My Three Year Old Will Not Eat

Hi S.- My 3- year old doesn't eat a thing! At her last daycare they had a night where a child physcologist came and gave parenting tips and he said not too worry too much about eating and not to force them to eat. But i'm starting to get more worried. My daughter drinks a ton of milk and I think that is part of my problem so I'm going to try giving her less milk. Have you tried different foods? My daughter, for some reason, ate fish sticks better than other foods and I was suprised. I know they can fill up quickly on juice and milk, so watch that.

I recently separated from my husband so I'm new to this single mom thing. I also work full-time and my daughters goes to day care.

I have heard that its not all about what they eat in a day but how much they eat in a week. So it sounds like he is doing good. I think this is a pretty normal faze. But my theory is if you are concerned enough and your motherly instincts tell you he needs more nutrients, then you should: Read up on it or talk to a doctor etc. Maybe you can give him some extra daily vitamins or something. Let me know what you figure out.

I found with myt picky, rarely eats son, that even at a very young age, if I asked him to "help" make meals, he was more apt to eat. He is 9 now & that is STILL the best way to get him to eat.
Best of luck to you!!

K.

My mother went through the same thing when my brother was that age. She even took him to his doctor, who told her not to worry about it, that he will out grow this phase. As long as he is healthy, there isn't much to do, but offer him things and trust he is fine. Boys, in my experience, seem to go through this more than girls. Just an observation! One of my daughters was incredibly picky. At 19 she still is!

I also have an almost 3 yr old. She will be 3 in January. Her reports from daycare everyday say she eats all of her food, but at home she is very particular. I just let her eat what she will provided it is nutritious. Yogurt, string cheese, apples, toast, she loves beef. I think kids have a funny way of knowing what they need.

My two-year old is the same way! He's incredibly picky so he only eats a few things. I've also tried Pediasure. He loves to drink milk so we buy Carnation Instant Breakfast powder and add some of that to his milk in the morning. He also gets a dash of Ovaltine sometimes in his cup. He loves Gummy Vites as well. We also give him Naked Juices so he gets that daily for the antioxidants. He loves dried fruit so he gets blueberries, mangoes, raisins, and fruit leather. I'm planning to make smoothies for him with a combo of milk, yogurt, a little soy powder, frozen fruits, and maybe a handful of spinach. It's worriesome, annoying, and frustrating, isn't it? Good luck!

Mine went through that phase too. I just make sure I give him nutritious snacks (no junk). And he loves cooking with me, so I let him do the little things, and we sometimes munch on the food while we cook (for some reason he eats more then, rather then at the actual meal.)
And I make fun food-add faces to food or instead of just circle pancakes, I do different shapes and sizes. Cookie cut out sandwich pieces, stuff like that-make it fun!
But he'll eat...I wouldn't worry : )

They grow thru growth spurts about this time and their attention span also shortens. Talk with your pediatrician and let your concerns be known. Also pediasure makes a chocolate flavor that my grandson just loves! We use the vita gummies too! Also as long as his weight and height stays in a good range...he will be fine. As far as getting him to eat, just only put two things on his plate at a time. Let him help chose and maybe this will help.
T.

I have an almost 4 year old girl and a 7 year old boy, they both went through it, my daughter still is. My pediatrician said it was fine. I was very worried because all my son would eat was chicken nuggets and french fries and that didn't seem very healthy, but now he eats all the time and he's always hungry although he is still very picky. My daughter is still doing it, there will be days where she eats everything in sight and other days where she will eat a few crackers or doesn't want dinner at all. It's very frustrating at times because I have to make three separate dinners just to get them to eat but now we eat a lot of baked chicken and corn because they like those. as long as he is healthy and acting like a normal kid you shouldn't worry.

My now five year old has never been a good eater, so here is some of the thing we did. I got ham and turkey and cheese from the deli , cut it in cube or strips , saying it was for a dinner some time this week , then his dad and him would sneak in and take some out of the bag in the refrigerator, after a while he just did it him self . We bought steak nuggets. Had my brother that uses steak nugget when he goes rock climbing, give some to Spencer, telling him take they were just for him and he didn’t have to share with the girls ( my girl are at lest five year older) I bought a lot of finger foods made a special shelve just for him. I cut up oranges and put them in baggies in the refrigerator, I did apples to but have not found any thing to keep them from going brown for long. A little lemon juice work for about a day. The girls would make a fuss that they did not get something he did, for his benefit. The only problem is now he will go get this kind of food out when he is hunger. However, it’s all good food so I don’t really care that much. We‘ll work on the regular time table as he eats better ,nerveless he still has to sit at the table with the rest of us and have dinner on a plate in front of him, most of the time he eats with out know it.

my 4 year old does the same thing there are days I cant get him to eat anything at all. He will say he isnt hungry. I have resorted to sandwich bags and sippies because he is in constant motion. Cereal, fruit, granola, whatever you can get in a sandwich bag and juice, milk whatever in his sippy. I make him sit at the table for dinner every night sometimes he eats sometimes he doesnt. As long as he is getting something during the days and he isnt mal-nourished he should be fine he will grow out of my doctor said.

Just a little suggestion of a solution that worked for me. I am a single mother of a 15 month old who was also not eating well at dinner time so I asked my daycare provider to limit the amounts of snacks my son got after his afternoon nap. With the reduction of his snacking I found that my son eats like a champ now at dinner. Just a thought hope that it helps