How do i get my picky child to eat?!
Answers: I have tried to get my 3yrs old to eat better but she won't. her typical daily menu is very little amount of cereal for breakfast, nothing for lunch dinner is usually one pieces of chicken nuggets or 2 or 3 bites of spaghetti or occasionally 1 slice cheese pizza. she also has problem chewing her food and swallowing it. it takes 1 and 1/2 hour to feed her. if i give her the food to eat by herself she will never touch it at all. last week she has cold and her problem worsen. what shall i do please help
1stt of all you have to establish whether she has a medical reason for being a poor eater
she may be intollerant of something and if so she will associate food with feeling unwell, get that checked out
how is her health and weight?
this is something else you have to look at
if all is well, you have to look at what you are giving her, everything you have said is highly processed, try giving her easy eaten foods, this will combat the chewing thing, my son was so lazy when it came to eating, if he had to spoon it to his mouth he couldnt be bothered, if i fed him he would eat, i gave him things he could pick up instead, half a banana for instance
cereal,chicken nuggets and pizza are not a good diet for a littely
she would be better off with some triangles of wholemeal toast, pieces of fruit etc till she gets into the way of eating
another way to encourage littelies to eat is to involve them, take her out and let her help shopping, take the stuff home and get her to help, she can wash grapes and put them in a bowl, things like that, that way she involved in the process
another thing to try, is to buy her a special bowl and plate, and childs cutlery set, let her pick them herself, or buy them and wrap them like a present, they are cheap and widely availablethey do them with all sorts of characters on them, and little people love them, when its time to eat, make a fuss of her getting her special plate out, and how lovely you think it is
all children have their quirks, do not let it become an issue is the secret to a healthy happy child, good luckl
I have three children. All of them with different eating habits. My middle child would only eat hot dogs, mac n cheese, and chicken. My last child will not eat anything if it touches the other food. My first will eat anything. We made sure that we had plenty of healthy food in the house....fruit, healthy snacks. My kids would snack all day at that age and as long as it was healthy they got through it. When she is hungry she will eat. Now if she is having hard time chewing and swallowing she needs to be seen by a doctor. this may also be the reason she doesn't like to eat. Food issues get better the older they get. Be patient.
Thats a tricky situaton! It is very common for young childeren to struggle to be eating. I used to have the same problem, I think to find it easy to eat you need to build up an appetite! like doing bits of housework and stuff that uses allot of energy.. that will lead to hunger. Also the more happy a person is the easier it is to eat :)
Try getting a variety of foods and snacks and give them to the child. If they like it, they will eat it and probably ask for more. Of course, even when you have found the child's wanted food, try experimenting with other varieties so that the child will have a nutricious diet.