Food battles

Why do kids engage in food battles with their parents!!

Annika is now stressing me out majorly with her stubborn refusal to eat properly.

She was born a good sized 3.5kg, but by 1 year old managed to be lighter than her sister by over 1 kg!!

I remember food battles with Madison as well, but somehow they were not AS BAD.

Elizabeth, on the other hand seems to eat really well! She can down an entire bottle of milk, then go on to eat her full meal immediately afterwards! Amazing. And the irony? Geok doesn't particularly like to cook. While I would go on dreaming up various meal for my 2 and they would then proceed to p*** me off by making the meal seem like poison.

This morning Annika wouldn't eat her breakfast. Then I had to rush Madison with hers because today is a school day. Between the 2 of them I nearly lost it. Eventually I took Annika out of her high chair because she.just.wouldn't. eat. And I GAVE UP.

On the bright side though, last night was the first night in a week that Annika finally slept through. Maybe it was the antihistamine I gave her before bed but WHATEVER! I feel so much better with the sleep.

Of course I know as a doctor that kids eat when they are hungry, but somehow when it's YOUR OWN refusing food and looking somewhat skinny it makes me panic. Like it makes me a lousy parent who couldn't stay home and make my child healthier/eat better. Seriously, my heart actually twinges when I look at Annika and remember what Madison looked like at the same age.

I hope this is just a stage and she will eventually eat better, but there are some kids that never go on to be great eaters. My fear is of course her growth, that it will be stunted by the relative lack of nutrition, but WHAT CAN WE DO! I'm not very patient with this kind of thing.