Can my child live on watermelon?

[Melonononon]

DD is 4 and has just started reception. She has always been a horrifically slow eater, and all meals are a fight. She takes at least an hour to eat a meal, even something small like a slice of toast will take 1+ and that’s with me telling her to eat every mouthful. If I leave her to it, she would literally just sit and stare at the plate. I’ve tried sitting at the table with her, sitting by herself, letting her watch tv, bribing her with treats if she eats quickly, literally nothing works. It’s like this for every single meal, no matter what I make, even if it’s something she loves or she’s asked for, she just doesn’t eat. I have older children so I know the difference between ‘child eating slow’ and this and this is a nightmare. I have a fear that I’m going to give her a future eating disorder, but I literally don’t know what else to do. If I let her leave her food she then gets hungry later. If I take away her food, she wakes up crying in the middle of the night because she’s so hungry. So every mealtime is me sitting next to her saying eat, eat, eat

now she’s started reception, she’s exhausted so has been sleeping in. Obviously this leaves even less time for her to eat and it’s making the morning incredibly stressful. She absolutely loves watermelon and it’s the only thing I’ve found that she eats quickly. I’ve googled and it’s not exactly a fully nutritious breakfast, but it’s not terrible. Would it be an anwful idea to literally just let her eat a huge portion of watermelon by itself for breakfast 5 days a week?

I've had a lot of tonsillitis myself and that is a really good thought. Worth ruling out if nothing else.

I would speak to your HV as it sounds like somethings going on in the dynamic around her eating and you trying to get her to eat, it might be physical or psychological so I would get her checked out. Solely watermelon may well give her some bowel issues if she’s anything like my daughter! Is it a textural thing so you could see if she’s keen on other foods that may have similar mouth feel?

Thanks everyone. I hadn’t thought of smoothies but I’ll give them a go!
for the questions asked- she eats healthily through choice, doesn’t like bread/pasta/potato or carbs but prefers fruit/veg/meat. She will eat some crisps or sweets but doesn’t like cake and will choose to stop eating when full rather than asking for sweets or chocolate. She loves yoghurts so I’ll try those too.
for those who’ve asked about school, she eats very slowly there too apparently. She regularly tells me she hasn’t had a break because she spent the full time eating. Sometimes she leaves food because she would rather play than eat.

I don’t think there’s an issue with her tonsils but she does often get chest/throat infections during winter so I’ll check. We only met the health visitor once and that was a couple of years ago so I wouldn’t even know who to contact for that. I’m not sure she even has one now she’s at school?

good point, you could ask for an appointment with the school nurse perhaps?

Totally fine, crack on

It's HV till 5 then I'd go to the GP. They will also know who is your HV.