to be at the end of my tether with my dd!!

[goatshavestrangeeyes]

Okay i probably am bu but i'm not sure what else to do. I'm having huge problems getting her to eat at school and this has always been the case since she started. She is 6 nearly 7 btw. I've tried rewarding her when she does, punishing her when she doesn't but nothing works. She will literally go all day on half a sandwich if that. I think it is a case of her wanting to play and chat too much and not eat. I have spoken to her teachers and they cannot get her to eat either. Although she will happily eat at home.

Her friend has just come to the door to see if she wanted to play in her garden and for once i said no, because she hadn't touched her food. But i'm really not sure if this is the right way to go about it. Do you think i was being too harsh?

Totally agree with winnybella. School is only one snack and meal a day. The rest is within your control and it all sounds fine to me.

But OP doesn't say that she hands out snickers bars whenever her DD wants one, ILoveTIFFANY

And there is certainly nothing wrong with having an apple or a some hummous as an afternoon snack.

DD2 (just turned 7) is similar.
She eats a good breakfast, eats hardly anything during school day, has a snack immediately after school (Yogurt & cheese string) and has a hot dinner pretty shortly afterwards. Then a sandwich or maybe fruit before bed.

Sometimes she is so hungry coming from school that she is very cranky.
But she loves playing and chatting more than eating at school, and lunch will often come home almost untouched.

snickers bars? eh?

i was actually thinking of it more as a waste point of view! wasting food in her lunchbox,but expecting more a few hours later after school?? no way!

Ds2 used to be like this. I was literally making him a sandwich with one slice of bread which would have two bites out of it. I stopped putting anything else in his lunchbox. He was in too much of a hurry to go out and play.

He as grown out of it - now yr6.

'well if she doesnt eat but knows she will have access to a nice snack whenever she feels like it then i'm not surprised she's messing you about!!!'

It seemed to me that you were suggesting that OP was offering lots of snacks and by a nice snack I understood you to be implying something sweet/appealing to children iyswim.

And he didn't get anything after school - had to wait for tea.

x-post ilovetiffany

I just think that there's no reason to make a big deal out of it. She eats well throughout the day. I agree re:the waste, I would downsize on the amount of perishable food you put in the lunchbox.

I can't see anything wrong in offering an after-school snack. Quite the reverse in fact because my ds1 was always very cranky after an active day at school - regardless of how much or little was eaten at lunchtime. Appetites vary - not only from person to person but at different times of day. The OP's dd is getting a good breakfast so may not actually feel very hungry at lunchtime. But so suggest that she doesn't get something to eat when she is peckish strikes me as downright daft and the quickest route to causing real issues about food.

As it is, I suspect she's inherited her father's build and all the while she's lively, active and healthy, I wouldn't worry about what gets eaten at lunchtime. I'd also advise, strongly, against punishing her for not eating because that can set up an unhealthy relationship with food.

She's not underweight -she's fine! stop worrying !