was once again cheerful and playful. She started attending the mom and toddler program from week 3.
At the end of 1 month her weight had risen by almost 1 kg and there was progress being made daily.
