Our pediatrician, who was completely unflappable, basically said that they'll eat what they'll eat, and don't worry about it. A week or a month of PB+J never killed anybody, especially if they are underweight. Whatever she'll eat, feed it to her, and she'll get over it eventually.
Good luck!
SkinnyG wrote: If my kids didn't eat it for supper, they got it for breakfast. And lunch. Only once did it make it to the following supper. I had been stubborn for FAR longer than they have; I'm pretty good at it.
I was a skinny child (who became a skinny adult) who faced that...
I think there was once where I faced off without eating for a day or two and they basically said I could have nothing but bread and butter until I ate my leftovers. A week and a half (or more) in the fridge didnt make it any better.
OP, I have nothing better than has already been mentioned by the others.
I can't offer any help from my personal life as my 18 month old is in the 100 percentile for everything, but have you looked at any parenting books? We found Dr Sears' books to hit home with us. Find an author that speaks to you and buy a couple books. (Amazon has pretty cheap used books, even when compared to Half Priced Books)
Don't sweat it. Your job is to provide healthy nourishing food for the child. Their job is to eat it. Neither of you can do the other's job, and the sooner you can accept it, the better off you'll both be.
If you really need to investigate further - is your child underweight and staying on her WHO curve? If so, the kid's fine. If not, does she have any symptoms other than poor weight gain? Bloating/distended belly? Acts painful after eating?
My daughter was underweight, and "fell off the curve" as they say. She had a big distended belly, and said her tummy hurts after meals. A quick blood test confirmed my suspicions - celiac disease. After a year now off gluten and she's growing well, eating OK, and happy as ever.
There has been some great advice here. I really like this board, reasoned sensible adults all around.
My kids were always good eaters, once when we were meeting with the pediatrician I commented that I was concerned that son wasn't eating enough veggies. When I described what a "serving" was she laughed. Apparently a single green bean or carrot stick counts as a "serving" when dealing with teeny tinys.
I'll reiterate the statement "no kid ever starved themselves to death" some just don't eat much. A friend's son was known as "air fern" seriously, the kid ate nothing. Yet he grew up and is now a healthy sized teen.
I'm pretty sure children don't grow by ingesting food and metabolizing it's nutrients, but rather by sucking the life force from their parents.
Have fun with them, it's a heckuva ride for the next 15 years!
my boy's 3 now but as a 2 year old we had some tough meals getting him to cooperate once he decided he wanted to do things his way. a couple notes from our experience:
your child isn't going to starve. they'll eat what they need to (sooner or later) and realize that feeling hungry all the time sucks.
it helped to let our kid have some elements of control over his food. we gave him a little play knife so he could cut it up the way he wanted so that he could have more responsibility and feel more like he was deciding how he wanted to eat his food. we also let him have very small amounts of ketchup or bbq sauce to dip some of his food in - giving him the ability to change the taste to his liking (since kids never get to really decide the flavor of their food, its just dropped in front of them). that made him want to try different foods in a new way and kept him occupied.
some days we'd just let him run around at dinner and he could swing by the table for a bite and then keep playing. we called them "pit stops", they helped him keep from getting bored and rejecting his food, and we could tack on some incentives like more play time if he'd come back for another bite.
eventually as he got a little older he came around and started to really enjoy meal times. at this point he eats almost as much as my wife and loves to talk about what he's eating.
give it time, and don't worry too much. every kid's different!
I feel your pain, but I'm not sure I can offer a solution. My elder son is like me, and will eat virtually anything, and has since the day he was born. He's always been big for his age (not fat, mind you, just tall and not small-framed). My younger son is very picky and has been since he was born. He would breastfeed a few sips and then stop, and be cranky in an hour. Ever since then, it's been a struggle to get him to eat a meal. He prefers near-continual snacking and eats large amounts of only a few foods--like pizza. He rarely tries new foods and does not eat as many veggies as we would like. He's always been about average for size and weight, but is very active, and a superb athlete.
So I think it's something inherent in them from the time of their birth or before. All you can do is offer healthy choices and encouragement.
Has the doctor checked his tonsils? I'd assume so, but you never know... Story time:
I come from a family of good eaters. My moms side and my dads side, there was no issue of kids not eating. My older brother especially would go insane if his meal was 5 minutes late until he was around 3 or 4. Me? I was a puny kid. Small--not malnourished, but probably close to it. Didn't have much of an appetite except for steak with A1, and pancakes with lots of butter and syrup. Turns out my tonsils were huge and somehow that was missed at every doctor visit I had. I couldn't breathe well, so I couldn't smell my food. Tonsils came out and I immediately put on 5 pounds, which is a lot for a 4 year old.
After that I basically became a human garbage disposal.
Huckleberry wrote:
I have no advise for children as I don;t have them and really never even see them. I ate hot dogs and cereal at that age for like 2 years according to my parents and I only have had a few tumors.
But honestly if I could get one of those and they just delivered a perfectly balanced breakfast and lunch for me so I could keep working I would totally do it. Getting tired of soylent and protein shakes.
wearymicrobe wrote: But honestly if I could get one of those and they just delivered a perfectly balanced breakfast and lunch for me so I could keep working I would totally do it.
Total lunacy. Eating good food is one of the great joys of life. In fact, I would go so far as to make a list of the most important things in life:
1) Sex
2) Food
1988RedT2 wrote:wearymicrobe wrote: But honestly if I could get one of those and they just delivered a perfectly balanced breakfast and lunch for me so I could keep working I would totally do it.Total lunacy. Eating good food is one of the great joys of life. In fact, I would go so far as to make a list of the most important things in life: 1) Sex 2) Food
Agreed. I work because I have to. I eat because I love it.
1988RedT2 wrote:wearymicrobe wrote: But honestly if I could get one of those and they just delivered a perfectly balanced breakfast and lunch for me so I could keep working I would totally do it.Total lunacy. Eating good food is one of the great joys of life. In fact, I would go so far as to make a list of the most important things in life: 1) Sex 2) Food
I sort of agree. But I often (once or twice a week) half-ass lunch (or breakfast, but almost never both) to ensure getting home early to be able to make a nice dinner at a more relaxed pace. The 30 minutes I don't spend preparing or eating a good lunch is 30 more minutes I can spend leisurely working on dinner and spending time with family instead of co-workers. Obviously this depends on the dinner plan in question.
1988RedT2 wrote:wearymicrobe wrote: But honestly if I could get one of those and they just delivered a perfectly balanced breakfast and lunch for me so I could keep working I would totally do it.Total lunacy. Eating good food is one of the great joys of life. In fact, I would go so far as to make a list of the most important things in life: 1) Sex 2) Food
I've known a couple serious bodybuilders - one for show, one for powerlifting - and both consume an unholy quantity of baked skinless chicken breast with steamed rice and broccoli on the side. Like, 3 out of their 5 meals a day, every day.
I would never ever be able to put up with that "food is just body fuel" philosophy. There's a reason why I look like this.
Also, pay attention to what the child likes. My parents always accused me of being a picky eater because I wouldn't eat fish or spinach. Turns out I have an iodine allergy and I would gag if I tried to eat said foods. I much later learned my reaction to iodine is anaphylaxis. Sometimes your body is speaking to you. As was previously stated by others, don't make a fuss over the eating and the child will self regulate to be healthy unless there is an underlying medical issue.
Trans_Maro wrote: Let's see.. I was a kid once and I distinctly remember hearing a few of the following: "You'll eat what I put in front of you" "If you don't want to eat it, you can go hungry" Followed later by: "Do you want something to cry about?" Mom was an ER nurse for 35 years. I doubt your kid will starve themselves to death.
Same here, except Mom was a school teacher 
I survived parenting by getting married late and watching all my friends kids play their parents like a violin. Parents are scared to death of kids and kids are born with the key to parental psychology: Just scream till you get a tit and repeat as necessary. A lot of people get through life with just that one trick.
What I learned from watching and later applying to my own parental experience is that kids do whatever gets them attention. They don't really differentiate between good and bad attention. Realizing this, and using it in a way that fits your particular situation and child, is a powerful tool.
Personally, I am not sure that a young kid can starve itself to death. Make eating a non-issue. Have healthy food available and let them graze.
Streetwiseguy wrote: I'm on the "Very few kids have ever starved themselves to death" camp. If your kid really does starve herself, she has an issue that is beyond the scope of our advice.
This is exactly right. Make sure that it's not a medical condition, but assuming it isn't don't worry about it. She'll eat when she's hungry. You can try to find calorie dense foods to serve her, otherwise just let her find her way.
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