Poor eating patterns in a toddler

flowerchild

Hi

I need help with my four year old boy. He will not eat. If he was a teenage girl I would say he has anexoria nervosa. At breakfast he moves sultana bran around the bowl and drinks half a cup of milk. Or half a slice of raisin toast (v slowly). Lunch at childcare, so a mystery, but it can't be much because all his rib bones stick out. At dinner he'll break up a meat pie, move it round his plate and eat two baby baby carrots. Will leave the mashed potato saying he is not hungry. Ditto with pasta. Will eat one tiny yoplait yoghurt (65 cal) then ask to be excused.

I yelled at him today about how little he eats and he departed in his father's arms in floods of tears. Everyone at childcare is skinny (the workers) and I'm wondering if their attitudes re food rubs off.

His older brother (six) eats plenty (several bowls) of a wide range of food. So he'll have 2-3 bowls of pasta, some carrots and a bowl of fruit for dinner. If he finishes off on yoghurt he'll have four.

He looks like a refugee. Gets every virus going around. Am at my wits end. Need advice.

Jimmy Garlic

In fairness a four year old is a bit more than a toddler. Make him sit at the table until he eats his food. He will soon get sick of that and just eat his meals. You can't beat around the bush with this.

chucken1

Try different food? I wouldnt eat Sultana bran or raisin toast either!

Regards..mam of 26 and 27 yr olds!

January

In fairness OP if my sons ribs were sticking out like you say my first port of call would be the GP to rule out any conditions and if it's just a case of a four year old digging his heals in and using food as a power tool (like most children try when they are one and two and it may just have carried on, what was he like when he ate as a baby?) then I would be offering him breakfast, if he didn't eat it I'd produce it again at lunch and not offer anything in between, and if he doesn't eat it then I'd be offering it again for dinner until he eats it.

But please take your son to the GP he could be becoming malnourished if his bones are sticking out.

Grawns

Bit controversial here but apparently you should be able to see a childs ribs.

"One of the biggest problems for parents is recognising what a healthy weight is for their child. According to Prof Mary Rudolf, a paediatrician who advises the UK government on childhood obesity, the ribs of a 10 year old should be clearly visible or the child is overweight. Parents may find that hard to believe, but we have got so used to seeing fat children that we don’t know what is normal any more."

source http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/0315/1224292151164.html


I would weigh him and get his height and check if he has a healthy bmi for his age. And I would also get tastier food to tempt his appetite and give lots of snacks of fruit, cheese, crackers, yogurt, dark chocolate.

Best of luck

How Strange

OP, can I ask why you say that whatever your boy eats in childcare is a mystery? Surely you speak to the staff and ask what he eats. Also you say that the staff are skinny and infer that they would discourage young children from eating a balanced lunch. From what I've read creches Must provide nutritionally balanced food for children; I know the one I'll be putting my son in brings in specially prepared meals.

However if you genuinely feel that the staff are negligent in encouraging your son to eat properly and therefore contributing to the overall problem as you seem to infer then you should definitely take him out of there immediately and use a more reputable creche.

Otherwise I'd visit my gp as already suggested and make sure there are no other reasons for his disinterest in food.

Melion

Like someone already said, try other food. I certainly wouldnt eat raisin toast or sultana bran. Obviously you are trying to make your son eat healthily but if he doesnt like the taste he isnt going to eat it.

flowerchild

The food at creche is high quality. There is a typed menu on the board of what is on that day. Staff write down how many serves each child had that day. My husband picks him up and doesn't look at that. We need to look at it each day. We discussed the issue with child care and we will drive together on improving how much he eats.

It is possible he is more on track than I think. He is tall and moves a lot so uses a lot of energy. I will check his height, weight and BMI and chart him up, now and weekly (on weight).

He has always been picky. So was his brother at that age. We are used to charting up and driving up. Was looking for a shortcut.

All households are different. I would never make food a power struggle and represent the same food. Wouldn't feel right.

Breakfast - the sultana bran and raisin toast issue. He chooses it himself. My husband does breakfast. He lines up all options and you point and get, including multiple options. Choices include boiled or scrambled eggs on toast; porridge; fruit; muesli (my current preference); sultana bran; special K; multigrain toast; raisin toast; croissants; and crumpets. You can have anything. Plus cappucino, baby cino, milk or tea. It's very pleasant in it's user-friendliness.

He has been to the GP, Paediatrician, child health nurse and a childhood nutritionist. No problems except he doesn't quite understand how much volume is normal to eat. That's where I think child care is influential. He needs to follow his brother's lead instead.

metrovelvet

Did you try making him smoothies and milkshakes?

Or make it more fun, like put blue food dye in the milk, fruit plates that are in shapes and characters?

Sheperd's pie cupcakes?

Sometimes as treat I do 'upside down day' where we have dessert first.

flowerchild

That's helpful. I'll give those ideas a go when I get home later this week.