5 Year Old Not Eating

At nearly 6 he is old enough to understand that he's not getting the junk if you tell him he's not getting it. Tell him he can only have good food, and first offer the ones you know most kids like. Offer him mac n cheese with hotdogs in it, apples, oranges, chicken. Put green beans on his plate and tell him he has to eat at least 2 of them before he can be finished. Don't even make the fruit snacks and donuts an option. There is nothing in them that he needs. Even peanut butter and jelly are good for him because of fruit and protein. Try those too. A grilled cheese is good with the option of ketchup to smear on top. Just ask my 8 yr old. haha I recently bought some of the sweet potato french fries and those are going over very well with my kids that don't eat sweet potatoes. Also try not to give him too much milk when it's meal time. He'll fill up on that and not eat anything you give him. Just remember his age. If he's old enough to write and go to school, he's certainly old enough to understand what he can and can not eat.

Quit giving them junk foods. He's not going to eat his dinner, or lunch or breakfast, if he knows that if he waits, he will get something else, that he likes better. You need to cut that stuff out of his diet, he needs nutrition. There is a real problem with obesity in children in this country these days. You see skinny parents with fat children, it's not fair to do to the poor kids, when you become an adult, and your set in your ways, it's harder to loose wait and change eating habits. Even if it doesn't make them gain, it will still make them unhealthy.
Break out the carrot sticks apple slices, celery sticks, cuke slices, anything you can find to snack on that is healthy. Don't give them fruit snacks unless it's fruitabu ( a healthy, organic, 100% fruit, fruit snack) the others are full of sugar.
You need to change your kids diets around for their own good, before it sticks with them. They may hate it for a while. They may refuse to eat for a while, but they will eat when they get hungry enough, trust me.
It's not healthy to eat donuts and fruit snacks. It is just sugar and fat.

Hi! I have 3 children, 9, 7 and 2. My only suggestion would be to keep offering the healthy food choices. We all know how stubborn kids can be!! I wouldn't offer the donuts and fruit snacks until your 5 yr old has tryed a small ammount of the meal that is offered. Good Luck!!

I share the pain with ya. My 10 year old used to be kinda like that. About the only things we could get him to eat a lot of the time was pb&j and tuna/cheese sandwhiches. grr.. But I would suggest not giving into letting him eat that junk (donuts and fruit snacks). Don't even have it in the house. But if you can't do that. then I would say, put down rules, where no junk without eating a decent meal. That's what dh and I did with our 10 year old when he was younger, but now that he's older he still knows he has to follow it. I've noticed that he's actually eating more decent foods, but sadly he's not totally into all the healthy eating. I'm looking forward to hearing other people's replies myself. =)

He just sounds like a typical 5 yr. old. Had the same probloem with 2 of mine so far. Doctor told me that he may be going through a growth spert, When kids go through a growth spert it alters their appetite. They sometimes just aren't hungry. As far as the donuts and fruit snacks, mine were the same way. They would eat a few snack, and drink alot of juice all day. Finally, I cut back on the amount of juice, and gave tham water, and I completely cut off the sweets until they decided to eat something good, also once I switched them to water instead of juice, they drank alot less. Turns out they were drinking so much juice, they were keeping their bellies full. Once I told them they couldn't have anything sweet, including juice, they finally started to eat better. They will eventually come to eat when they get hungry enough.

I had to put my son on the meal shakes for awhile for this very reason. He did get over his finickiness and began to try other foods.

SUPER advice so far!

Don't buy junk food. Don't buy snack food. Don't buy juice.
When he asks for it, open up the cabinet or frig and say VERY "matter-of-factly" that it looks like you're all out of donuts/junky snacks. Then say, but we're eating our next meal in X minutes. If you think you can't wait that long, there's a piece of fruit in the fruit bowl. Then turn away and find something to do. Don't acknowledge his negative reaction. That only fuels it.

Don't lecture, don't let him know the NEW rules. Just always be out of that junk when he wants it and have a healthy alternative available. This way he won't think there is a diobolical plan against him in the works.

I totally agree with the juice comments above. It's sugar water minus the carbonation (Soda/pop) for kids. Nearly empty calories.
If kids want something fruit flavored, how about FRUIT?! It has fiber too.

What does his doctor have to say about his weight? Is it possible he's gluten sensitive/intolerant? Which is what used to be called "Failure to thrive." You might want to look into that, it's easy enough to test for, I think.

Taking the conflict out of this is key. If you act like you don't care, there is nothing to fight about and he'll realize that if he's hungry, it's up to him to take a bite of the healthy things that are offered him. Just serve him up a VERY small portion of whatever it is the family is having. He can help himself to "seconds" if he wishes. He'll either eat it or he won't. He'll eventually learn that meals are his only shot at getting something in his tummy. (other than very healthy snacks such as whole grains and fruit and water)

Good luck.

My best advice? Stop giving in. Tell him he can have one donut or fruit snack a day and make sure the people he sees regularly are aware. He will be hungry enough to eat other things.. and in the meantime let him drink PediaSure and/or take a multi vitamin.

He will not starve. If he sees you upset over it all he will know he has control, so dont' stress it. Let him come around.

This was the advice given to my aunt when her kids took to eating only one thing.

Also make sure he sees you eating wide varieties of foods... let him help plan menus and cook where appropriate... and try things he can "dip" I take plain yogurt and spices and make all sorts of dips for veggies, fruits and meats.... The more interactive the meal is from start to finish the more likely this spell will break!!!

It is a hard thing though!!! So stick to your guns and good luck!!

I babysat for a friend who's daughter ,5 years old ,would only eat...italian bread with real butter, hot dogs with the skin removed, black olives and kraft mac and cheese. She spent a lot of time at our house and ,having 2 of my own, I had to tell her Mother that I just couldn't do that.
So we started just telling her that to be strong and healthy she needed to eat more good foods, at my house and at home. She was stubborn and hungry for about 4 days , lol. But eventualy she got hungry enough to try some things and then just like that it was all over.
If all else fails bribery usualy works. Make him a smallish plate of dinner, and tell him no dessert until it's all gone. Or try letting him help plan and make dinner, my girls love that !
You have got to stick to your guns , eating habits are so important and stay with us our whole lives.

My son is 6 and he went through it about a year and a half ago. I tried everything including bribery to get him to eat other things(all he wanted was pizza and apples). Finally I got tired of it and sat there with him until he ate what the rest of the family ate. He was stubborn as a mule but I knew if I didn't stop it his sisters would start copying him. But your foot down before your 15 month old starts copying him because when that happens you'll feel like a short order cook. Also if he is too stubborn go through the house and throw away the junk. Replace the junk with fruits, veggies, and yogurt. If you are worried about the health food being appealing they even have purple cauliflower(my husband can't resist it either).