getting a 3 year old to eat

firstly don't force him to eat, secondly don't give him any thing sweet before breakfast. when he gets hungry he will eat. i have a three and a five year old and it method works for me. especially the no sweet before breakfast

I wouldn't worry. If he is hungry, he will eat. I wouldn't force any child to eat, but I wouldn't give him treats if he isn't eating his healthy meal. For my kids, if they want some kind of treat, they had to eat their regular meal. If they were still hungry, later in the evening they would get a treat.

I think you need to be patient when in comes to feeding. Give hime milk atleast 2 times of the day. Milk is said to be a complete food. Formula milk would have all added nutrients. I also have facing the problem with my son who is 21/2 years old but not everyday. If I tell him that I will switch off the TV or his computer, he would eat. Even if he eats little at that time, I would try to mix all vegetables and feed him. i would suggest Vitamin or fish oil for him.

One of my cousin's children was like that when she was that age. She would eat maybe two or three bites at a meal. My cousin and her husband checked with her pediatrician who did some tests and said she must be assimilating every bit of food she was eating as she was not deficient in essential vitamins or minerals. Hunger will eventually take over and your son will eat. The hunger drive in some children will slow down when they are not in a growth spurt and really take over when they are. If you are worried about nutrition, age appropriate vitamins or one of the nutrition drinks like Ensure or Nurish can help. Offer such as his only beverage at meals until he is consuming a reasonable amount of food. Speaking of beverages make sure he isn't drinking water or other beverage just before mealtime as this will make him feel full. A routine check up with your pediatrician is also a good thing just to be sure there are no physical problems with his mouth or digestive system. Not to alarm you but children that young don't often say if it hurts to chew or if eating certain foods make their stomach hurt. I had the opposite problem with my son when he was two. He was growing so much that for a few months we could not keep him full. He would make what I call "commando raids" on the frig in the middle of the night. Good luck and let us know how your son is doing.

Hello shadyshade. If your child can't eat that much every meals. Try to be as patient as you can in offering him small frequent feeding. Which means after his eating on breakfast, do not wait for lunch to come before offer him another food. May be by small feeding that he can tolerate at the moment but frequent would sum-up into a better amount of nutrients that he needed, and always offer him nutritious food. We can teach our stomach to eat more, than we used to, if we'll try to gradually increase the amount of food we eat. May be he has small capacity to store food at this time but gradually it can be increased by adding a little more at a time. Second you must also seek advice of a doctor to give vitamins needed to gain appetite on food. And third if your son can already comprehend stories, tell him stories about how nutritious food could strengthen his body resistance and fight against illness.

when my son was 3 yrs old, he also doesnt really wanted to eat, so as to give him the nutrients he needed, i give him milk or juice most of the time.

I believe kids at that age eat when they are hungry and they stop when they are not angry. We lose that with time. I will advice giving your little kid vitamins and things that appeal to her, like cereal (even a small bowl will be better than a biscuit) and s little bit of fruit, do not force her to eat, someday you will be trying to make her less. Good luck.

my 2 year old niece was like that before,but what myolder sisterdois that,she would tells her that she cant play nor do anything else unless she finnishes the food and its bad not to eat especially that other kids outside dont have foods to eat, and also they have this vitamins to make my niece to eat more, and i think it worked, youjust have to be more strict to her eating habit i think, and always have time table for his eating!!!