My two-year-old refuses to eat anything

Question

I have a two-year-old cousin who absolutely refuses to eat at all. She’s really small and anemic but she still refuses to have anything but her bottle no matter what I try. I’ve tried setting it out for her to eat or eating with her even giving her foods she used to like but she insists on having her bottle. Otherwise she throws a tantrum for hours.

Whenever I try to feed her she runs away if I’m lucky she takes a few bites but comes back to spit them out in my hand. On a good day I’ll feed her brother and she’ll eat maybe one or two bites with him and then refuse once she realizes she’s missing her bottle. What can I do to make her want to eat?

Answer 1

It's time to get rid of the bottle. I had a similar situation - not as bad - with my daughter. She had an attachment to her bottle also and eventually we told her it was time to let them go. Everything was done together so she knew exactly what was happening, almost like a ritual.

We washed the bottles one more time, wrapped them up in newspaper to preserve them in case we had further children, put them in a bag together, and then she watched as we stored them in the closet on the highest shelf. Out of sight, out of mind.

I'm no psychologist but perhaps there is an emotional attachment to it or perhaps it's a source of comfort. Guide her through it but let her know that it's time to grow up and get rid of them. Do everything together and don't keep her in the dark about it.