Hi,
My daughter will be 6 in 5 weeks time and as such has always been very small for her age. Lately though her appetite is very diminished even more than normal. We are struggling to get 1/2 weetabix, 1/4 slice bread and yoghurt and fruit for lunch and a side plate of tea into her. I have tried all sorts but if she can taste supplements in juice she won't drink them!! As a baby and up until 2 she had reflux badly and i have wondered if this is starting again but I wondered if there are any suggestions on how to boost appetite naturally to help her....
she is very energetic and cannot continue to do activities such as irish dancing and majorettes and not eat!!
Many thanks....
Claire
Hi Delamare
My youngest is one of those - seems to live on fresh air and sunshine, with very little in the way of fiber!
It is worrying, but so long as she's reasonably healthy and is eating something, she should be ok.
A doctor reassured a friend that it takes 128 days to die of starvation and that as long as her little one was actually eating she should be fine. I kept reminding myself of that. Still do, actually.
You might want to get her checked out by the doc, but really there's nothing you can do to force them if they won't eat - trying to do so tends to make it worse, in fact.
Chin up.
Fx
I was a nightmare to feed when I was little. My family GP, when I was 8 years old, told my terrified mother that I patently wasn't suffering (always on the go - sporty etc) and to stop trying to feed me.
Both my mother, and my school, used to make me sit until I had cleared my plate. It never worked. My school gave up after making me sit in the dining room until 4pm 5 days in a row!!!!
Our GP recommended that my mother stop providing me with heaped plates of stuff, and to remember that my stomach was only the size of my fist - had I managed to eat the stuff she used to heap on, I would have been the size of a house!!! The minute she gave me the choice of helping myself from bowls of food on the table I took what I wanted, and often went back for more. She relaxed. I relaxed (and she also took me out of school lunches and I took marmite sandwiches instead - for 9 years!!!!!)
Your little one will eat if she is hungry. Make sure that fruit is available at all times, also milk and low-sugar or sugar free squashes.
Hi delemare,
Hope you dont mind me adding a little bit to the already excellent advice. Hard tho it is try not to worry and make eating an issue with your little one as this as this lead to all sorts of attention/beahaviour issue. It sounds to me that you are doing a fantastic job with her and are a very caring mum so pat yourself on the back for that, offer her small frequent things that she like and keep on introducing/encouraging her to try different food (dont react if she pulls a face or rejects is just offer it again in a different format a few weeks/months later) The less of an issue food is the sooner she will relax with it and as the others have said as long as she is active and healthy you aren't doing so much wrong :)xx