Food Schools for 3.75 yo?

[Jakabella]

DD is 3.75 or 4 in December. She is a terrible eater. She eats no meat apart from chicken nuggets and very little veggies.
She does eat lots of fruit, yogurt, cheese, plain rice & pasta. But that's about it.
She drinks milk and water and a bit of juice.
Are there places you can go to to teach them how to eat again? I'm at the end of my teather

[Arcadia]

No advice, but I couldn't read and not offer a hug

[Jakabella]

Thanks hun. I'm starting to think its just my cr@p parenting!

[nothing2lose]

I remember seeing something like this on a show based in the UK. I reckon contact your local children's hospital nutrition/dieticians unit. They might be able to put you in touch with something???

Good luck!

[Jakabella]

Excellent idea N2L! I'll look into that tomorrow

[Chrispe]

Hugs Jak,

My eldest was a bit like this. I hopeful find a place/specialist to help you. We had to wait until DS1 was old enough to explain why he had to eat a 'balanced' diet. (when he did nutrition at school, then he would come home and ask questions about the food we eat)

[RhiChiChi]

You can try your local council / MCHN and see if they run a basic course for 'fussy' eaters. My gf did one with her son.

[Arimeh]

I have two extremely fussy eaters here, so I've cracked the whip on their eating habits and being very firm (whereas before I think I was a bit of a pushover because I just wanted them to eat - so they would snack all day and not eat when supposed to!).

If they don't eat what I've served - too bad. Just keep on serving it and she will eat. I'm not saying you are a pushover like me (I didn't even really realise what I was doing) but I've been firmer this last week and DD1 and DD2 are both starting to eat better. Not that they have started eating dinner yet, but I'm sure that will come in time..... right? LOL

[Phteven]

Do you have fox? There is a children's cooking show called I Can Cook. Maybe that might inspire her to do a bit of cooking and eating.

[~*Niadalla*~]

I've recently been to a pead about my DS who is 5 and eats 10 different foods.- no vegies, no fruits, no sauces, no pastas no meats.

We were told he'd grow 'out of it' and the small list of foods he does eat are providing him with enough nutrition.

If you find anything out please let us know. I'd honestly be stoked if my son ate what your little one eats.

[Jakabella]

Thanks ladies. DD is healthy enough and I do give her a vitamin & iron liquid as recommended by my MCHN. Everyone I have been to about this says she will grow out of it, but when?
Iv tried everything! Being the "nice" mum, the "I don't care what you eat" mum and the "hard ass" mum... None of it works. I guess I just have to look into things and hope she grows out of it in the mean time!

[Tinks]

I watched a UK tv show where they took fussy eaters to eating classes. It turned out in most cases that the kids had not been allowed to 'explore' the food with their senses, therefore it becomes a foreign item they don't know what to do with. After the classes the kids all ate (or at least tried) what was put in front of them. It's not the case for ever child but it was interesting.

Maybe see your MCHN and ask if they know of anything that can help.

[Artechim]

I was a fussy eater. Apparently when I was little I would only eat fish fingers, chips and eggs. I must have grown out of it at some point because I eat a variety of things now.

My DS doesn't eat much. He can eat the dinner he is served, or a piece of plain bread. Works for us. I assume that he will get a bit more adventurous later. If he does try something new we over the top praise him. He isn't a big meat fan. Or veges. But he likes canned pears and fruit juice and seems to be growing. I add florodix to his juice sometimes JIC.

[Olive]

Your anxiety about her non eating will be having an impact on her, make food fun, play with it, let her eat it with her fingers, make kababs, I sometimes use toothpicks in food to change it up. It will take time

[Chrispe]

My ds had a night bottle until he was 5yo because of the extra nutrition. After he started school he started asking about food - turns out they study good nutrition in reception at his school. Talking about what food makes you strong vs what makes you unhealthy worked well (after he was 5). Best of luck- there are a lot of other kids out there like ours.

[Traveller]

I Can Cook is a great show and has a website which has games and recipes for little kids. Maybe if she has a play and you offer to let her cook she'll be a bit more excited? I also bought my DS2 a recipe book for kids when he was about 4 which he loved and it did help with encouraging him to try a few more foods.

My DS1 is still a terrible fussy eater though and won't eat veg if he can see it, so I blend vegetables together to make a base sauce for pasta, meat, etc so he eats that (he knows the sauce is made of vegetables) and he is happy as long as he can't see the veg. The other trick that has worked with him is letting him put his food into a tortilla so he hides the veg himself but still eats it.

Your MCHN is probably a good place to start if you would like to see a dietician though and they will probably have some great tips to help you