my 3 year old wont eat her meals! wot 2 do?

Question

she dose eat but just not her meals that i give her. she loves fruit and will eat sandwiches and stuff like that.

Answer 1

lol my 4 year old lived on cheese sandwiches for ages but when she started nursery and saw others eating stuff she slowly started to change.

they will allways go through stages like that just be happy that they are eating something and in time they will start to change.

Answer 2

At this age children's presonalities are still emerging and this is part of it. What to do depends on how strick you want to be, the gentle approach is to put on her plate things you know she will eat and 1 thing that she's not as keen on, when she eats the food you know she likes don't say anything, but when she tries the new food make a realy big deal of it. This gives her positive feelings about the food. At other times talk about food and how it helps her grow and keeps her healthy also get her involved in the preparation of food I know that's time consuming but it does help.
The more strict approach is to give her the food that enveryone else eats and she eats that or nothing at all, also make sure she doesn't get snacks between meals that way she is really hungry before each meal, and again when she does eat give her lots of praise, "Wow I can see your really trying hard to eat your ..... " You sound a bit of an idiot to start with but it works.

Answer 3

Incorporate more veggies into her sandwiches. Make them with things like fresh sauteed chicken, real cheeses, dark, leafy lettuce greens, spinach leaves, tomatoes, cucumbers, whatever you can slice thinly and sneak in. Use a good quality whole wheat bread from a bakery for more nutrition. Celery and carrot sticks on the side with a little cottage cheese blended with some seasonings and used as a dip. Milk to drink or real homemade, fresh squeezed, fruit juice and a fruit for dessert and she should be alright. Also, you can make a veggie soup with all the veggies in it with a chicken base. If she will not eat the veggies when she sees them in pieces, then, use a blender and pulse the soup to make it into a delicious broth. She won't even know the veggies are in there. Good luck with her. Don't force her to eat, but have everyone eat together as a family, even if it's just you and her and she'll eat more. Don't make big a deal over her eating or reward her for eating, this may lead to overeating as an adult and definitely do not punish her for not eating. Like everyone is saying: it's just a phase and she'll grow out of it. When her body is hungry, then she'll eat. Don't buy candy or any unhealthy snacks for her. No one, but no one, should eat those chemical laden items. Remember we should just eat to live and not ive to eat.

Answer 4

You don't say where u live, if u r in uk watch a prog called "The House of Tiny Tearaways" Featuring Dr Tanya Byron child pyshcologist its on uk style at the moment at around 11pm and has been on bbc 3, it deals with all child related issues kids spend 6 days there with parents and she's fantastic at sorting kids with eating disorders, but it usually has to do with the way the parents deal with the food prob.It's good ur daughter likes fruit though

Answer 5

my daughter is exactly the same but she is really fussy she doesnt like any veg other than boiled new potatoes with butter on or fruit other than the odd banana.try making meal times more fun,let her help with some things she'll want to eat whats shes made, kind of like a task, if she draws a picture she'll want to show it off so its kinda the same e.g use a magherita pizza and let her help you cut up hot dogs and put them on the pizza and make a face!make food more fun and use plenty of different coloured foods!have a look on the internet should give you more ideas!

Answer 6

children will usualy manage to eat what they need.If she is eating fruit and sandwiches, maybe she is finding eating with a knife and fork a bit tedious still. Giving her food that is pick up able and not worrying too much about mess may help.
She might like to join in with making the meal.Once she has a vested interest she may not be able to help herself as she will want to try her masterpiece and have everyone else try it too.

Answer 7

'Kidology' may be the answer - make her meal look like a sandwich or the fruit she loves - e.g a dish of sliced colourful veg cut in long strips with a cute shaped piece of breaded fish, or a mini pitta stuffed with cheese and tomato. Good luck - keep muttering the mantra to yourself 'It's just a phase, it's just a phase....'

Answer 8

Try not to make a big issue of it, as long as she is eating plenty healthy snacks and milk. Make her sandwiches with healthy fillings and cereals, she should be ok. Try to reward her if she does eat anything at mealtimes. Lots of kids are like this, but she should grow out of it.

Answer 9

Do not let her snack between meals, ensure that she is hungry before serving her a meal, that does not mean starving her.
Find the best times to feed her, they may not be the ones you are currently used to, as she grows you will have to adjust as well.

Answer 10

Tell her if she wants she can have some ketchup with it, they say you have to show a child a certain food 10 times before they eat it, this I can believe although I've never tried that.