My seven year old won't eat!?

Question

My seven year doesn't like anything to do with food, unless its a PB&J, chicken nuggets, or spaghetti. We are trying the "you have to try a bite of everything on your plate before you are excused" and the "you have to finish your dinner before you get seconds and/or dessert." She responds to trying a bite before she is excused, but only after 30-45 minutes of sitting there looking at her plate. I don't want to make dinner time so traumatic, but I don't want her to live off of PB&J either. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I know it sounds cruel but Be firm and if she doesn't eat it in an hour send her to bed without dinner.

I do this to mine and teach them the importance of food and waste. They are now 10 and 8 and they know if they dodn't eat what is on their plate they won't get anything else.

I hate wasting food as I came from a country where food shortage is common.

If they do finish it then they get a treat and get what they want.

Answer 2

I was that kid. I'm going to tell you, sitting there staring at my food while it went cold was never an incentive to eat. Of course, we didn't have microwaves when I was a kid, so, you would have to eat it cold. I would sit there, hour after hour, watching my mother go nuts. It was a game. Its how I had control over the situation. But, what my mother didn't know is that I was eating other stuff during the day, and I just wasn't hungy. See if your little guy is doing the same, maybe a handful of cheerios here, a bit of ice cream there. If you take all the snacks away, then she will be hungry enough to eat. Another reason I didn't eat was simply, I didn't like the food. It was too spicy, to salty, mushy, whatever the reason. I was extreamly picky, and still am, to this day. I also had extreamly large parents (dad was over 400 lbs, Mom was pushing 300), so in my head, even that young, I was almost afriad of food. I thought that if I ate what they ate, I would end up like them. Thirty five years later, that still hasn't changed. I think she gave me more of a food complex than I would of had if I were just left alone over it.

When my daughter was the same age, she started with the whole picky thing. Except, I gave into it. I must have cooked spegetti every day for 4 years. I was so sick of cooking it, I can't even look at it now. She was a mcnugget lover too. It's as though she would only eat the same 4 things, everyday, day after day, over and over. I found a way to get her eat other things. I'll fill you in and save you years of aggrivation. She's 13 now, and still a bit picky, but there are no food fights, and shes is willing to try new things.

1)First, give her what she wants to eat, along with something. Ask her to try it, if she doesn't, no big deal. Don't make an issue of it, just keep it available to her. Meanwhile, have everyone comment on how good it is. If she thinks she's missing out, she might give it a shot. 2) Another thing, try dips. My daughter hates (I can't tell you how much) vegetables. But, if you leave them raw, so they are crunchy, with some ranch dressing, she will eat them. You could use cheese, tomato sauce, what ever, on the food, and see if the dipping stuff can take away the "yuckiness" that kids hate. Sometimes it works.

3) Another thing, don't make her sit there, because she is just going to incorperate food into a punishment. However, if she doesn't want to eat, make her wait until everyone is done, then she can go.

4) Another trick, get her involved in the cooking. Let her pick out what is for dinner, or to help with the shopping list, or to help cook or clean up after. That way she can feel like a part of it, and its not just being thrown at her. Let her have some choices.

5) Give her vitiamins

Good luck!

Answer 3

Here is what my Mom did to me when I just wanted cereal for every meal. I can't eat anything unless its what she made, and then I after time I could eat stuff after dinner. But I would be rebellious and not eat (for a a whole 20 minutes) when I sat there and watched my family enjoy dinner and me being hungry. So I ate the dinner! Every kid does this, once they find out what foods are really good and what aren't as tasty, but important.

Oh and if she's actually not eating for a couple hours then it's your choice, I know my mother wouldn't let it go. but I love here and I appreciate what she did.  

Answer 4

My brother went through this and still is at 5. My parents just have him sit until he finishes and don't give him something to eat later.

Answer 5

Tell her she has to eat what you give her or she doesnt eat until the next meal. It sounds harsh but when she gets hungary shell eat. Make sure you hold out till the next meal too unless she wants to eat what was left on her plate from the previous meal. Dont let her wait till shes really hungary and then give her something else. My brother used to pull the same thing when he was little and was so stubborn he didnt eat for three days. He even ate the same things your daughter eats! After that though he would eat most things my mom would give him and at least try them.  

Answer 6

Talk to a child nutritionist(if there is such a thing) and see what advice they can give you.

Answer 7

Mine went thorugh the same thing. What I did was I let her pick anything she wanted for dinner everyday but on the condition that she had to pick something different everyday. So after 3 days, she is out of choices of the things she likes and HAD to pick something different. Also I let her help me cook it. She did the majority of the work (except on the stove), so she told everyone that she cooked dinner and then she was so much more acceptible to eat it. It work for mine

Answer 8

Don't give her PB&J, spaghetti, or nuggets anymore. Give her the same meal that you guys are eating and require her to try a bite. If after 10/15 minutes she refuses to eat, send her to her room until you are finished with your meal, and then she may come out. Don't give her anything (other than water) for the rest of the night.

Answer 9

Where I live currently (Germany) I was told, that even if a child doesn't eat for 5 days its fine, as long as the child has plenty of fluids.

I wouldn;t feed her the chicken nuggets etc, and I;m sure within the 5 days she would eat what was in front of her.

Answer 10

If your child's health in general is ok,  I think you should lighten up and don't worry. Her diet could be a lot less healthy.  Dinner time should not be traumatic.

Similar to my diet and I am way past 7.

Answer 11

Some may not agree with me, but you need to be in control of what is served for meals. So...if you are cooking chicken, rice, and green beans, then that's what's for dinner, period. If she gets hungry enough she will eat. I will say that I don't cook anything that I know my kids REALLY despise, like lima beans, but they know that I cook one meal and that I am not a short order chef. Also, get her involved in the cooking. Kids are more likely to try something they've helped prepare.

Answer 12

well when kids are little they only want to eat foods that they love. t hey dont want to waste their time trying new foods. i would suggest that you let her eat the spaghetti, ph&j and chicken for as long as she wants.. and i bet she will get tired of it.

and tell her that she can eat that stuff, as long as she trys one new thing and eats that thing every day for a weeek. this will teach her taste buds to like it and she will want to eat it.

mabye instead of chicken nuggets, have her try chicken breast. and for the spghetti, ad meatballs or do a different shape of pasta so she gets used to seeing different things on her plate. introduce rice, because its sumiliar to pasta. and introduce sweet potaotes because they taste sweet like candy.

and for the pb&j, have her try it on wheat bread or whole grain bread. something a little more healthy.

i suggest that you introduce some new veggies. like cooked carrots with butter on it. cooked brocollie with cheese on it

and after a while, she will learn to like them plain.

good luck. (and kids are always picky eaters!! i'm sure that your kid will grow out of it when she sees her other friends eating new and intresting foods.)

Answer 13

deceptively delicious by jessica seinfeld. very good ideas for getting children to eat various HEALTHY foods. nutrition, recipies, lots of info and expirience was put into this book i completely recommend it

Answer 14

it is normal for kids to only want certain types of food and only those foods at her age. i would also keep some pediasure in the fridge to make sure she gets all her vitamins and minerals. It is just a phase and she will soon grow out of it.

Answer 15

I have a young step brother who only eats maccaroni, chicken nuggets, and cheese sandwiches and we have tried many things. He has imporved so much and is strating to eat more. Just remind your kid that if she never tried PB&J that she might have never liked it. So make sure she trieds food and remind her that, that food she tried could be her new favorite. Another thing to try is to reward her for trying new things like 10 stickers = a new toy or something similar. GOOD LUCK -- emmykate,14, Massachusetts