Child not eating..?

Question

I babysit my little sister ( whos 5 years old ) and somedays she just refuses to eat..she tries to say she doesnt like it but they are things she eats all the time so i know she likes it but she just doesnt want to eat, she just want to go play...so she just sits at the table and cries cos she doesnt want to eat..i just dont know how to handle this, i mean she has to eat something..and i dont have alot of money so whatever we have is all we have ya know, but she just refuses to eat.. i just dont know how to make her eat i havent delt with this stuff cos my son is only 15, but any suggestions ?? thanks alot

My son is 15 months old not years sorry about that.. and my dad remarried and had more kids in his 40s..no i'm not a child lol.......I just want to make sure that this is normal cos i have never delt with the eating problem cos my son is 15 months and i havent gone through this stage lol along with all the attitude..lol Thanks

Answer 1

how 'bout just letting her go play?

Answer 2

You could do with her what we do with my 4 year old niece. We tell her that if she doesn't eat, that's all she's getting until dinner, no snacks, no juice, no water, no nothing until dinner. If it is dinner time, we tell her she's not getting anything for the rest of the night, and she can just go to bed without it. This won't get through to her the first couple of times you do say it until you prove you mean what you say. Follow through with it. And when you tell her that again, she'll sit down and eat. If not, you say, "Okay, I guess you're just not hungry" then take her plate and either put it in the fridge or in the sink. But make sure you don't give her anything else until the next scheduled meal times. I guarantee that she will not starve (although she will try to convince you otherwise) and it will teach her an appreciation for the things she has. Now, my niece sits very nicely at the table through the entire meal, eats everything she is given, and is allowed to have juice or snacks later on. She finds this arrangement works for her. You might try it.

Answer 3

Although she is a bit old to be going through the no eating stage I wouldn't worry too much about it. Does her Mom say that she isn't eating at home? If not then it is really up to her to find out what is going on. You are doing the right thing by offering her stuff every meal time but kids will eat when they get hungry. Just make sure she is getting plenty of fluids and she should be fine. Make sure to bring this up to her Mom so she is aware of the situation!!

Answer 4

Can you give her something that she can eat on the run?
Like a few baby carrots in a plastic bowl when she is playing inside. Would she eat a bowl of cereal? It has calcium and as long as you don't get something with tons of sugar it can have healthy benefits. Cut up some apples or bananas. If you can get her to have some healthy snacks throughout the day then she doesn't require a sit down meal at lunch time. A doctor told my mother in law that peanut butter and jelly was the best thing that a finicky kid could eat as it has plenty of protein.

Answer 5

I have had this problem with my 5 year old cousin. They are doing it cause they see our soft side and as you say would prefer to play. So make it a game. Use an incentive...be it a piggy back ride or chocolate whatever find something she likes! Also play with the food, say big bite in 5, 4 so forth. Keep it up beat and light hearted. If all she does is cries, give her a time out or whatever the discipline is! stay strong!

Answer 6

dont worry about if she is hungry she will eat ,kids go threw this stuff and if you make an issue over it she will never eat right,let her go if she gets hungry enough she will eat the socks off a lion believe me.some ideas you can try is first dont make an issue of it just try this and see how it works ok>?? let her help you decide what to make to eat from what you have,let her help you make it ,but tell her not to do this alone if someones not there to hep,,and then ask her ,yeas ask her if she wants some,if she says no just let it slide and try again tomorrow,then tell her i want you to try at least one bite then you can go if you want,you see shes just learning what kind of control she has in her life and also she may not feel hungry ,so if an issue is made it makes it a much bigger deal ,and maybe setting down and going over some things she would like for you to have for food will help as well,its ok remember you are helping her learn how to deal with people and make decissions,howw to communicate with out fighting alot of things so work with it not against it have fun this is how you would like to be treated isnt it?check the link i used this as well its great stuff good luck

Answer 7

I was told by a nurse to just offer the right foods. Set her (my daughter is 2) in front of it. If she doesn't eat then she doesn't eat. It's you job to offer the right stuff not make her eat. I thought this was good advice because their are days my daughter doesn't want to eat very much. I always make her sit at the table with us until we are done eating. That way she understands she's not alowed to play at meal times. Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Kids will not starve themselves. She will eat when she is hungry. That's the problem with obese persons in this country.....we eat when it's time or offered, not when we are hungry. Children know better than we do at times! Just keep offering her a well balanced meal and let her decide when to eat.

Answer 9

She is picky. Sometimes kids are that way even with stuff they do like to eat. Perhaps you are giving her too much of her favorite food and now she is getting sick of it. If that is not the case, try to make meal time fun somehow. Or maybe give a small reward every time she eats all of or most of her food.

Answer 10

Try this. Put a small bowl of her favorite cereal in front of her, you know, Cherrios, Trix, Coco Puffs, etc. Let her eat that if she wants to. Then add other items on a seperate plate SLOWLY day by day, like peices of chicken, half a sloppy joe, etc. I hope that will help. Good luck and God bless.

Answer 11

More than likely she is trying to train you as with crying children know how to make your respond or react. If she is drinking the proper fluids and, the fasting does not go beyond a period of one day, I would not show concern. the human body has a mechanism that will tell her when to eat.