How do I get my preschooler to eat?

Betty - posted on 07/25/2009

I put had a hard time getting my SD to eat fresh fruit untill I thought of letting her decorate her fruit with cake sprinkles. I know sugar isn't the best thing to be giving her but she eats fruit now and she didn't before. Also, we don't have any junky snack foods in our house at all. None. If anyone want's a snack we can have a fruit, a cheeze stick, or bread with peanutbutter. Vitamins and Naked smootheis fill in the gaps too if all we can get her to eat is bread. Kids generally don't eat alot at that age so anytime he says he's hungery you should take adantage of it right away by giveing him a healthy snack. My SD's appetite comes in spurts, sometimes she will eat a ton of food and sometimes she will act like she is being tortured when it's time to eat.

If we want her to try something new we trick her. All we have to do is not put it on her plate start eating it ourselfs and wait till she asks why she dosn't have what we have. Then we tell her that she can only have 5 bites because it's our grown up food and we don't want to share.

Kim - posted on 07/23/2009

My SK's were the same way when I came into their life at 4 and 5 (now they are 6 and 7). They refused to eat anything resembling veggies or fruits they didn't recognize like peaches or mangos even. The only fruit & veggies they knew existed were corn, apples, bananas and grapes. They only wanted pizza, spaghetti & chicken nuggets (were ALWAYS asking for McDonalds). They refused to drink milk unless it had chocolate in it. It took time and effort but they are now, for the most part, eating what is put on their plate. I started by offering just little bits, like one or two bites, of unfamiliar/undesireable foods and offering some type of dipping sauce (i.e. ranch) for baby carrots and lettuce. Slowly increasing the amounts as they got more familiar w/ a particular food. My mom swears by "yumm sauce," kids love it on rice, dipping veggies etc. You can get that at your grocery store in the section w/ dips and stuff. I don't put the foods on their plate I know they will gobble up then claim to be full until they eat what they need to eat. Once the peas are gone, they can have the bread w/ butter. I simply explained that in our family we eat healthy and we eat what is for mealtime and they will not have dessert if they don't eat their food. On several occasions, I even went so far as to leave left over dinner food for them to eat for breakfast, if they didn't eat it at breakfast, it became lunch, etc. until it was eaten then they got to pick something of their choice for a snack or a meal. As soon as they figured out they were not simply going to skip a meal, wait for the next one and get away with it, they started eating their food. I also just kept explaining that McDonalds and Pizza are yummy but not very good for you so they are a treat and we only eat them sometimes. It took A LOT of times telling them but they finally get it. It's tough but be consistent and keep offering those healthy foods. Involve him in the cooking & shopping if that piques his interest. And as Christine suggests, you can dole out consequences in the fomr of losing a privelage, I do that when I need to and it's a good motivator. Good luck to you!

Christine - posted on 07/23/2009

The only thing I can think of is that we take away something that he wants to do that night if he doesn't eat a good portion of his meal, not all, but not one bite either. Every night my ss watchs a cartoon while he does his asthma treatment. We generally end up taking that away. It works ok ish. I would like him to just eat.

Helen - posted on 07/23/2009

i can relate to you.i have the same exact problem with my 3 year old. i tried everything i could to get him to eat. breakfast is always a struggle. his teachers at his preschool tell me that he barely eats his lunch...only his snacks and dinner is always a problem. all he wants to eat is pizza, chicken fingers, french fries or mac and cheese- all junk food, nothing healthy or nutritous. i called his pediatrician, talked to therapists and friends....im at the very bottom of my rope and dont know what to do. did u ever find a solution or get any good tips? id appreciate any suggestions

Tina - posted on 07/23/2009

the only thing I can suggest make a game out of it. Like lets see what pretty colors we can eat. Or try this tell him that if he eats this or that he will be able to be faster and stronger if he eats it.