My 'great eater' has stopped eating! Help!

Capitalchick

Sun, Apr 22 2012, 5:51 pm

My 3.y/o daughter has always been a great eater. She's always been petite, but since she ate so well, I've never worried.

She was always very happy with the healthiest foods, and we generally limited her junk intake, although not so much that she would develop an obsession with junk food! Her favorites have been salmon/chicken/steak, ANY fruit, cheese/yogurt, rice/potatoes.

But in the past month of so, she's just refused SO much food. She does not eat breakfast at all anymore, her teachers tell us that she eats reasonably well at school, and she generally eats almost no dinner. So, we know she's not eating 2 out of 3 meals a day and we're told she eats 'ok' at lunch. Everyone always says that kids won't starve themselves and that we shouldn't worry. We've been VERY VERY good about 'not worrying' for the past month. We truly don't make a big issue out of it and just accept when she says she doesn't want to eat. As Jews, this goes against every fiber in our bodies, but whatever....we've been good. But now a month has gone by and she's really not improving. Other than fruit, which she'll usually eat, she's lost all interest in all healthy foods. Even some of the "junk" we've allowed her (like chocolate cereal), she's not interested in. We've tried 'kid foods', like chicken fingers, pizza, etc., but she's not interested. Today she was offered macaroni and cheese at someone's house. She said she was SO hungry. She took about 3 bites and refused anymore...

What is going on and how do we get her over this hump?

Liba

Sun, Apr 22 2012, 5:55 pm

I have a daughter like that. She goes through eating stages where she eats wonderfully, then she goes through a growth spurt and then she stops growing and stops eating. When she isn't in a growth phase it feels like all she is willing to eat is cereal and milk. When she is growing she eats just about everything.

She can have a couple months of frustratingly little food intake, followed by a couple weeks of eating great.

Since you are worried it makes sense to start by going to the pediatrician, getting her checked out, making sure there is no physical reason for her not eating. Anemia is one of many things that can cause poor appetite. You should also get her height and wight checked so you know if her growth is still on a reasonable curve.

forever21

Sun, Apr 22 2012, 7:13 pm

I dont know any 3 yr olds who Do eat well. My 3.5 yr old goes days w/o eating much and then days eating nonstop. (if only he would tell me in advance what kind of day it's going to be : )). Is this your first kid? My pediatrician tells me this is normal, kids this age are too busy to eat. Half the time I'm chasing my kid around with food or distracting him by reading a book so he doesn't realize he's eating.