My little monkey wont eat!

[Baby&i]

Ok, my three year old always been a fussy eater/small eater, but its such a tiring job spending three hours using every bit of imagination and effort you have every meal time trying to get her to eat what you think is an OK ammount. OH dosnt have the patience to feed her so i do. some days she is my little angel and will eat untill it comes out of her ears. some days she wont be hungry one bit. she eats when she gets up, no problem, she LOVES cerial. she will eat peanut butter sandwich any time of day no problem too toast and honey she will eat, meat, ANY kind of meat or cheese she LOVES cant get enough of, chicken, salami, beef, turkey but wont eat the bread with it. bacon and sausage are her fave food- shes a real meat lover. she loves yoghurt, nutrigrain now and then, can never get enough of milk she will drink a large glass every few hours although i try to restrict before meal times she also drinks alot of water.. shes not big on junk food, she will have a bite of mcdonalds and her favorite phrase comes out "i dont like it".. she dosnt like chrisps and wont eat many chips if put infront of her. some days she will LOVE soup some days she will just play with it. her favourite last year was noodles or pasta, no sauce! just chunks of cheese with it. NO SALAD NO VEG only if i blend it into mash or make vegtable soup (i do once a week full of veg cooked in butter garlic and milk i also make roast dinner every Sunday she loves!) but has an exeption with fruit.. its such a pain in the bum! lastnight she ate her big plate of pasta WITH homemade cheese sauce, then a big chunk of cake that she help mummy make yesterday afternoon no problems at all, but tonight, it was chicken and potatoes cut into cubes (and i made OH pasta and meatballs before work, so she had a few of daddys cut up meatballs and three big spoons of pasta) i though for sure whe would eat it right away but she just fussed and fussed, she ate her meatballs, most of the chicken, two potato cubes, no noodles at all. i wasnt happy so i gave her a plate of banana and apples (her two faves) and she hardly touched it. so i tried a bowl of cerial ate it all but a few last spoonfulls. she had a yogurt and said she was full. so i gave her a Pediasure then her daily vitamin brushed her teeth and she fell fast asleep. (if you dont know what Pediasure its a nice tasting milkshake for 1-10year olds, can get it in any flavour. its very expensive but its pretty much a meal in a drink to fatten little fussy munchkins up, it gives them their complete daily nutrition. its little reasuring for me if she has had a fussy day. its very good for them. i give her one a night after supper and before brushing her teeth and it seems to make her sleep really well and normally she wakes up a lovely happy girl.

I do have her weighed all the time and the nurse is not concerned at all she was born 6lb and has always been very small like i was but her mental ability is amazing and shes about half a year infront of average for her age they say that that reflects on her overall health and tell me not to be a worry bunny i reguarly look at a food chart for her age group and yes she is getting what she needs and has a lovely nutritious diet but id really prefer if she ate a little more. i think im just wondering if any mums have the same kind of prob? and if you have any tips i could try? thanks and sorry for the long post

Fingers crossed her baby sister can teach her how to eat like a superstar!

 

[mamichuli]

Aww, hunny...I do feel for ya, I know what ya mean about keeping LOs diet healthy and them eating enough, but maybe your doctor/health visitor is right? If she weighs what she should for her height, she IS doing fine...sometimes we need to stand back and not compare what WE think they should be eating with what they do. If she is healthy and just not a big eater, so be it. If you think about it, adults do not all eat the same amounts and when she is an adult she will have no problems with this. It is just because she is small that we worry.

On a positive note, my suggestion for getting her to taste new things is to present new things at the beginning of a meal, when she is at her hungriest, and without other foods present on the table. Also "reverse psychology" : Ooh, you best not try that, hun. It is a grown up food/you wont like it/you might like it and then I would have to share
It works with my friends lil six year old every time!



Lisa

 

[kellie80]

Aimees 3 in December and I have always struggled to get her to eat. She will eat most fruits but will NOT entertain any types of veg at all. In fact I've given up on the veg front and she usually has beans. I haven't got any tips I just wanted to say you not alone! Aimees always been a skinny little thing and only weighs 28lb now. She won't eat bread or potatoes but loves pasta and rice. I have to try my best not to let her snack too much during the day or she won't eat her meals at all. Its hard though when shes complaining shes hungry and alls she will eat is a biscuit or banana. She will eat fish and chicken but that's about it. I do worry that shes not getting enough vitamins ect but don't know what else to do, you can't force them to eat.