Help Please. She Is Having Bad Intestinal Cramp. She Just Eat Junk Food. :(

Reduce the allowed amount of TV and junk, increase healthy options like water, fruit, and veggies, send her outside to play, and visit the pediatrician.

Call her pediatrician because this has nothing to do with junk food! I have a son with autism and was the king of picky eating and mostly junk food for years. He never looked unhealthy, just drove me nuts.

Why have you not taken your daughter to the ER? If she is pale and not having a bowel movement and in pain? She needs to be seen by a doctor. NOW. What if she's having appendicitis?

It could be something as simple as you changing your ways and giving her a proper diet. And lots of water. It could be something as serious as appendicitis.

My kids were NEVER picky eaters. I never allowed them to be. I am not a short order cook. I am not a special meals chef. We all get the same food, except on Sunday's which is left over night.

Get rid of all the junk food in your home. STOP BUYING IT. Only buy healthy food. She will NOT starve herself. I promise you, she will NOT starve herself. Stop coddling her and giving her junk food and allowing her to eat in front of the TV. The ONLY thing my kids eat in front of the TV is popcorn. Otherwise? We eat MEALS together.

I have apples, oranges, bananas, apricots, cherries and grapes on the kitchen counter. They can eat as many as they like. I have celery and carrots in the fridge - we put peanut butter in our celery. YUM! You really need to not allow your daughter to rule the roost. You are the parent.

Now take your daughter to the ER to get her checked out. I hope it's not appendicitis. I hope it's just constipation.

It's common for kids to be picky eaters. Just don't buy junk food. Keep lots of healthy snacks in the house, fruit, cheese, peanut butter, crackers, etc. Make good meals. Don't go out for fast food or buy things like chips or soda. If she wants treats then bake together, maybe a batch of cookies or a pie. Don't stress if she doesn't eat. Just say "okay well there's good food here if you get hungry." She's not going to starve to death. Don't turn eating into a war, and for goodness sake take her to the doctor re her skin tone and intestinal issues! The doctor is the person with experience you need to turn to now!

Why have you not taken her to the Dr?

Updated

Why have you not taken her to the Dr?

She might have some sort of an eating disorder.
Have you talked to your pediatrician about this?
Maybe he/she can give you a referral to a nutritionist or a psychologist.
Don't buy the junk food or even have it in the house.
Turn off the tv.
Try just having healthy food choices around the house.
Go out for a walk together.
She sounds very constipated.
For breakfast have oat bran cereal and prune juice.
She can snack on all the prunes and raisins she wants and she needs to drink a lot of water.
Have apples and grapes around the house too.

You need to get your daughter to a doctor now. Being pale and having bad intestinal cramps is very serious. She could have a blockage which could be life threatening. Don't wait till Tuesday. Get her seen by a medical doctor today.

I never allowed my kids to be picky eaters. Now that they are grown and have kids of their own? They are seeing what happens when you just give them what they want.

You need to provide your child with the right food. You are the one buying the junk food so you have no one to blame but yourself.

What you need is to throw away all of the junk food. No kidding. Yep. You are throwing away money. Sorry. You did this to yourself. Then you buy healthy food, fruits, veggies, cheeses, etc. and you provide those items for her to eat. she won't starve herself. She will eat.

This means you also have to eat right as well. You have to be the role model and show her how to eat right.

She doesn't eat what you prepare? That's fine. Go to bed. Get your shower, brush your teeth and go to bed. This is dinner. I'm not going to cook a special meal for you. We all eat the same.

Get rid of the TV. Why does she NEED the TV? Why can't she read or better yet, go outside to play?

Your child needs to be seen by a doctor. I hope you took her yesterday.

You need to be the parent. You need to get rid of the junk food in the house and make sure she has a healthy, stable diet. She will not starve herself.

I agree you have to talk to the pediatrician to rule out an eating disorder or sensory issue (where kids can't tolerate foods that feel a certain way in their mouths), and to have her checked on why she isn't going to the bathroom every day. If she has cramps, it could be because she's impacted in her intestine, or because there is a kink or a blockage. For now, put her on all fruit and high fiber foods (prunes if she will eat them, raisins if she will not), and lots and lots of water. No bananas, rice, applesauce, toast - those can block her up more (it's what we all give our kids when they have diarrhea). And NO cheese! It's a holiday weekend, so you won't be able to see the doctor during regular hours until Tuesday, but if she hasn't had a bowel movement in several days, you really can't wait 2 days more. I'd call the pediatrician's 24/7 line and ask for advice about whether they want her to be seen at a clinic or if they want you to put her on a laxative. But you need serious advice for that part. And it's going to be much, much faster than waiting for answers on the internet.

She cannot eat junk food if you do not buy it, so start there. I know that real food is more expensive, but you have to cut back somewhere else and simply not have any foods with "empty calories" in the house. Yes, she will probably have a fit or a tantrum, but you must ignore that and not give in.

She's probably got a real absorption problem now because she has so much stuck in her intestines - she's not absorbing nutrients. You've got to get things resolved soon.

There are lots of ways to put high fiber foods into the things she already eats. I have tons of easy recipes for making fiber-rich and protein-rich pancakes, French toast, chicken nuggets and more. I used to make these for my son and he never knew they were "healthy". I have a lot of colleagues and friends who have kids with eating problems (sensory issues, cyclic vomiting, IBS, food allergies) and there are very simple ways to get through it if you are consistent and get a good education around it.

I know it's hot, but if you have air conditioning, you can put her in a warm bath - that sometimes stimulates the intestines. But if she hasn't gone in a while, it's going to really hurt when she goes, so she's probably trying to hold it in at this point.

Good luck.

Once you have ruled out any medical condition she may have, or medical emergency that is causing the cramps, etc. you need to get her dietary intake under control.

YOU are the parent, SHE is the child. And she's only 9. It is not too late, but don't wait any longer, to put your foot down & change what her choices are for meals & snacks. If she "just eats junk food", then she may have to go hungry for a few days before realizing that what you serve is her only option.

Are there things she does like, that you can make & are healthy? Then start there. If you truly don't know anything, then ask for her input. Let her be involved in creating a meal plan, grocery shopping & cooking with you, as much as you can. Get her interested in the wide variety of tastes & textures that making your own meals can expose her to.

If she's been eating junk food, processed food, dine-out & take-out food for so long, it's very likely that her taste buds are "dead" to the rich savory & sweet options unprocessed food can offer. If all you eat is oreos, it's hard to recognize the sweetness of an orange, for example.

Embrace this, embrace your daughter's health, make sure she & the rest of your family are doing what's best. Utilize sites like Pinterest to find food that is easy to prepare, healthy & tasty - a picture can be so tantalizing to get everyone interested in trying something! Best of luck. T. :)

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Sounds like you let her do what she wants to do. Remember you are in charge. As her mother you are responsible for her health. There have been many questions and answers about eating issues on this site. I suggest you look them up for ideas. Mom's on this post have given you good information about how to take charge.

I suggest you see a counselor if you're unable to set limits for your daughter. If you don't get control now, her teen years will be even more of a challenge when the consequences of not setting boundaries are more serious.

Who is the parent?
Put the food out at meal times. Don't buy any junk food. If you don't have it, she can't eat it. I used to put the food out.,if they didn't want it, they could make themselves peanut butter on wheat - no jelly.
They eat what's served or they don't.
No between meal snacks unless it's a piece of fruit or veggies.
She won't like it and it will get worse before it gets better.
Stick to your guns...

And give her some warm prune or OJ to see if that will get things moving. If not -- you should take her to the doctor.

Updated

Who is the parent?
Put the food out at meal times. Don't buy any junk food. If you don't have it, she can't eat it. I used to put the food out.,if they didn't want it, they could make themselves peanut butter on wheat - no jelly.
They eat what's served or they don't.
No between meal snacks unless it's a piece of fruit or veggies.
She won't like it and it will get worse before it gets better.
Stick to your guns...

And give her some warm prune or OJ to see if that will get things moving. If not -- you should take her to the doctor.

I think you needs to sit down with her and explain that her body is a machine and it needs fuel to operate correctly. Pull up a site that explains calories and nutrition and then start to go through the foods she's eating to see what nutrition is in there vs fruits and veggies. You can parent her by banning the eating of this stuff in your house however as she gets older there will be choices outside your home and into adulthood where you have zero control over what she eats. You needs to set the building blocks of healthy habits now so she's not floundering her entire life.

Well first off if she had not been using the bathroom and is not having cramping she could have a blockage and needs to be seen by a doctor. As for only eating junk and eating only in front of the tv, that is a behavioral issue and it is your job as the parent to correct it. Don't keep junk in the house, don't allow food in front of the tv, ect.

Ask your pediatrician for a referral to a nutritionist.

Look up a condition called ARFID -- avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. It's also called SED, or selective eating disorder. It's severe picky eating, to the point where there are limited "safe" foods and they're usually junk. Our son has it and got so underweight even on his safe junk foods he had to go through eating disorder treatment (there is no cure for ARFID, but they got him to eat more quantity-wise). He also has encopresis from time to time, where he doesn't poop every day and it leads to problems. Look up both and see if either/both resonates.

Being a picky eater doesn't mean they'll have cramps and constipation all the time. Our girl is SUPER picky. She does get constipated but even when she's not she might not go every day.

I think that trying to force her to eat this or that can have a negative effect. They feel trapped and shut down. This is how eating disorders start.

Please call the pediatrician and ask them iv they'll make an appointment for you with a nutritionist.

BUT don't expect her to eat anything they say she needs to eat. The purpose of you getting this knowledge is so that YOU have the information and can make healthier meals overall for yourself and your family. She might not eat a bite.

Please know that kids won't eat what YOU want them to eat when they will simply stop eating and get sick. Finding alternatives that will be healthier AND that they will eat is a huge challenge.

I think that she's developed an eating disorder and it could be because she feels forced. She needs to see someone about this if you think that might be what this is.

Not eating for days isn't good for anyone. Our girl will do that and end up in the hospital if we don't compromise and at least try to accommodate some of her meal wants.