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My 3 year old granddaughter won't eat.

I know this is a fairly common problem with children. My 3 year old granddaughter is an appalling eater, and always has been. My daughter has tried everything to get her to eat properly.
Has any one any tips they can offer.
Or may be some medication or vitamins of some sort that would help her.
I find Viagra saves peeing on my shoe.....
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Comments

  • jellyhead
    jellyhead Posts: 21,555 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    my boy never ate. we were referred to a dietician who went through a food diary and analysed the nutritional content of what he did eat. she told us which nutrients he was short in. she told me that his diet wasn't all that terrible but he needed iron, calcium and vitamin D. you can get them on prescription but they're not child-friendly formulas usually, i buy him chewy multivits and he also has omega 3 syrup and calcium. calcium is a tricky one, you shouldn't give it to a young child without supervision, they can get kidney stones. supplements are only necessary for my son because he chooses not to eat red meat or dairy at all. most kids get enough calcium through milk and cheese.

    how is your grand-daughter? does she seem healthy? there's a tonic called minadex that you can get from pharmacies or boots, it's supposed to encourage appetite. it's just vitamins i think.
    52% tight
  • Always a tricky one, at that age your grand-daughter has no doubt just discovered her "independance"!

    These tips have helped with my 3 year old:

    If he refuses, we don't make a fuss, we carry on eating our meal, so refusing food doesn't "earn" any attention. We don't offer alternatives (don't want to get into a habit of emptying the cupboard every meal-time to try to please him), other than to say he can help himself to fresh fruit after the meal.

    I've cut back on the amount of snacks he was having between meals as I found he never had much of an appetite at meal times if he'd eaten a lot of snacks, he never became truly hungry.(Too much fruit juice and other drinks can also affect appetite.)

    I try and make the food "fun", for example I will make a face with tomato sauce on an omelette.

    We're now letting him help in the kitchen so he's involved in the food preparation (he helps make omelettes and butters bread).

    In the summer he helps pick food ( I grow a bit of fruit and veg) and eats it there and then, it seems to be more appealing to him to eat it in the garden!

    I try to offer small portions of a variety of foods at each meal rather than large portions of a couple of items.

    Cbeebies has a good programme "Big Cook Little Cook" which helps to get children interested in food.

    Some good recipe books on cooking for children are by Annabel Karmel, they have lots of ideas on how to make food fun and interesting (and how to disguise carrots & veg in a tomato sauce!)

    If you're worried about her intake perhaps you could keep a food diary for a week then discuss this with the health visitor?

    Good luck!
  • Jay-Jay_4
    Jay-Jay_4 Posts: 7,351 Forumite
    My daughter had an appauling appetite when she was younger. She wasn't fussy at all but didn't want to eat much, didn't really get 'hungry' and couldn't be bothered eating.

    I agree with all the advice so far, cutting out snack and drinks before meals and Annabel Karmels book is good for inspiration.

    I made (and still make) 'picnic tea' for mine. Tiny ham sandwiches on wholemeal bread (or one slice white & one slice white, white side up  ::) if yours wont eat wholemeal), little carrot sticks, a few raisins, maybe an apple cut up or a few grapes, little cubes of cheese and a yoghurt. I sometimes put a chocolate on the plate too, they tend to go for it first but it's nice for them to decide what they eat and when. A carton of fresh orange helps boost absorption of iron and keeps vitamin levels up.

    If you cut all the bits up and make them look 'attractive' it's nice and easy for them to eat.

    My daughter would have a picnic tea everynight if she could    ;D



    Good luck, let u know how you get on
    Just run, run and keep on running!

  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,343 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    my 4 yr old is a faddy eater,
    He eats wholemeal bread cos it's all he's been used too here :D

    Through the fruit box scheme in school he has tried and now likes carrots (raw only ::)) and pears.

    he ate lettuce when they grew it in nursery - flat variety not iceburg.

    when doing spag bol i put tomotoes,onions, mushrooms in just before end take his portion out and use stick blender on it so it only resembles mince - is always eaten ;D

    i avoid saying what veg is in things and give alternative names - eg the other night he was eating coleslaw - i called it creamy stuff.
    For delivement (naughty mummy) i asked him if he'd like a dish of white cabbage,onion and carrots - I got the answer NO
    ;) ;D
  • jellyhead
    jellyhead Posts: 21,555 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    some children just can't stand certain textures in their mouth. on the advice of the dietician we discovered that as long as we fed him from a list of foods he agreed he'd eat then he would eat normally although his appetite is small for a child of his age. although i've seen some children say they'd like something for lunch then once it's been cooked they'll refuse to eat it in my boys case he eats as long as he doesn't dislike the food. if we're eating with other people and they're not cooking anything he likes he has fruit and maybe toast if we're away from home for more than one meal at a time such as weekends away. bananas are quite starchy so they can take the place of carbohydrates. raisins are nutritious. i'm not sure how much protein you can get out of fruit though, i'm not an expert. peanut butter might contain enough protein. it's got to be better than sweets or crisps.

    i'd agree with cutting out snacks. my sis bans snacks completely if her kids don't eat their meals but i think this leads to low blood sugar and terrible behaviour. it's much better to let a child eat fruit than nothing at all.

    if your grand daughter looks unhealthy she might need to be seen by a doctor. once a person lacks iron they become less hungry. irritable bowels might cause a reluctance to eat, i know a child with crohns who was scared of eating because it hurt her so much. my sons appetite certainly picked up once he stopped eating dairy but it's such an important source of calcium i wouldn't suggest stopping it without speaking to the health visitor. one thing my health visitor did say was that a lot of children filled up on milk or sugary drinks and that made their appetites much smaller. try giving her water to drink in between meals instead of other drinks maybe, see if it helps.
    52% tight
  • hi guys,this is the mother of the daughter who wont eat!!!!
    thanks for your tips,although needless to say,ive tryed the lot.i do let her snack though because i feel that i shouldnt discourage her when she wants to eat.after xmas i am gonna try and make a stand though and also introduce a sticker chart.i work full time(my daughter is with me also) and i find it hard to get time to cook full on meals every night,although i dont cook with processed foods or microwave meals.
  • Good luck Zingbah, no doubt your daughter will put up some kind of "protest" when you try to change things after Christmas but be strong!
    (smiling wrily to self at mo as my 3 year old has just had biggest tantrum of his career so far!)

    My boy eats really well when he's at nursery, I think thats because he doesn't have access to the kitchen there and can't pick and choose!

    I also don't have time/energy to cook big meals in the week but luckily husband loves cooking and at the weekend he'll make up big batches of stews, sauces etc so that in the week we can just defrost mini portions for the children.

    Hope it goes well for you and try not to worry!
  • jellyhead
    jellyhead Posts: 21,555 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    i think snacking is fine as long as it's a bit healthier than chocolate and crisps. i also let my son eat chocolate and crisps for supper if he so desires, as long as he ate his food.
    52% tight
  • mutley74
    mutley74 Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Our 3yr eats like a horse some days, and on other days eats little. When we took some professional advice, were informed that kids go through phases of growth, and when they are hungry they make it know. However, we usually have to resort to bribery and tricks to try and get some food into him. Also mrschips gets him involved in making things such as smiley face pizzas. He now eats some salad, as I told him the rabbits on teletubbies eat it, so he feels ‘connected’!

    I find that one needs : Patience, perseverance, and variety when feeding kids
  • hi guys,mother of the grandaughter who wont eat hear again!! the worried grandpa concerned had his little grandaughter this morning for a couple of hours,and he gave he one finger sized bit of sandwhich on the hour every hour and he said she ate each bit well.
    ive taken your advice,and as we speak she is in the kitchen with her daddy making pizzas - she has rolled the dough and told me that she feels very important,
    and to top that off,she has been nibbeling her way through mozzarella,black olives,pineapple and ham whilst having lots of fun!!!
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