My ds is 3 1/2 and we are having problems getting him to eat. He is about 38 in tall and weighs only 32 lbs. I always have to buy him the adjustable waist pants and they are always on the tightest button. His teachers at school are also concerned about his eating. He tells everyone (home and school) that he does not want to eat but complains sometimes that his tummy hurts. He will not eat anything with hamburger meat in it, any kind of pasta (including mac & cheese), eggs, rice, anything with cheese, soups, or any veggies. He will eat the following sometimes and then sometimes he will say they are yucky: chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pork chops, chicken legs, corn, hot dogs, fruit, milk, cereal. His teachers tell me they are concerned about him eating so little and I am too. I've addressed this to the pedi before and she thinks he's ok even though he's below average in weight. His daycare has started recording everything he is eating and I have too so we can sit down and look at it. Maybe he is eating more than we realize. Does anyone know of anything I can do to get my ds to eat? We sit down and have meals together as a family. We have also cut any snacks and drinks he used to get between daycare and supper. A lot of times he will sit down at the table, look at his plate and say he's done, he's not hungry. I really need some advice because this is tearing my nerves up! Thanks.
Thanks to everyone for your posts. A few things: he does have problems with constipation (always has) so the pedi told me to give him miralax when needed and this has really helped his bowel movements. We eat supper around 6:30 every night. And we never push him to eat. His teachers don't either and they record what he's eaten in a notebook I took to them so I don't even think he knows they're doing it. I do agree that it's a power/attention thing because he talks about not eating all the time! But I did give him a snack yesterday after reading the post about not taking away his snacks and he did still eat his supper. It's good to know that I'm not the only one concerned about our kids growing. And it's not just how much he weighs, it's also is he getting enough nutrients in the day? But thank you all for your advice. : )
I know this is late, but my son does this when he's full of poo and almost ready to go, or when I give him too much milk. We're having constipation and "D3 cycle" trouble, I just didn't know. Your son might be great on the potty, mine isn't, but might also have this "D3 cycle" with not eating as part of the process:
http://www.drgreene.com/qa/learning-poop-potty
Good luck:)
They need a lot less than we *think* they need. Yet, it IS frustrating because, as mothers, we feel the need to feed!
How are his bowels? Does he poop regularly? Constipation could account for his tummy AND for his not wanting to eat. Does it hurt when he does go?
I'd starrt with the stuff he does eat and build around that.
In the morning, give him cereal & milk and some fruit and juice or milk.
For lunch, pack him a cold chicken leg and fruit and a cookie.
For dinner, try a hot dog and corn and some fruit.
Would he eat that all in a day? Because that's not all that bad.
Then you can add things like apple slices with caramel dip, try string cheese, try some yogurt and fruit, applesauce here and there.....
Is he eating dinner fairly late? Sometimes I think if you miss that "window" of hunger, they just get un-hungry or something. Maybe he's ready to "eat" his meal right after daycare? Can he eat earlier for dinner?
HTH.
He might just be a naturally smaller child. Not all kids are falling into the 50th percentile on the charts!
I tried to look on a growth chart, it looked like three year old boys range from 25 to 35 lbs. If I'm reading this right he is just fine. the say the most important thing is that they stay on a percentile rank, that is if he is in the 75th percentile for rank at one checkup and then suddenly drop to the 20th that is alarming but if he is in the 5th percentile for every check up then he is growing at a healthy, steady rate.
I think he sees this is driving everyone nuts and getting him lots of attention and it has become a control issue. Make sure he feels he is in control of a lot of other things in his life. Give him two choices of what to wear every day and let him choose his pajamas every night. give him two toothbrushes and have him choose which to use. Have him pick out the book to read at bedtime, etc etc they can always be choices you are happy (not shorts or long pants, just jeans or sweat pants) it is just to make him feel more in control. as to the eating Do not make a big deal out of it. Dont let him know they are writing everything down! Put a small bowl of fruit out where he can reach it but don't say anything. Ask him to carry a healthy snack in to Daddy but don't offer any to him, make him ask for it. At dinner serve him very small portions so he does not feel overwhelmed. Ask him to take a tiny taste of everything. Try to get his preschool to back off pushing him to eat as well. just keep having regular checkups with Dr. and giving him a mulit viatmin
He sounds about the size of my little guy. As long as he's growing and has energy don't worry. I wouldn't cut out the snacks, just make sure they are healthy ones. Some kids are just natural born grazers and you just need to make sure that when they do eat it's something nutritious. His tastes change just like yours, sometimes you just don't want that eggplant parmesan even though it's your favorite.
Our son has been between the 5th and 10th percentile for weight nearly all his life--he finally broke the 10% mark last year and has never hit 15%. During the first year, we worried a fair bit, however as we saw that he was growing at a healthy rate, active, and happy, we stopped worrying. It helped that our ped always said that he is just small and assured us that he was developing fine. I checked the numbers online, and your son is in 25th percentile--below average, however that shouldn't worry you as long as he has been growing consistently at the same rate. As another post says, he probably has figured out that he can stir things up through picky eating and it may help most for all the adults to make sure there is no visible fuss about food. Kids are programmed for survival; he will eat when he's hungry. Good luck!
If you haven't tried this, I would suggest trying priobiotics such as a little yogurt everyday or some kid-appropriate priobiotic supplements. I'd ask your doctor about priobiotics, too.
My DS will eat a big breakfast but then really just eats small meals/snacks throughout the day. He is also very active and I make sure he gets lots of exercise.
For example, he had eggs with avocado/cheese, yogurt and fruit for breakfast. Around 11:30am he had trail mix, for lunch part of a half sandwich and he was full, about 2pm a handful of carrots with dip=full, 3:30 he had a banana and milk=full again. For dinner at 6pm he had some pasta and veggies with the rest of the family but only about 8 bites. At 7:30pm he wants maybe a few bites of a fruit bar and milk. Not a lot of food at each sitting but because he is eating throughout the day, I don't worry about it. Plus his pedi said not to worry.
My son is 41 in tall and 36 lbs; tall & lean.
Just keep offering what he likes for right now. As he continues to get older, he will want to try different things.
If he’s hungry he’ll eat.
My little guy who is 3 1/2 as well is about 36" and not even 30lbs yet-as hard as I try and no matter what he eats, I cant seem to get him over 30lbs! He is a very picky eater, some days he will eat breakfast, a few crackers, and some milk, all day. Other days he will eat very well. I was always told since he was born till about 3 that he is small-my husband and I are too so I dont worry about it anymore. He is still wearing some 24 months pants, with 3T-4T shirts, it sucks but I cant drive myself crazy anymore, I figure he will eat when he is hungry.
