Encouraging Children to Eat

[stacyl]

My daughter is 4, and I can't say she is a PICKY eater, but she eats VERY little in one sitting. She is quite petite. (about 32 lbs) She eats lots of different things, including fruit and veggies. (a fav) but for the life of me, I can't get her to eat a full meal. Any suggestions? (I ask her what she wants, so she makes the decision!)

[irish]

My son will be 4 in march, and has been an extremely picky eater since before he turned 2. I wish I knew the answer! Somedays all he eats his a handful of crackers, and then drinks milk. He doesn't eat any fruits or veggies I keep waiting for the day he will miraculously start eating! Good luck!

[sharon]

It's not unusual for young children to do better eating 4-6 small meals rather than 3. In fact, from what I understand, most adults would do better that way too. Small amounts of healthy foods more often is totally fine.
Also, keep in mind that portion sizes tend to be overestimated. A child's stomach is about the size of their fist, so that it what they can likely eat at one sitting.

[cakemakermom]

Remember that the stomach is about the size of the persons fist. My dd was about the same size at that age and now at 7 she's only around 40 pounds. Size doesn't really matter as long as she stays on the same curve on the chart that her pediatrician provides.

Just be sure she has healthy choices to pick from when she does eat and she'll be getting all the nutrition her body needs.

[ReneeW]

I agree with the above advice. As long as your DD has a variety of healthy foods to choose from, she'll get the nutrition she needs. You get to choose the kinds of food she has available, and she gets to choose how much she'll eat. I try to tell my kids, "Listen to your body," and tell them that only they know if they're hungry or full, need to use the bathroom etc. ... so if they say they're full I believe them. I don't let them snack all day, but we do have a rule that between meals they can have fruits and veggies if they're hungry. Otherwise they have to wait 'til meal time.

[deannemdm]

Try to keep a bunch of healthy snacks on hand-- fruit, veggies and dip, string cheese, nuts (baring allergies or sensitivities)-- whole grain crackers, etc

[doeeyedgirl]

I have dealt with the same thing for the past 10 years. My 10 year old is a very picky eater. I make him try everything once, but if he doesn't like it, I don't force him to eat it. Luckily, the stuff he does like is easy to make so I will generally make him something simple on the side to eat. My fiance and I butt heads about this sometimes, but like I tell him. We don't eat things we don't like so why should I force my child. As long as they are full and they are getting what they need as far as vitamins goes, I wouldn't stress. In my case, DS1 doesn't eat a lot of fruits/veggies, so I make sure he gets a daily vitamin, too. My little brother was the same way when he was young. In fact, for many months he survived on ketchup sandwiches. Yuck! But today, he eats a very wide variety of foods.

[mnmommy2]

with my 2nd child he is a super picky eater, before he went to Kindergarten, we would make lunches 'fun' like seen here in this link- easylunchboxes.smugmug.com/The-Best-Lunchbox-System/Yummy-Lunch-Ideas/10136835_YSuyb#!i=883041135&k=XPJ7V

rarely would i make my son a sandwich, simply because he had a sensory issue with certain textures of food, etc. As long as I had a protein in his lunch/foods each meal, I was happy.
You can put fruits and veggies too in homemade breads and muffins and the kids can not tell the difference! Hubby couldn't either.

Both my boys like roll ups- with or without a tortilla, just roll the meat/cheese and stick a toothpick in the center to keep it together and there ya go, he would suddenly eat his 'sandwich' Then I would just have some whole grain/wheat crackers on the side like wheat thins or triscuits.

[love]

Thankfully my son isn't a picky eater. He does go in spurts but now that is is older and can tell me what he wants he is a really good eater as before I do not think he wanted to eat what I made him. I give him 2 choices of food and he gets to pick one. Same with restaurants. It is less of a battle. If she does tell you what she wants and doesn't eat it I would say well honey you picked it out. Are the portions on her plate to big? I find this when you want a kid to eat you put to much on and it intimidates them. Also since she is older see if she wants to help you. Add cheese to the roll up, add butter to the bread etc.