Help?

My suggestion is to not worry too much if she doesn't eat what you are having. I have a very picky daughter too and she does not like to eat what we are having most of the time so she eats nothing or only part of the meal we are having. I only serve healthy foods except for very special occasions. I feel that it is better for them to eat nothing than to eat junk food all day. If you do not have junk food in the house, then she won't be able to eat it. She won't starve if she doesn't eat all day long. Try to serve at least one thing at each meal that she will eat and hopefully she will eat that thing but if not, she gets nothing. After a meal or two of not eating, she'll be hungry enough (and realize that you are serious enough) to eat. It may sound cruel but it won't take long and kids are actually smart enough to not starve themselves.

what i have to say? i have no experience about that, sorry, i have no good idea

I don't have any children at the moment but I have a god-son that is like that. I try to have him eat the healthy foods by trying to make the food look fun and trying to play games with him so he will eat. Sometimes if he gives me a hard time about eatting what we are having then I will not let him eat the junk food he wants and then he ends up getting hungry and willing to eat what everyone else is having. Good luck with this issue.

My stepson did the same thing. He only liked junk food and wouldn't eat anything healthy. I threw away all the junk food and only had good stuff around. I bought several cans of ravioli and that kind of stuff, but not chips, cookies, or pop. When he ate his serving of real food, he earned ice cream for dessert. He couldn't scoop it himself, so it was safe to have. He is still a picky eater. I buy soups and such that he can heat himself. Kids go through phases. My mom always said don't worry, it will pass.

Give her fruits, veggies, healthy fats at every meal. If she doesn't eat it-nothing until the next meal which will be more healthy foods. Try making fruit salads and veggie pastas so that they are more appealing as well. This is how I was trained anyhow lol

you know the best thing to do is to cook her something that she likes. or you can slice up some apples and dumped them peanut butter.or you can do the same with celery my daughters are the same way theya are 5 and 2 so i know how you feel. you can also have her to make a fruit salad let her assist you in the kitchen this will help to cut some of the sugar out becuase these fruits are all natural sweetners and if she was to help you in the kitchen she will be happy to eat the fruit. another thing you can try is mini pizzas made with bagels or french bread have her design her own pizza with toppings that she love the most this can be a snack, frozen yogurt and let her put her favorite toppings , or sorbet and also my favorite make some mixed fruit with cereal snack bags this will include, raisins,mini pretzels unsweetened chocolate or butterscotch chips,and honey roasted nuts and if she dont like that try different nuts. hope this would work i can send you some recipes on kids sugarless meals if you like

I would think it will go away in time as it's probably just a phase. She won't starve herself. Continue to offer her healthy foods and NO snacks at all. If she complains she's hungry, so be it. If you give in to her, it's going to continue. My step-granddaughter eats almost nothing but sweets, and she's almost 8 now. That's because her mother continues to give in. Keep snack foods out of your house until she starts eating healthy. Then limit snacks very strictly until you're positive she's over this habit.

Even my son was like that from his small days. It started at one age and he got used to it. After that it becomes a habit that is irreversible. Can't something similar to junk food be prepared at home. You can fry chicken drumsticks with chips and gradually change the menu.

dont try to force her to eat something ,the more you try to force to eat the more she resist.dont give her anything for 1 day,dont worry nothing will happen,when she gets hungry she will come to you .make her understand the thereis no pint in eating junk foods.now she knows that by the end of the day she will win the battle.

I had this problem with my oldest when she was about 4 also, her choice of food being chocolate, so when at the GP's one day i mentioned it (GP has 5 children) and she hold me to put her on a chocolate diet. It worked she lasted two and a half days and still to this day is not a chocolate fan.

MY SON IS 4 AS WELL AND HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. I STARTED CHANGING THE NAME OF FOODS TO FUN SOUNDING FOODS...EXAMPLE: INSTEAD OF HAVING "GREEN BEANS" I TELL HIM THAT THEY'RE FLIGGY FLUFFS OR SOMETHING CRAZY SOUNDING LIKE THAT....LOL. I KNOW SOUNDS CRAZY BUT IT WORKS SOMETIMES. ALSO WITH MY SON I TELL HIM IF HE'LL EAT HIS WHATEVERS IT'LL MAKE HIM GROW HAIR ON HIS CHEST. HE'LL EAT THEM ALL AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE MIRROR LOOKING FOR HAIR. HOPE THIS HELPS!

Kids have difficult eating habits, don't they? I remember the phases of only wanting to eat peanut butter sandwiches or Cheerios. One thing you can do is to just stop buying the junk food. It's a real drag if you enjoy those items too but, as long as she sees them in the house or knows that you are buying them, she's going to keep holding out until she gets them. Kids are master manipulators :) There is a child on my inlaws side of the family who overeats to a frightening degree. She only wants junk food. In her case, unlike your daughter's, she is very overweight and starting to have health problems. I was in the company of this child only once, for a few days, and I never saw anything like it. While traveling, she wanted to stop at a fast food place. The adults said no. She begged and whined that she was hungry so they stopped at a restaurant where they could have a more "home-cooked" style meal with veggies, meat, potatoes. Well, the child DELIBERATELY made herself sick when they got outside the restaurant and, as soon as they were back in the car, she starting whining for the junk food again!! Also, during this same visit, we were in a very big mall. The kid harassed her mother constantly for EVERYTHING she saw. "I want Burger King" "I want ice cream" "I want candy"... it was awful :( But the mother gave in. I wanted to scream. Someone has to establish control and it has to be the adult. It doesn't sound like your daughter has a problem... but she is definitely normal and definitely testing the boundaries to see how long she has to wait until you give in. I wouldn't worry about her not eating. I don't think most kids of that age would refuse food if they are truly hungry.

yeh i have a 3yr old who loves the stuff and im not going to say she didnt get it from my because it would ba a lie ....plus what parent dosent want to give their children treats now and then....but now that i noticed its becoming a problem, i cut it out now i dont even eat it as much so it was a good thing after all.

I know where you come from here... having a six year old autistic son with the same problem... though we have learnt to simply prepare the food he likes. If you give them the choice it's far easier... eventually, like my eldest son, they will become lazy and eat whatever you cook for them.

She cannot eat it if it is not in the house. My 10 year old would eat junk food every meal if givin a chance. Junk food is call the sometimes food... We can only have sometimes food AFTER the everyday food. Good luck she will eat eventually, Children will never starve.

My 4 year old son was the same way. He didn't want to eat anything we ate, and often looked for any "junkfood" he could find. He tried popcorn,chips,soda pops,cookies,candies,etc. Finally one night I picked what I felt was the best one (popcorn)and threw everything else away. The first day was the worst, he cried and screamed most of the day probably due to a "sugar withdrawal" like my mom said (who knows) anyway when he said he was hungry I gave him a choice"popcorn or what we ate" he picked popcorn of course. After a day of popcorn only (which doesnt hurt even if they dont really eat anything for a day as his doctor told me) he started looking more and more into the foods everyone else was eating. I made sure I had grapes,apples,oranges in the fridge and sure enough he began asking for those things instead. He is 5 now and every now and then I will allow him Pizza (as this was his favorite) but I don't buy any of the cookies or candies I used to. It also stopped him from being so hyper :) which is GREAT!

We don't make a big issue out of meals at our house, we don't force our kids to clean their plates or try new foods. I would probably limit the snacks taking away slowly and replacing them with healthy fun snacks for her and at the same time encourage her to sit down at meal time and eat but don't force the issue, reward her somehow with a non-food item when she does eat healthy meals. I would say with time, patience and understanding on your part she will come around and want to sit down and eat normal meals with you. My kids went thru stages like this and they turned out healthy eaters so far. Good Luck.

She eats junk cuz you give it to her, clean the junk outta the house and have healthy choices, she will not starve herself trust me, healthy kids will eat. Who's in charge you or a 4 year old. She will thru fits and such, but she will not starve herself((hug))

I had this problem with one of my 4 children. I tried not to make a huge issue about it (as the more of an issue it becomes....the more of a control struggle it becomes). I simply put in place a system whereby snacks were given based on the percentage of the previous meal eaten. Also, if there was truely a food that he didn'tlike, I made him something else....hey, we all have our likes/dislikes! Hope this helps you a bit!

oh dude the same thing was happening with my cousins they were both 5 years old and twins. This is something that always works. If your daughter has a cousin maybe older sibiling or just a friend if your daughter sees them eating healthy food you know something besides junk food she will follow and eat the same. it works everytime we have a family gathering.