Dd age 9 resisting eating

amother

Tue, Apr 07 2020, 5:00 am

Dd is in general not a big eater. Just plain toast for breakfast, simple tuna and salad for lunch, or pizza, supper hardly touches. And of course she’ll eat nosh. The last few days with different foods around she’s really resisting eating. She keeps saying she’s starving but doesn’t want any of the food I offer. And yes they’re food she usually likes. I even bought noodle soups for now which I rarely allow since they’re such junk but I figured kids can enjoy it now with the hectic erev Pesach routine. How do I handle this? I rem when a diff kid did this to me for a few years running every Pesach. I’m going crazy.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Apr 07 2020, 5:06 am

IYH it's just a phase. I wouldn't worry unless you notice that she's having a really unhealthy attitude towards food, like calorie restricting, or hiding it and telling you she's already eaten it.

Toast, tuna, and salad all sound like very healthy meals. Ask her to help you with meal planning. That usually gets the child more invested in eating what is served. I mean, if she picked it out, how can she complain?

Does your DD get screen time? What worked for me is something that a lot of people do not agree with. When DD was in that phase, she almost never got any screen time. If she had to sit and look at her food, she'd barely touch it, and complain the whole time.

Once I sat her down in front of a movie, she'd inhale her whole plate without even thinking about it. The next thing she knew, she'd just eaten a nutritious supper, and barely had any room for nosh later.

While it's true that mindlessly eating in front of the screen can cause weight gain, in her case it was exactly what was needed at the time. Once she got past that phase, we could have more conversations about healthy food choices, without it being a struggle.

oneofakind

Tue, Apr 07 2020, 8:00 am

It might be anxiety that makes you lose your appetite even though you may be starving. I get that when I cook for a yom tov and then can't bring myself to eat.
Maybe a discussion about the current situation would be helpful.