7 yr old DD just took an hour to finish a plate of food

[glammama]

This is food she likes,mind,and it happens every blimmimg mealtime. She is also incredibly fussy which I try not to pander to. But it's the slow eating which is really getting to me now. She had no time to read tonight (which she loves) as it was near 8pm when she finished. What on earth can I do to speed her up? She also doesn't normally have time to finish her meals at school and she is slender for her age and height. All suggestions gratefully received.

DeeDee, you have my DD too! But can she eat chocolate mousse at the speed of light like mine?

Now here she is different; she does not have a sweet tooth and is not very interested in sweets/chocolate. Which of course is a very good thing, except I can't ust pudding as any kind of bribe.

As if I'd do that kind of thing....

I agree with daisy, use a timer. It does work. Also check the amount of food put into mouth each time. If its lots of tiny mouthfuls thenencourage larger bites.

What about a sticker chart- if you finish meal by the end of timer you get stickers, so many stickers mean x treat? She chooses.

hello tori!!!! You're absolutely right, DD will put morsels in her mouth which need to be under a microscope to be seen. I ask her to put more in her mouth so she then shovels great galumphing forkfuls in and will then proceed to gag. Sigh. I do try and guide her towards a happy medium. Like others have suggested, I do find having a clock in front of her very useful. She's with exH this weekend so I will ask him to do the same.

And I'll try the stickers as well. Thanks .

I suggest a smaller plate, and smaller portions (build up) and although it appears harsh I did get results by setting a 25 time limit to eat their food. After that it was taken away.

Hello All,
Is my 3and half year old too young for timer?? Please advice. When I was young I used to take ages to do everything whether its brushing my teeth or having dinner even now I am very slow I finish my meals after everyone. So I thought slow eating was in my genes and never tried anything.

Hmm, not sure about the 3.5 yo, maybe a bit young, but try it and see! I think at that age really small portions is a good place to start.

Howsit going glamma?

My 8 yo took an hour every meal (everyone said 'That's good for his digestion!', but I can tell you it was no good for my sanity having to spend 21 hours a week waiting for him to eat), until he was diagnosed with asthma 1 year ago. He has always had enormous tonsils, and I had told the Dr about the slow eating he said to allow just 15 mins and then into the bin, but as soon as DS was on nightly inhaler both his appetite and the speed of eating changed miraculously. He's put on weight (was dead skinny before but is now really healthy looking) and I feel he has enough reserves for any of those bouts of illness they all suffer at times. Whenever the asthma gets worse though, his mucus production increases and he finds it hard to breathe and swallow, and the mucus fills his tummy so he doesn't feel like eating so much. Took the Dr and us to realise he does have asthma can be hard to diagnose.

My mum told me to put less on her plate as it is then less overwhelming for her. I put big portions cos that is how much she used to eat, but as she is now nearly 4 her appetite seems to have dropped off. She even leaves pasta sometines. She will eat this quicker tho than veg and pots. I get quite stubborn and make her sit at the table, and even when I'm doing it I know it wont work, it will just upset us both and make her more stubborn.
But it makesme so mad.
Trouble is if I gave her dessert she would wolf it

GRRRRRRRR

The asthma diagnosis is very interesting. May take DD back to Gp as dhe is also a bit phlegmy (sorry).
Last night DD managed to eat in half an hour which is good. ExH on board as well which is also good. As long as DD is not stressed out, I'll keep doing the timer thing. If I put small portions on her plate she will just want more food after pudding. And I'd rather she got the bulk of her food from her main course rather than secondary main/pudding combos eg crumpets.

Hallelujah! We are not alone!! DS almost 3 can take an hour to eat a relatively small portion of food. Always been the same. Drives me insane as my family have always been food lovers. I've tried bribes, threats, chucking food away, no treats etc etc.
Have a theory now though, bit like Mustdo's situation - DS has enlarged adenoids (therefore cannot breathe & eat at same time) and massive tonsils (v small gap for food to pass through) which often leaves him gagging (or actually throwing up in a public restaurant whilst eating a ham sandwich which was a little embarressing).
He's due to have the whole lot removed in the next few weeks, so I'm hoping things'll improve then and he'll start to enjoy food...