3 year old trubel with eating

gravitytolls

My friend had a son like this. He hardly ae anything, and when he did it was only cheesey biscuits. If confronted with a plate of food, he would vomit.

She was very concerned, and wen to see her Dr. He referred her to a paediatrician, who weighed and checked etc. He told her not ot make a fuss, he was just extremely fussy. Give him whatever he wanted, which was mostly milk, and not worry.

He told her milk was a perfectly adequate food substitute, and that he would eat when he was ready, though he would probably always be fussy.

He is now 10. He is still fussy, but he does eat meals now. But it was a long hard haul. He progressed from cheesy biscuits at about 4 to chips, then mashed potatoes. He ate mash because the school cook spent a great deal of time gently trying to persuade him to try lightly flavoured, easy swallowed foods.

I would suggest a visit to the Dr to rule out physical causes. Then try to keep a good intake of milk and vitamin drops, and hopefully he'll improve.

tawnyowls

There was a very good episode of Little Angels last year on this very subject, also with a 3-year-old, as I recall. Generally I think Tanya Byron makes sense, and she seemed to hit the nail on the head with that one. She reckoned it's a stage a lot of kids go through because that age is the age at which they begin to realise they're independent beings, and that they can exercise control, and one of the things they soon work out pushes mummy's buttons is if they don't eat.

Basically, the advice was as above - don't sweat it; if he's really hungry, he'll eat. In the case of that particular kid, hidden cameras showed him raiding the fridge several times during the day, so she encouraged the mum to keep a bowl of cut veg and fruit in there. Her other advice included giving him at least 30 mins warning that a meal would be starting soon so that he wasn't interrupted in the middle of a game, eating at the table with him, putting very small amounts (eg a quarter of a rslice of cheese on toast) on a small plate so he wasn't overwhelmed by it (he could help himself to more as he went along), and ignoring him when he sulked, threw food and the like.

mum2002

Hi im back i was vere interested to here what you all had to say my son drinks lots of milk and i mean a lot. An allso when he dose eat it is mostly ceral my god dose he love it nealy everone. If i was to tell the truth im not as worried as i was at firt hereing what everone has had to say iv notist hes not as bad as i fort. What most poeple are saying on here makes me think of my son hes just like alot of the other kids been menchend on here so thank you everone for all your help ill keep in tuch to let you no on his progres im going to get him wayed at the docters to mack sure hes the right weght and if he is ill just see if he grose out of it hope so thanks agen
mum2002:D

missk_ensington

I read on the pampers website some time ago that toddlers appetites will go from large to nothing at all, and then lots again when they have a growth spurt.

Don't worry, Oli does this all the time. A few weeks ago all he would eat was half a yogurt from breakfast and pick at a little bit of fruit at lunch and a few prawns for evening dinner. He did this for about 2 weeks and then suddently just snapped out of it and ate everyhting again.

Have you tried making pictures wit his food (I know its a bit daft, but in desperation we'll try anything!) My mum used to put mash as the face, sausage as the mouth, ketchup as eye and nose holes and loads of beans for its hair.

Or tell him that that is what Bob the Builder eats to be big and strong.

Or you could try telling him the Bogey man will come and get him if he doesn't eat it! lol (This can be adapted for bad behavour too! ha ha ha)

jellyhead

awww, don't scare him with a bogey man, poor little thing!

i struggled with my first child, he hardly ate anything and was so tiny and thin. we saw a dietician and she told me i had made him worse by making mealtimes into a battle. allowing him to eat what he wanted from the plate meant he could stop being frightened of food and mealtimes, and eat according to his own appetite without any stress.

i also wasn't sitting down to eat with him at the table because i had a very poor appetite myself and wasn't hungry. the dietician wanted to know why i expected a small child to eat more than i did!!

he is ten years old now and his appetite is nowhere near as large as any other child i know but he eats fruit and veg, meat etc. and i know that nutritionally he is doing okay. health visitors are always happy to talk to you about food problems and refer you to a dietician if necessary.

the best thing i learned from the dietician is that eating should be linked to hunger rather than anxiety or convention, and that children have a good idea of what they need (as long as it's not chips and ice cream all day lol!)

mum2002

hi there it made me laght when i read what you had wrote i do trie to mack meal times fun eg. in sted of chips ill give him smily faces or chicken drum sticks shapted like foot ballers or planes and allso he loves spiderman so i tell him he will grow big and strong like him if he eats it all he likes that ider but now he thinks if he eats it all he will be abull to stick to walls wich isnt two good this mornin i was shoced when i work up coz he had made his own breckfirst and i didnt find a mess no were he dose like to help mack his tea it makes him fell good about him self hes all ways telling me he cant wate to get bigger ( bless ) iv told him he wont just get bigger over night but thats not what he wants to here ( tuf ) just messing buti cant wate intill he gets it tho thanks to everone you have really helped me
mum2002 :j