My four year old is not a picky eater, but he eats VERY slowly. I put food in his mouth or it takes forever.?

Question

He eats well if I feed him, but will sit for 45 minutes to an hour without eating if I don't feed him by my hand. I am not willing to let him bypass meals altogether, because he had trouble keeping weight when he was a young baby. He is happier, healthier, and more able to "cope" with everything when he eats well (when I feed him). I have tried letting him 'not' eat ("oh, he will eventually eat food if I let him starve a day or two"), but then he simply does not eat -- he gets very irritable, is not a happy little boy like he normally would be, he can't cope at all, melts down regularly, and has bad color in his face. He simply falls apart, so I feed him. Will he outgrow this? How can I entice him to feed himself? He is not that picky -- just does not feed himself? He is four.

Answer 1

My daughter does that sometimes, especially if it's a meal she's not interested in. She'll do acrobatics in her chair until I give her a time limit and threaten to take away her plate. I find if I let her help me make the meal and let her choose the side dish or vegetables she's more likely to eat it. That was how I found out she prefers her peas frozen! Maybe if your son has more of a hand in choosing his meals, he might be more likely to eat them. Another suggestion is giving him more freedom of choice in other areas. I don't know anything about your parenting so please forgive me if I'm stepping on toes! My daughter loves to pick out her clothes and I try to give her a limited choice in almost everything (shoes or boots, pink coat or purple coat, book or doll to take in the car). I found that she became happier and easier to deal with when she felt had more control over her life.

As for leaving the plate out for him to pick at, I tottally disagree with that! Children need structure in their schedule and their meal times. At my house dinner is 5:30-6 and then bath right after. If you leave the plate out then the child will end up grazing all day long and will be less likely to eat a meal.

Answer 2

Hmmm...... I have a four year old little boy and no way would he want mom to feed him. I am going to say this is just your child. Is he in daycare or another setting away from home? I am thinking he may not have enough independent time. He needs to learn this. I would set his food out and let him eat at his own pace. Talk to him like a big boy and tell him, mom can not do this. You need to. Let him take all the time he needs. Praise him if he does better or well. But if he don't...say nothing. Don't reward him nor get mad at him. Encourage him by showing him mom eats. Serve easy foods. (Finger food) You might want to consider taking him to the doctor. If he melts down because you will not feed him, he may have some disorder. (add) Talk with you pediatrician and see what he thinks.

Answer 3

At 5 she is possibly learning to envision and write. both of you should detect a recipe she thinks she may favor to attempt. Then make a procuring record for what you want to get. bypass to the save and %. out the products you want. Have her help you practice and cook dinner the food. If she feels extra on precise of problems with the meal she may be extra keen to attempt it without a wrestle. possibly do a flavor try with a pair of kinds of things. even as i needed my neice to eat extra greens, we offered sorts of an identical veggie and did a flavor try. We had each and all of us interior the domicile vote and chosen a winner that way. She loved it and placed she extremely like a lot of greens. She also wrote down which each and every voted for. no longer in common words do those events get children to attempt extra meals also they're math, interpreting and many different training all in a unmarried.

Answer 4

Do you eat with him? My son gets mad if he is in his high chair and we aren't at the table and he won't eat. You could try making a game out of it. You take a bite, I take a bite. Or foods with fun textures and let him experience it with his finger and not worry about a fork. Finger jello and things like that. We also have a desert reward only if the kids clean their plates and we put it where they can see it. You could also try getting him a special plate and silverware. Like Elmo or something. I'm sure he will grow out of it at least by school because you won't be able to go with him.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Offer him finger food (cheerios) or food that he can dip into other food like carrots and ranch dressing.



Did you try giving him food shaped into a face? Tell him eat the eyes (raisins) eat the ears (lettuce), eat the hair (mashed potatoes) etc

Answer 6

Try leaving out his food for a while and when he wants it he probably will come back to the table to eat. If its problems with him not getting food, give him Chocolate milk.