Three year old such a slow eater

[AnxiousPixie]

My DD has turned into a massively slow eater now she is fully feeding herself. She has been for a while but it seems to be getting worse.

A meantime can take over an hour unless I constantly encourage/remind her what she should be doing.

I don't think it is portion sizes?? She just isn't interested.

She gets no snacks between mealtimes she is just a daydreamer. I'm worried when she goes to preschool full time they won't wait for her to finish, they don't have all day. She melts down if it's taken away before she's finished.

Friends have suggested all sorts, drip giving her food a little at a time, giving her a set time and then taking away what she hasn't eaten, nothing seems to work.

It's really frustrating me. I am dreading every mealtime and I think she is picking up on that now and getting fractious too.

Any ideas that might chill us both out/get her to eat faster? I literally have to say 'eat your food' every couple of minutes to get her to eat a meal in half an hour.

[LeGrandBleu]

Is she eating on her own or with you.
Is she eating at the table or sofa watching tv?

Don't ruin the atmosphere by rushing her, it is actually more natural to take the time to eat and please do not take away the food for her or transform her in a grazer eating all day long.
Some people are slow, others are fast.

[Caspianberg]

How fast are you wanting her to eat? Tbh as adults a mealtime for dh and I is around 30-45mins. I assume when our baby is eating it will be same or a bit longer

[JeanMichelBisquiat]

Are you happy that there are no problems with tonsils and adenoids? One of my kids had huge t and a, and took hours to eat minute portions (in retrospect, due to not being able to breathe while chewing!). Just something to double-check...

[AnxiousPixie]

Thanks for the responses. I am desperate for mealtimes to stay nice.

We are eating with her. The rest of the family are done eating in about 20-25 minutes. Inc two slightly older children. I end up letting them get down as it doesn't seem fair to make them sit for another 30 mins. So it ends up being just her and me at the table.

We don't eat in front of the TV, have always eaten at the table together.

TBH if it's just me and DH we've normally eaten in about 15 minutes unless it's date night.

I'm more worried that I know they only get 30 minutes to eat at preschool. Which is why I was trying to find a nice/fun way to encourage her to speed up before she starts so it's not a shock. If I didn't encourage her she can be eating for well over an hour.

Thanks for the suggestion of tonsils but no issues there.

[crossstitchingnana]

My 3yo was like this. 14 years on she still takes a bloody age. Sorry, not helpful I know. Just some people wolf and some peck I suppose.

[elaeocarpus]

Ive got two slow eaters . The older one by 8 ate much more quickly, the younger at similar age is still slow,

Preschool/school will work with them- mine were always served first/made to start first, and in primary in early years they monitored all the kids and let slower eaters take longer to eat, but they miss some playtime.