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Anyone else’s child suddenly gone fussy with food?

6 replies

NotMyCooking · 12/04/2020 23:33

DD is 5.

Since the lockdown started she’s gone really funny about food and will not eat anything. Pre-lockdown there was 6 or 7 things she disliked but would basically eat anything and was known to go back for seconds at school.

Now all of a sudden she hates everything. I made a roast dinner today and left over 3/4s saying she didn’t like it (it was roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, boiled and roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, green beans, peas and gravy) usually only thing she’d not eat is the green beans today she ate the roast potatoes and Yorkshire pud but left the rest. At tea time (it’s Breakfast, dinner and tea in my house) I made a ham and cheese sandwich, she picked out the ham and wouldn’t eat the rest. She’d usually have a piece of fruit and a yogurt as well but wouldn’t entertain it.

I’ve stopped her eating all treat foods (sweets, crisps, chocolate, icecream etc) until she eats properly but she just shrugs and leaves it anyway.

She currently won’t eat any kind of potato except roasted (including chips and mash which she usually wolfs down and wants more), is leaving all meats and fish (including chicken nuggets and fish fingers), won’t eat any fruit of vegetables, is not showing any interest in eating yogurts.

She’s drinking fine and doesn’t seem to be lacking energy (she never stops talking!) so I’m not overly worried about her but she is losing weight. She’s on the smaller side of average height and weight wise so it’s quite noticeable that she’s lost some.

I’ve tried getting her to help me cook and she still won’t eat it.

I’m a pretty good cook and I do what I consider child friendly meals as it’s just me and her; stuff like spaghetti Bolognese, roast dinners, fish pies, sausage and mash etc.

Anyone elses child like this? To reassure me it’s not just mine.

OP posts:
TimeAintNothing · 13/04/2020 00:35

Some children react to stressful events that they have no control over (e.g., lockdown) by focusing on the one thing they can control - their food intake.

One of my DC sees a dietician for issues around food and eating but the advice is relevant here too.

  • don't fuss over food. No persuading, begging, cajoling, bribing, punishing, insisting on "one more bite", etc.
  • offer a meal, allow a reasonable amount of time for eating it (30 minutes is usually plenty) and then take it away without comment regardless of how much or how little has been eaten
  • the main meal of the day should be two courses, a main meal followed by fruit or yoghurt or occasionally a pudding. Both courses are given as one complete meal with no conditions attached, the second course should never be withheld as a consequence of not eating all of the first course
  • always offer at least one 'safe' food at every meal, even if it doesn't quite go with the meal
  • if possible, allow the child to serve themselves from shared plates/bowls in the middle of the table so they can control which elements of the meal they put on their plate and the portion size
  • never use food as a punishment or a reward
  • if nothing at all is eaten then try wait until the next meal.time unless they are particularly hungry or it is going to be a long time until the next meal (e.g., overnight from dinner to breakfast). If this is the case then wait around an hour from the rejected meal and then offer a bland snack such as toast or fruit (waiting an hour means it is presented a separate eating time rather than a straight up replacement for the rejected meal)

To maintain her weight use full fat in everything that she does eat - whole milk, butter, yoghurts, etc. If she doesn't already take one, give her a good multivitamin every day such as WellKid which is the one the dietician recommended as it has everything in it.

Mainly it's a case of riding it out and hoping it's a passing phase.

NotMyCooking · 13/04/2020 01:05

I don’t usually give 2 course meals at the main meal times I don’t agree with it.

Otherwise I will try the other things. It’s everything though, she’s not even eating toast or anything. Only eating half her cereal at breakfast so I don’t think it’s to try and get the nice food, she genuinely seems to have gone off food.

OP posts:
TimeAintNothing · 13/04/2020 11:13

The two courses is more to do with calories than getting something nice after your dinner, the idea is that if they only eat a little bit of one course and a little bit of the second course then combined it's more calories and nutrients than a little bit of one course alone.

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SharpieInThe · 13/04/2020 11:26

"I don’t think it’s to try and get the nice food"

Which is why two courses is a good suggestion in this instance, especially if she's losing weight.

NotMyCooking · 13/04/2020 11:41

Ah thank you Sharpie that makes sense

OP posts:
NotMyCooking · 13/04/2020 17:56

Well that went well...not

One spoon of cereal for breakfast nothing else
Lunchtime I offered a sandwich she didn't even look at it
Tea time I let her serve herself. She put nothing at all on her plate, not even a spoon of mash (Had homemade chicken pie with mash and veg). We made a cake between lunch and tea and she told me she didn't want any of it.

Says she's full up from breakfast.

I've not said anything at all, not made it a battle. Let her leave the table. Going to try and see if she asks for food after breakfast tomorrow as I'm wasting so much.

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