Anyone have ideas to get a three year old to eat??

[dismom9761]

My DD3 has always been a picky eater but ate well as long as it was fruit,Vegetable soup,or something else she really liked.For about three weeks now she has barely eaten and has lost more than three lbs.Yesterday we went to the Dr. and she has strep throat and then today we saw a second Dr. who is going to take her tonsils and adnoids out on June 8.They both stressed that she needs to eat but she WON'T!! She won't eat any of her old staples and I even bought her a hotdog,something my family only has at cookouts but now she says she doesn't like them.So far today she has had three bites cereal and one bite of applesauce. The weird thing is she stopped eating well weeks before she got sick.

 

[trennr]

She have any Resturant/Fast Food Favorites? Sometime when my youngin's are being less than cooprative with eating...something from out of the House will perk their interest.

But typically mine are little pigs?

Maybe she was sick before but wasn't showing symptoms other than loss of appitite?

Good Luck...hope she feels better soon.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Is it possible her throat is sore and that is why she is not eating? Maybe try soft foods (mashed potatoes, milkshakes, canned peaches, etc), if you haven't tried that already. Any other possible issues, like molars coming in (which is usually around 2 years old, I think, but does she have all her two year molars)?

My DD4 is a very picky eater, but she will always eat cut-up watermelon. Maybe a change of scenery like PP suggested, like a picnic, or a food she hasn't tried for a while (corn on the cob?).

Good luck!

 

[ilovejack02]

I dont know, all i can say is the old stand by of lots and lots of ice cream.
My ds was about 3 when he got really sick and didnt eat for a cpl of weeks. Ill never forget i took him out for dinner and let him order a ice cream sundae and some old lady was like thats what he is eating for dinner???? Stupid old bag.. i just glared at her.
Good luck, maybe take her to the store and let her pick out what she wants.

 

[all4fun]

Hi, my ds has had oral aversion issues since infancy. He's four and still is an incredibly picky eater so we still feed him Whole Milk and mix Carnation Instant Breakfast in to boost the calories and give him some extra vitamins.

Also, I don't know if any of the high cal recipes on this site will help but just thought I'd link it for you just in case: http://www.hopeforhlhs.com/christies_cafe

I hope this helps and your dd is feeling better soon!

{{hugs}}

 

[Tikicampers]

DS3 loves to cook with me. Maybe try making some instant pudding together. That's pretty easy and wouldn't bother her throat. You could also try letting her use cookie cutters for Jello Jigglers.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Maybe try some fruit smoothies. feels really good in the throat and can be made super healthy. Easy aslo to hide things in. Good luck hope the surgery helps get her back to good health.

 

[TheDizMom]

She may have just been diagnosed with strep, but she could very well have had it for a while. I know from experience they don't always feel sick right away, but will have a sore enough throat that they don't really feel like eating. My son had it 8 times in 6 months and sometimes I noticed the very slightest of temps or happened to notice his neck looked a bit swollen and he felt totally fine. At three she just may not have thought to say her throat hurts, and instead just hasn't eaten. She might also just be in a phase. I get your concerns though my DD was so picky at her age it was always a chore to get her to eat.

Keep trying her favorites, especially those that are softer. Just put it out and let her eat when she feels like it. Right now your concerns and the doctors are resulting in pressuring her to eat. She is probably partly enjoying the extra attention of your trying to get her to eat, and feeling yucky so she just doen't feel like eating. If you back off a bit she will probably start to eat. Please don't feel I am criticizing you, I'M NOT, I just think that constantly telling her she needs to eat may be contributing to it. Let her eat more of the things you don't like them to eat a lot of like ice cream and pudding that aren't really good for her but at least she will get some calcium and the calories. Stay away from acidic and salty foods because they may sting her already sore throat. My best advice is to try to relax about it a bit and she'll come around.

Just a heads up on the tonsils and adinoids been there done that. Be prepared because you will I guaranteee go through this again when she has them out. My DS wouldn't eat or drink ANYTHING, and the pain meds they gave him made him vomit. It was a vicious circle that landed him the ER with severe dehydration. I don't know why they don't hospitalize kids overnight for this to keep the fluids going but they don't so be careful. I don't mean to alarm you but from my experience it is not fun, and it got down right scary for me. I hope your DD does better then mine did, but you need to be prepared for the good possibility she's not eating or drinking well for a week at least.

 

[dismom9761]

WOW,thanks for all the suggestions.She has always been picky and had an aversion to certain textures but it is getting worse.

She have any Resturant/Fast Food Favorites? Sometime when my youngin's are being less than cooprative with eating...something from out of the House will perk their interest.

But typically mine are little pigs?

Maybe she was sick before but wasn't showing symptoms other than loss of appitite?

Good Luck...hope she feels better soon.

I have thought that maybe her throat has been sore for a while even though she says it doesn't so maybe it will get better after a few days of antibiotic.She has never liked eating out.

Is it possible her throat is sore and that is why she is not eating? Maybe try soft foods (mashed potatoes, milkshakes, canned peaches, etc), if you haven't tried that already. Any other possible issues, like molars coming in (which is usually around 2 years old, I think, but does she have all her two year molars)?

My DD4 is a very picky eater, but she will always eat cut-up watermelon. Maybe a change of scenery like PP suggested, like a picnic, or a food she hasn't tried for a while (corn on the cob?).

Good luck!

I tried mashed potatos a little while ago and she said that they stank and she couldn't eat them. The Dr. didn't mention her molars but I will try to look.Last night I tried peaches which she usually loves but she didn't eat them.

I dont know, all i can say is the old stand by of lots and lots of ice cream.
My ds was about 3 when he got really sick and didnt eat for a cpl of weeks. Ill never forget i took him out for dinner and let him order a ice cream sundae and some old lady was like thats what he is eating for dinner???? Stupid old bag.. i just glared at her.
Good luck, maybe take her to the store and let her pick out what she wants.

My child is so picky she doesn't like ice cream or chocolate.Strange I know....If she would I would be in a restaraunt in a heartbeat....

Hi, my ds has had oral aversion issues since infancy. He's four and still is an incredibly picky eater so we still feed him Whole Milk and mix Carnation Instant Breakfast in to boost the calories and give him some extra vitamins.

Also, I don't know if any of the high cal recipes on this site will help but just thought I'd link it for you just in case: http://www.hopeforhlhs.com/christies_cafe

I hope this helps and your dd is feeling better soon!

{{hugs}}

Thanks for the website I will check it out.

DS3 loves to cook with me. Maybe try making some instant pudding together. That's pretty easy and wouldn't bother her throat. You could also try letting her use cookie cutters for Jello Jigglers.

She doesn't like pudding but she loves jello and I hadn't thought of it.Thanks!

She goes back to daycare tomorrow and she tends to eat there better than here so we will see.Anymore suggestions??

 

[Tikicampers]

DS stopped eating at 18 months. Seriously just stopped eating (we were sitting at the ASMo food court and I was staring at an uneaten Mickey waffle when I realized he had barely eaten the whole trip). We had him tested for all sorts of illnesses and visited a GI. They never found a thing wrong with him, it seems he was just too busy to eat.
Here is all the advice I can remember:
1.Don't feed to many snacks (goldfish, etc) If they won't eat much you want every bite you can get in to be packed with nutrients. Also if a child snacks all day long they generally won't get hungry and will consume fewer calories. (That's why so many diets say to eat more small meals).
2. The whole milk with carnation instant breakfast mentioned above. The GI doc said it's close to what Pediasure is for less $. One problem with this is that it really fills the kids up. DS would drink his breakfast and eat nothing else all day. We gave this in the evening if DS hadn't eaten all day. We would do it for a while then lay off a little to see if we could get him to eat other things.
3. Mix in olive oil or butter with mac&cheese and pasta dishes. Add cheese to everything (what mom doesn't do that?)
4. The cooking with me thing came from a parenting magazine. DS will usually eat more if he had a hand in making it.
If I remember anything else, I'll post again. One thing I read that was comforting was that the body somehow "remembers" its highest weight. When a child gets over being sick, the body will usually then try to return to that weight.
DS did finally start eating again, although he went from the 90th percentile to below the chart. He's around the 25th now. He seems very healthy, but when you get scared like this it's hard to get over. Let us know how your DD does.

 

[Perditamarie]

Hope your little one is feeling better soon. My daughter is 90% yogurt -- we pop a straw through the foil top of the Danimals yogurt smoothies. She also likes spaghetti/noodles w/butter, plain white rice, apple sauce, crescent rolls, & quesadillas (flour tortilla w/melted cheese topped w/another tortilla and sliced like a pizza). I hope you find something to tempt her.

 

[Chloesmom]

My Dd went thru this when she was 4. It turned out that she was doing it for negative attention. She wanted us to fuss over her and make a big deal and cater to her so she decided this was the best way. My ex and I had just seperated when she started this and she was in counseling so he helped us figure it out. Basically he told us to stop fussing over her. make dinner.. sit it out for her and if she did not want it then oh well. We were not to offer her anything extra or different.. just a normal meal. No " I'll give you ice cream if you want" or anything. After about 3 days of this she caved and started eating. That was it.. no trouble since.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Hope your little one is feeling better soon. My daughter is 90% yogurt -- we pop a straw through the foil top of the Danimals yogurt smoothies. She also likes spaghetti/noodles w/butter, plain white rice, apple sauce, crescent rolls, & quesadillas (flour tortilla w/melted cheese topped w/another tortilla and sliced like a pizza). I hope you find something to tempt her.

Forgot to mention yogurt! DD4 also has sensory/texture issues and loves Danimals drinkable yogurt and the yoplait squeeze yogurt. It is my fall-back for lunch when she is not up for a sandwich.

 

[dismom9761]

More replies!Thanks She does like Goyogurt-I will get some tomorrow.Well tonight we went to my moms and she ate a little mashed potatos(obviously hers don't stink ) and two packs fruit gushers.I felt better knowing something was in her stomach before her antibiotic.

I wouldn't worry if she wasn't losing weight.I really hope this isn't a control issue.It wouldn't surprise me with her.

 

[jcc0621]

Waht aout Jell=o and you can put some fruit in that too. Bananas, peaches. Dole, I think has the prepackaged Jello Cups with Fruit in them too. Usually you can find those in the section with the canned and jarred fruit at the supermarket.

Yogurt (regular and frozen)

Hope DD feels better soon

Janet

 

[McKelly]

Does she like to dip things. I would cut up fresh fruit and let her dip it in yogurt. Can she handle fresh veggies yet, dipped in ranch dip. Chicken nuggets, dipped in ranch dip or ketchup? My kids always liked to dip! Graham crackers dipped in applesauce........

 

[dismom9761]

Does she like to dip things. I would cut up fresh fruit and let her dip it in yogurt. Can she handle fresh veggies yet, dipped in ranch dip. Chicken nuggets, dipped in ranch dip or ketchup? My kids always liked to dip! Graham crackers dipped in applesauce........

My other kids loved to dip but she won't mix food.She likes ketchup but will not actually eat it on anything.She used to but lately eats it with a spoon.The more I write about her habits the stranger she sounds.

 

[Merriwind]

She may have had the strep for a while. DD9 used to be the strep princess. A couple of times, she's only had GI symptoms. Fall 2005, her only symptom was a complete lack of appetite--no eating whatsoever. (She's usually a good eater.) We couldn't figure out what was going on and took her eventually to the ped. The nurse there thought she needed a psych eval and tried to get her to say that she would eat turkey at Thanksgiving the following week, insisting that she just wanted attention. I insisted that not eating would not be DD's way to get attention--it's not a symptom she would choose.

Finally, the PA says, "she's got a history of strep, let's culture her just to rule it out." You never saw a rapid strep stick change so fast! (BTW, this is our former ped.) It took a good two days on the antibiotic, but her appetite came back, same as it went. About a month later, we sat down to dinner. DD took one bite and said she didn't want to eat. We raced to the walk-in before they closed and it was strep again! Another two days before she ate.

So, while I understand you want to push the food, you may need to just give the antibiotics another day or so. DD couldn't really explain what it was that made her not want to eat. It was not her throat hurting. She said that the food tasted funny and her tummy just didn't want any food.

Good luck--I hope she wakes up hungry!

 

[dfarner]

My Dd went thru this when she was 4. It turned out that she was doing it for negative attention. She wanted us to fuss over her and make a big deal and cater to her so she decided this was the best way. My ex and I had just seperated when she started this and she was in counseling so he helped us figure it out. Basically he told us to stop fussing over her. make dinner.. sit it out for her and if she did not want it then oh well. We were not to offer her anything extra or different.. just a normal meal. No " I'll give you ice cream if you want" or anything. After about 3 days of this she caved and started eating. That was it.. no trouble since.

I entirely agree. If she continues this after she gets her tonsils out I would not fuss over her or "make" her eat anything. Us old folks remember when doctors (and parents) used to say "they'll eat when they get hungry enough" and you know what? They were right. Battling over food is classic among children. That is their power, and they sure do know it. I'm sure if the doctors were that concerned about her eating they would have put her on a high calorie medical diet.

 

[dismom9761]

I entirely agree. If she continues this after she gets her tonsils out I would not fuss over her or "make" her eat anything. Us old folks remember when doctors (and parents) used to say "they'll eat when they get hungry enough" and you know what? They were right. Battling over food is classic among children. That is their power, and they sure do know it. I'm sure if the doctors were that concerned about her eating they would have put her on a high calorie medical diet.

I had always been one of those people that says they will eat when they get hungry also.Then my second baby went from 90% on the weight charts to under 5%.He is still small for his age but keeps his weight fairly steady.Her Dr. was concerned yesterday and said if we couldn't get her to eat we would have to put her on a suplement.I will continue to encourage her to eat and try to find foods to tempt her and hope as soon as she feels better she will return to her "normal for her" eating patterns.She returns for a weight check on Monday to see if she is still losing weight.