I really don’t know what’s wrong with Lynn nowadays. She is such a picky eater. She chooses type of food, especially vegetable to eat. Luckily she’s not rejecting vegetable at all. But recently somehow, she is so slow when come to finish her food. She is the first one to eat but the last one who leaves the dining table. If no one else is sitting there with her, she will rather don’t want to finish her food at all. Sigh… this is making me worry. We will ask what she wants to eat, either rice or noodle. She will tell what she wants. But after we get the food for her, after 2-3 spoons, she will tell me she does not want to eat anymore. So now I have to be very firm with her and insist that she has to finish the food that she asks for. Or sometimes she will ask for more meat, I will want her to eat more rice before I give her the meat. If not, she will leave the rice un-touch and finish all the meat. :( She has been losing weight. That day I checked from the internet she’s actually underweight for her height. She’s only about 13kg with her height 100cm (if I remember correctly). I checked with the teacher at the playschool, the teacher said she’s OK with the food. Lynn told me she’s the last one who finishes the food amongst all kids. We are thinking of not letting her take the snack (there is snack time at 4.30pm, where all kids are given milk and bread) hoping that she will take the proper meal. I have started to reject giving her any sweets unless she takes more food during meal time. I hope this is just a phase and she will outgrow of it soon.
12 comments:
Do check with the teacher whether they give junk food. Those junk food will make her has no appetite.
Broccoli Ginger - No, the teacher does not give junk food to the kids.
My son also same.. Love vegetables... He ate but eat real slow!!! Hardly gain weight... I also looking solutions for this...
Sigh~
I guess all children go through that stage when they start to become more picky on food and start preferring junk food...haha
Not to worry. This is just a phase. Children started to loose their appetite when they are around 3 years of age because they are no longer growing rapidly the way the grew during their first 2 years. And since their taste buds are developing as well, they will start preferring certain food and began refusing to refuse those that does not suit their taste buds. The trick is you have to be creative and dun force her to eat everything at one sitting. We cannot expect children to eat like adult-gobble up every dishes at one sitting. They usually find it a gruesome task. Instead, give her smaller portions that consists of meat/poultry at every sitting and let her snack on veggies and fruits frequently. Preferably citrus fruits. They usually open up the kid's appetite, and you may find them eating more during meal time. LOL... who says snacks have to be unhealthy, anyway?
And one more thing, I forget to mention. I am not sure if this will work for you or not, but if you could get Lynn to be involved in the food preparation, she probably would be more happy to eat. This works for me...it can be simple meals that she can help prepare, like beating eggs and fry it into an omelet, or ask her to coat chicken with flour for frying... anything. I'm more than sure she would be happy to 'show off' the dishes that she helped cooked, and she'll probably eat more too, cuz she'll think her 'cooking' taste nice and want to impress others!
I was like tat when i was young... I think u can try to make some dishes in orange colour or colourful and gravy... It will increase appetide of food intake... Hehe... Last time my grandma cooked at least one dish in orange colour... :P
My Little Sprout is a picky eater too! Eversince we started her on solid foods, she used to play splitter-splatter with her homemade porridge and baby puree. When she got older at around 10 months old, she preferred to strum or sweep her food to the floor.
She does show some improvement now, she would just spit out the food after she took a spoon or two without playing with it (if she didn't like the taste)! We never demand her to finish her food, as long as she didn't scatter it we are blessed!
I do agree with Cleffairy, Little Sprout does increase her appetite if we let her took part in food preparation. We do let her snacks on fruits and nuts, most of the time fruit juice and she loves it!
We found she ate more when she had her meals with other kids, perhaps "peers' pressure" that does the wonders! Sometimes when she had some strenuous exercise like swimming or chasing around with her playmates, she does show more appetites!
Good Luck!
This picky-eating thing is just a phase. It's just a matter of time when she will outgrow it.
I myself was a picky eater. I took ages to finish up my food so much so my mother scolded me. Instead I preferred to eat Nestum as my staple food because I was able to finish it fast and minus the scolding! Hehehe! I outgrew this at age 7 or 8.
My son is also a picky-eater - eats just a few spoonfuls and he doesn't want to eat already! So I'll merely offer him the unfinished portion from time to time until after a certain number of hours has passed, then I'll finish it up for him.
At the babysitter's, his appetite is way better. I think because there's competition - the babysitter is also baysitting another 3 year old boy.
Dear All,
Thanks for all the tips and advice. Tried some of them last weekend - it did not work out well. Feel a bit defeated. :( But at least during weekdays, she's eating at the playschool. I suppose is the peer pressure from other kids. At home, she will ask for the porridge that I cook for the boy too. But the boy can finish one and half bowl, while she hardly finish half bowl only. Sigh... let's see how it goes this week.
I know how frustrating it is for u...my boy went through this phase too. I let him eat what he liked coz he really hated everything. It was tough. Ended up eating fried chic/pork/fish + rice most of the time + lots of milk. Don't worry, it's a phase and she will definitely grow out of it.
Hey cheeyee..im not really a parent or anything, but I can suggest this..if your kid resents taking food and picky..pretty much we can't do anything much as they might jz be more adamant in not to consume..try alternative way to contribute the nutrient for ur kid...like rice is our main carbohydrate,but since the kid x take it she tend to loose weight rapidly as meats and vege are protein which burns much more faster in the body compare to carbohydrate..so if she is taking less rice..u can give her alternative carbohydrate such as bread or spageti,mee or potato..these are rich in carbohydrate as well. or also one more way you can go baout it is...if she eats lil bit for each meal then jz let her take more meals a day.
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