My daughter isn’t eating!

Well no need to be rude. However I will say that I have been there with a child who couldn’t eat properly for around two years and if I’d outsourced all my thinking to the medical professionals then I doubt we would have ever have come through it! In our case they knew absolutely nothing and were pushing biscuits on our child which was the last thing she needed.

Anyway my comment wasn’t about the longer term management of her weight (since none of us know the underlying cause of that so why would i give advice on that) but about the wisdom of pushing unhealthy foods on her when she has a fever and her digestion is probably slowing down to protect her. Recovery from malnutrition isn’t going to be linear and it may be less stressful for the OP if she accepts that as her daughter no doubt has plenty of ups and downs in her future.

You must have heard of travel sickness tablets.

My colleague refers to it as “the little red ambulance” - but usually in relation to hangovers 😆

Red cans of coke were the only thing that got me through my latest pregnancy nausea!!

Don’t be hard on yourself! Just don’t put any more pressure on her from now, as you said she’s had a brioche and half a bowl of super noodles which to be fair is decent considering she’s poorly. As she gets better her appetite will start to increase hopefully

This isa risky (and potentially dangerous) approach for children who have underlying health issues that suppress their appetite.
With some conditions there is a need to take on calories regardless of how hungry or otherwise a child feels, to the point of tube feeding them or they just become weaker and weaker.

If the OPs daughter has a target weight from a medical professional she needs advice from her medical team, not some random lackwit on the Internet.

Don’t forget that sometimes as an adult it’s hard to eat for several days when unwell. It’s no different for her. Those vitamin packed milkshakes are great if she’ll have them.

Will she drink full fat coke? Obviously not the best thing long term but I had awful ongoing nausea and really struggled when trying to gain weight back post illness, but the sugar from a cold can of coke perked me up quite considerably. Hope shes back to herself soon x

What about some huel? Even shots of it at a time if she can't manage more

My 11 year old daughter is exactly the same as this. When she isn't well, or is worried about something she can't eat. If she tries to eat she starts retching and will actually vomit. I find it very distressing.

She ended up in hospital once on a drip as she also stopped drinking as well as eating when she had a virus.
She is also very slim and has no fat on her. When she's feeling ok she eats really well but she does worry me.
All I can say is if she usually eats ok try not to worry and hopefully her appetite will pick up again once better

Well it’s better than nothing!!

this is really weird to me. her body doesn’t want food, she should trust that (unless she’s anorexic) and attempting to push her towards ice cream and other junk food is not what her body needs right now.

i would boil some chicken meat / bones into a broth for her to drink. you can include veggies if you want the nutrients.

but really being underweight for a short period of time isn’t a big deal.

Anything is better than nothing even junk food which she has as a treat. Buy what she LOVES even if it’s not ideal eg sweets or chocolate. Sometimes when poorly a decision to eat is too much when you feel rubbish. Can you buy fresh OJ or a can of pop (ones with sugar in) or a smoothie put it in a glass and leave by the side of her. edamame pods / peas things are quite dense and have lots of calories.

Another idea put some “junk items and fruit at the side of her on a plate don’t talk about it and walk off. No more talking about food. Like a mummy snack plate at the side of her. Never question the plate. Never give the crisps / sweets with the wrapper on as she might / could be watching her calories always unwrap things / pour drinks into a glass as if she knows OJ is 300cals a glass she might not have it. Milkshakes are good for calories.

Pizza express dough balls try the treat food / pitta bread. Or humous / avocado / nuts all those dense food

Good luck hope she feels better soon

Mcdonalds/ 5 guys milkshake

8yo dd had this recently and she's only just beginning to eat proper portions again now. She's autistic, so being ill really knocks her - especially as she has a fear of being sick and goes into a panic attack whenever she feels sick. For ages afterwards, her food intake is extremely limited until she feels confident that she won't be sick. She loses a lot of weight. I focus on keeping her hydrated.

In your situation, I'd continue to give her whatever she fancies, whether it's healthy or not. Dd loves gravy, so I was able to convince her to try mashed potato with gravy, nothing else. And fruit cut up small. Also breadsticks, cucumber - really just took my lead from her. Small portions just to get her used to eating again and building confidence. Even chocolate. Her appetite still isn't back to pre-sickness, but she's eating enough and getting back to her normal self.

Good luck op.

It sounds very hard and you sound understandably worried.

But, this is a short term blip in the long term plan. You have to focus on the long term plan.

There are always going to be bumps along the way of her ultimately becoming a healthy weight.

Simple carbs are easy to absorb when you're nauseous so I understand why she would pick those.

I think you have to stick with the usual principles of children and food - you control what you offer and they control what they take.

Hydration is most important - if you can add calories into the drinks that's a bonus, but not if it stops her drinking.

If money is not an issue, can you ask her what she fancies and get that with minimal judgment on whether it's 'enough'.

Hopefully she will get her appetite back soon, poor thing! I would literally give her anything she wants even if it is some super noodles and a brioche!! Ice lollies, salty crisps, biscuits..Anything! I’m sure she will be absolutely fine most people lose their appetites when they are poorly. Is there any takeaways she likes could she be temped to eat a little?

All of those are too rich for someone feeling sick. Please do dry biscuits or dry toast and then gently introduce small amounts of anything else she'll eat.

BTW I don't know if these specific tablets can be prescribed to children so don't hold me to it.

And as putting pressure on her, just say sorry I was just panicking as I want you to be well and eating again but I know it's an awful feeling so let's take it at your pace until a doctor says otherwise (or something like that so it's a finite you lead this, but for now she calms down about it).

It’s the vicious cycle of feeling sick because you aren’t eating and then feeling sick when you do eat. I’ve experienced it and she has to push through it and it goes away.

OP be gentle with yourself and her. You're doing your best and I can't criticise you even if ai wanted to because I haven't been there.

It's alright though. This isn't an emergency. Try to accept that her attaining the weight goal will not be a straight line, there will be hiccups and it's nobody's fault. This is okay.