6 Year Old Won't Eat Her Food!

Yep, TV needs to be off. She'll get over it with time and probably start eating again. I've caught my son standing in the kitchen doorway eating his snack so he can watch TV in the livingroom! lol

good luck
S.

well, i agree with the doctor that you shouldn't force her. i'd be very surprised if he actually said 'let her eat what she wants'. provide her with healthy meals and healthy snacks and THEN let it go. you can supplement with nutrient shakes if she's seriously underweight.
but i'm concerned about your lack of guidance and authority. why on earth does a SIX year old get to decide what the tv rules are? she can be mad til the cows come home. if tv is distracting her from nourishing herself, turn the dang thing off. we too are a family who enjoys our tv but it doesn't rule our lives. nor do 6 year olds.
declining to be the food police does not mean you helplessly abdicate all authority in your own home. YOU set the guidelines.
here are the healthy meals i've prepared.
here are the healthy snacks available if you are hungry between meals or don't care for the meal.
no, you may not eat sweets or junk or 'whatever you want' inbetween.
here are the times you may watch tv and the shows you are allowed to watch.
mad? i'm sorry to hear that, sweetheart. you'll feel better after you get something to eat.
khairete
S.

You and Dad should just sit her down and tell her that the new family rule for all of you is no TV during dinner time. Tell her from now on it will be a time you all sit together and have family time and talk about your day. She may be upset at first but she will get used to it...and instead of being a rule for her it is a rule for the whole family. Also, we have the rule that you have to be excused from the table. So, our kids may say they are done eating but they still need to sit there for a bit with us and talk/hang out. We may encourage them to try to eat more if they did not eat enough, but I agree in not forcing anything. When we excuse them they take their plates to the kitchen (ages 8 and 2.5) and then they can go play. This is a great rule bc they cannot just get down and go play...they have to have their parent's permission first.

Turn off the TV, tell her to sit at the table and eat. Who cares if she gets mad if you turn it off. You're the mother, step up and tell her if she wants to watch TV, she needs to eat!

Turn off the TV while the meal is being prepared so as to get her attention that it's meal time, keep it off until she has eaten her meal, send her to her room if she doesn't eat and turn on the TV for the rest of the family once she's in her room. At this point she has no consequences for not eating, so sees no need to.

Serve her on smaller plates, kids don't require as big of servings as we grownups do. Make sure she's not snacking on junk food that will fill her up, keep a plate of fruit and veggies in the refrigerator for when she snacks. Make her smoothies with fruit, sherbet, fruit/veggie juice, and ice once in awhile to stimulate her appetite. Get her involved in making food she likes and will hopefully eat, take a look at some of the recipes here for ideas:
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/cooking-with-kids/

Don't force her to eat, the doctor is correct, her body will tell her when it needs nourishment, just make sure it's the proper foods she's eating when she does.

Put the meal in front of your child. If she doesn't eat it, that's ok, she will eat when she is hungry. DO not offer snacks in between meals unless they are HEALTHY ones, such as veggies, fruit, yogurt, etc. Also, turn off the TV! YOU are the parent, and you do not need it on during meal times. Make mealtime a chance to reconnect and talk about the day. Sit with your child and spous if he's in the house at the time. That would be a done deal in my house, especially if my child was refusing to eat. Your child can't have the distraction. Also, no toys at the table. You can also try to give her those Pediasure shakes that are very nutritional in between as a suppliment. I believe that one shake has all of their vitamins they need for a day. (obviously she still needs to eat though) I gave them to my "picky" eater way back when she was little. She is 19 now.They helped her to be more hungry by boosting her appetite at mealtimes, and also filled her up in between meals. I felt better knowing that she was getting SOME vitamins. They sell other varieties, such as "boost", and many others, but for kids, I think the pedialite are best. Good luck. I really think shutting the TV off while cooking and then during meals will make a world of difference though! :)

Does she tell you she is not hungry? Does she say she does not like the food? Does she end up eating later in the evening.

What is her food intake during the day?

Has she always been a little eater?

We need a bit more information.

Many children go through times, when they hardly seem to eat anything, and other times when they cannot get enough.

Children will not starve themselves. They also eat until they are full and then stop. This is healthy.

Some children/adults are grazers. They like to eat small amounts, more times during the day. They are eating when they are hungry, not on our schedule. They are more in tune with their hunger.

As moms we love to see our children eat. We feel like this is our job and if our child does not eat what we feel is enough, we feel like failures.

Not everyone is a big eater. As long as she is thriving, has energy and the doctor says she's is fine, continue to offer healthy foods and she will be fine.

Kids eating patterns and preferences do change, so just because she was a good eater before doesn't mean that she will continue to be. Personally I would turn the tv OFF during meal times. Everyone eats together and the tv stays off until everyone is done.

Make sure that every eating opportunity (meals and snack) consists of nutritious foods. She will eat when she's hungry... I agree with your Dr. about not forcing a child to eat, but I don't think that she should be allowed to eat what she wants when she wants. So if you do, don't allow her to fill up on snacks or milk or juice or whatever and then not eat at meals.

If she doesn't eat her meals at meal time and then is hungry soon after, just make sure that what she's given has some substance and isn't junk and then let her wait until the next meal time. She'll get back on track.

Hello, I'm sure this can be frustrating. I'll tell you what worked for me and I have a son. He always ate what I cooked and nothing different unless we were having something really different. I had a plate divided into three parts and I would always place a meat, carb and veggie/fruit. I never made a fuss about it. And our rule in the house is no tv when we eat. It's our time to
sit and talk. If he finishes, he's excused and then can watch tv. If you have more than one then set a rule no tv until everyone is finished eating. Also, I never let him get up and play. When it's time to eat it's time to eat. Just remember you're the adult, set the rules and abide by them. They'll get use to it. Since you have a girl, invite her to cook with you, set the table or something to engage her. It can only help.
Interested to see what others say. Good luck....

Is everyone in the family sitting at the table together for a meal, and listening to the TV from a distance, or do you have some family members who are not participating in the meal time and watching TV in another area instead?

You could start with a goal of having at least one meal per week be tv-free(maybe a Sunday dinner). If you have the ability to record tv shows, then pause it for a few minutes (consequence of a tantrum might be the show gets erased). Or plan a restaurant-style meal with music to match the menu.

In our house, we allow more toys and tv during meals than most families probably would. My husband's excuse is that he was raised that way. My son has ADHD, and sometimes the tv will help him sit still long enough to eat. 30 minutes of tv during breakfast keeps him on schedule instead of getting up to chase the cat, etc. Finger foods that he can eat without much attention work well, such as a plate of chopped fruit. At dinner, I prefer to have the tv off(I may have to remind my husband of this). I will allow my son to bring a toy if it's a project he's "stuck" on, and then have him tell us all about it during dinner. Even with the tv off, sometimes he is too distracted to eat well. Maybe his body isn't telling him loudly enough that he's hungry, or maybe he feels full after a couple of bites. We might say "don't forget to eat your chicken" but he just hears "eat" and will eat his noodles instead. So we'll just hand him a piece of food or a loaded fork, and he'll usually eat it automatically without having to interrupt his train of thought. We try to offer him many small meals and high-calorie snacks.