Worried that 5yr old ds isn't eating enough

[nutcracker]

His appetite just seems to have got smaller and smaller over the past few months and he has gone off lots of foods that he previously ate without complaint.

If you ask him his fave food he will say chips, but we don't have them often probably once a week at most and even then he won't actually eat them all.

He used to love bananas but now won't even consider having one, same goes for strawberries, scrambled eggs and vegetables, potatoes, just loads of stuff.

He is starting to look a bit skinny and well like he has lost weight and I am not sure what to do to get his appetite back.

He has school dinners and as no one had told me that he didn't eat them I wasn't thinking there was much of a problem, but today he tol me that the dinner ladies are always telling him to 'eat some more' so he obviously isn't eating there either.

Tonight I did beef stew with crusty bread. He ate 1 mouthful of stew and bits of the bread.

I have tried reducing the amounts that I give him incase he is too daunted by whats on his plate but it makes no difference.

[Frizbe]

sorry no personal experience of this, but bumping for you, hope it gets sorted soon.

[nutcracker]

Thank you

[BrieVinDeAlkaSeltzer]

Can you start a trade off chart ?? Eat this, this and this over a week and you can have [insert as appropriate]

My DB was THE worst eater in the world, even now 35 years later DS and I can still get the pitch of my DM saying...............Eat your dinner X, Eat your dinner X...Totally pitch perfect.

He is now the best cook and eats anything that is not pinned down..

[Roobie]

My 5yo dd is the same. She has a few tiny mouthfuls and then says she's full. Is not as though she'd gorge herself on rubbish either if given the chance. As long as he still seems generally healthy and energetic I wouldn't worry and put it down to a phase.

[nutcracker]

Yeah I was thinking of some sort of reward system, that could work.

He is still quite energetic etc, I think it is just the fact that he was previously quite a good eater and the fact that he has gone off alot of his fave foods that worries me.

I am also going to ask his teacher to ask the dinner ladies to tell them if he isn't eating.

[BrieVinDeAlkaSeltzer]

It may be a case of he is expending less energy in the winter and therefore feels he needs less food. Just a thought...

[mimsum]

with the benefit of having gone through this with not just one but two children I can truly and honestly say it's a phase

at one point ds1 would go for a whole day eating nothing but two spoonsful of cornflakes and 4 raspberries - I know cos I was counting and yet somehow he not only survived, but thrived (in a very skinny way!)

he's now nearly 11 and although he still doesn't eat as much as some of his friends he eats much more and is much better about trying new stuff and eating a wide variety of food - he's very sporty so is obviously getting what he needs

ds2 (just turned 8) is still very thin, but is also starting to get a bit better at eating - we were seeing a paediatrician at the time for another problem and she said that children did not starve themselves, and that as long as you keep offering a wide variety of food they will eventually eat it - we also often misjudge the amount of food children actually need - if they're not going through a growth spurt they often need far less than we think

the advice we got was not to worry - if mealtimes start turning into a battleground, parents are bound to lose - to offer food little and often and to make sure that whatever we offered was nutritious (without being boringly worthy all the time ) - sometimes I'll just put a plate of chopped up fruit on the table when they're playing a game without saying anything and 9 times out of 10 it'll go, whereas if I asked them if they wanted some or cajole them to eat it they'd kick up a fuss

[nutcracker]

Hadn't thought of that, and it could be true as he does spend alot of time indoors in winter as he hates the cold.

Will try a couple of things and see how he goes. Will stick him on the scales tommorow too just so I will know if he does lose anymore weight.

[VictorianSqualor]

DD(7) has started doing the same lately, she has always been a great eater but she just isn't at the moment. Some meals she will still eat tons, and has been eating more at lunch than dinner.

I'll keep an eye on it but tbh, don't think it's a big deal, unless she becomes malnourished I think it's best to just keep score of what is going on without really mentioning it. She still has to sit at the table with us until dinner is finished by everyone else, it's our one dinnertime rule, but she doesn;t have to eat if she doesn't want.

She'll soon grow out of it I'd assume. I have said to her 'don't you want to finish that' and she has just said 'I'm not really hungry'. That's that IMO.
I've also noticed she has changed what she does and doesnt like, I'd gather that is her taste buds changing, as they do when they are children.

[WanderingHolly]

Sounds like a phase/using fewer calories in the winter to me.

You said he's still energetic - to me this says he's fine!

One question: how are his teeth? If they are wobbly or sore, he might not like chewing much.