Skinny Mini

Justin has always been a little guy. But, for the 1st 14 months of his life, he was a great eater! When we started solids, he ate any nasty pureed veggie I put on a spoon and, although he was small, he was consistantly on his 15th percentile curve at each appointment. Then, I stopped nursing him and he started getting sick a lot more often. He also decided he no longer liked veggies or meat. These things combined with teething hunger strikes have led to a weight gain of 1 ounce in 6 months and he's dropped to the 5th percentile (21 lbs. 13 oz. at 18 months old!). He's also slightly anemic. I try not to make meals a battle, but am heartbroken when he goes to bed with only 1 cracker in his belly. How can he possibly have all that energy when he barely eats anything? And how can he get all the nutrients his little body needs to be healthy when he's so picky? I've tried all the tricks…distraction, hiding foods, putting the vitamins he usually spits up in his food or milk (only to have him refuse those as well), trying a wider variety of foods and vitamin brands, looking at his milk intake, offering utensils, etc. So far nothing works, except the lady at daycare can get him to eat all sorts of foods (not always very healthy). I struggle with this too. Is eating something unhealthy better than eating nothing at all? Should I let him eat as much fruit and cheese as he desires and just keep putting the veggies and meat on the plate hoping one day he'll change his mind? Ah, the joys of toddlerhood. I love that he's growing in his independence, but when he throws every piece of food I offer him on the floor I need that time-out more than he does. :-)