Kids, being living creatures, eat to sustain themselves. If you regularly make food available in front of them that is nutritious, you've done your job.
If the kid wants to eat a pound of goat cheese and one lick of strawberry, why do you care?
I was much the same way as you with my first kid, micromanaging every mouthful. I learned my lesson when the kid went perverse and decided to eat nothing but noodles for the last five years. I blame this in no small measure on the energy he must have picked up on -- "everyone wants me to eat this!"
Little ones live in a world in which they cannot control much. Since we all need to control something, they often control what they can, even if it makes no "rational" sense. The three things a toddler can control are: food, waste, sleep. You can try to make them change how they do those things, but ultimately they are in control.
Your kid is in a lower percentile, but you are doing the right thing checking with the doc. Do as the doc says -- period. Don't overanalyze the results or count bites.
I would make three major meals available a day, plus a morning and afternoon snack. Make this your habit, so that you and the kid know what's coming. If the kid doesn't eat dinner and goes to bed hungry -- that was the kid's choice. They are young, but not too young to learn the relationship between cause and effect. If they're hungry in the middle of the night, you don't owe them anything. Repeat: You do not owe them an explanation (although you could offer one so they see the link between eating and hunger), and certainly not an apology.
When they whine that they're hungry, stay strong, no two-in-the-morning snacks. And stay on your daily schedule of feeding and on the menu you originally thought best. They can survive a few hungry hours. It will save you years of this stuff in the future if they get used to it now.
This is meant not to be mean to them, but to set clear limits on what you will and won't do. Knowing where the limits are, testing them, and then becoming satisfied with the results is the toddler code.

Thanks for the advice guys...makes me feel a little better.

Correction: My daughter is in the 90th %tile for height, not 9th.

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My wife asked me if I had signed up for the 401k yet. I told her I hadn't. She asked me why and I told her I couldn't run that far.

1) that you may have a picky eater...I think most kids get picky at one time or another. Our son eats like crazy, but every now and then he will decide that he doesn't want to eat something and spits it out of his mouth.

2) to see growth in height but not weight, especially if she is really active (e.g., crawling, walking, playing).

I agree with Mr. Dad. Try other foods, especially FULL FAT yogurts. We buy YoBaby yogurt by Stonyfield. Also try some cheeses... Both are high in fat and rich in calcium. Although you may not want to use peanut butter (depending on whether you have a family history of peanut allergies), you might want to consider almond butter. Our ped suggested this as a PB alternative at our 12-month visit, but confirm with your ped first.

Get creative. When our son stopped eating chicken (cold turkey, I might add), I ground it up and mixed it in with rice and veggies.

Good luck!

My one year old is only 17 pounds and I'm not worried at all. As long as she's eating, which she is, it isn't a problem. Plus, you can't expect lots of weight gain in one month. Is the doctor pressuring you or something? Most kids ruin the curve by being too overweight, so don't worry about it.

This is counter-intuitive, but cut back on the whole milk at typical bottle times. You are giving way too much milk at odd hours in my opinion, and your daughter is not eating lunch because she's not hungry after all her milk. It's time to transition to normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals with food and drink at those times. Try water or juice as a your snacktime refreshment... and not so much of it. And switch to fruits at those times instead of at breakfast.

Try toast with butter for breakfast. Just let her gnaw on it and go to town.

Try hot dogs or other easy meats for lunch.

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I had a peditrician that said.. If all your kids wants to eat is beans and weiners for god sakes give him beans and weiners atleats he is eating something that has some nutrician in it. if all they want to eat is mac and cheese hey they are eating when they are that young you don't have to worry as much about obseity. But he said he didn't mean let the kid gorge on crap either offer him/her a variety of foods.. liek someone said before give them food for breakfast lunch and dinner and two snacks. Don't work yourself up over it. Like he said thats the thing a kid has control over so the kid is gonna ecxersise that when ever possible and if the kid sees you getting worked up over it they will think...hey I am getting a rise out of daddy this is fun and they will do it further just to get a rise out of you.

My son is a really picky eater, next week He will be 3 yo, and his weight is just 30 Pounds. Still I'm not so worried about that, because He is really active at home and He has lots of energy. So I check his bmi and it seems to be OK.

BMI = [weight / (height x height)] x 703

Basically, for kids, it depends of the genre, age, weight and height, but you can compare your kids bmi with the chart and know for sure if they are doing fine.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_bmi_calc.htm

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There is always Mcdonalds.

Seriously if she is eating who cares. The girl I talk to know her son is one and weighs about 17 pounds fits in 6 month clothes.
He is fine and happy plays like a maniac.
I would be worried if she started losing weight really fast
Ahh what do I know

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