My 3 year old granddaughter won't eat.

loopy_lass

my daughter eats ok, but what i did when she was smaller i made hedgehogs out of mash and sausages with intermittant carrots for spikes, peas for eyes etx..

or a mash moat, with gravy and floating peas or little tiny brocolli or cauli as trees.

made up stories like the cauli was in the moat cos the dragon had barged passed and knocked them over..

or the cauli and broccoli is grown especially for children because they are little trees that faires use!!!!!

ok ok.... looks like im mad..... starting to worry now!

but it works ;-)

Savvy_Sue

Sounds as if you're getting there, but the aeroplane flying into the mouth used to work for me, but it's a bit tedious at 3 ...

Letting her eat with her fingers - even soup - may also help. My 12 year old still thinks eating with cutlery is hard work.

And I know this isn't really a good way of doing it, and again he was younger than 3, but we mums get desperate sometimes. With my eldest I used to say "If you eat one spoonful of dinner, you can have a Monster Munch* after that." Then we got to "If you eat THREE spoonfuls of dinner, you can have TWO Monster Munches." His Dad reckons that's why he's so good at Maths now - he worked out the fiddle.

And don't be as daft as me and try to force them to eat things they really don't like by dishing it up meal after meal. At 5, bright lad that he was, the eldest hid his breakfast pizza in the washing machine. It didn't dissolve ...

_{* big snack things in vile flavours shaped like monster feet etc}

Glad

best thing is not to make a fuss, my two have always eaten fairly well but a neice who often stays won't eat,
I always let her decide how much goes on her plate, and tell her if she does that I expect it to be eaten, I put out a selection of puddings yoghurt/fromage frais etc and say, eat your dinner and you can choose your sweet, they have a drink with meal but can't start it until halfway through what's on plate,
my two always enjoyed milk so even if they had a bad day I knew the milk would keep them going

seems an age ago
my two (11 & 12) now eat same size portions as we do ;D

Savvy_Sue

my two (11 & 12) now eat same size portions as we do ;D

Just wait! My 12 year old still picky, but the 15 year old who ate soup with his fingers will now demolish huge plates of meat and veg, twice what I eat and more than his Dad eats!