5 year old doesn't eat

[EJThompson2]

Hi everyone

I'm just looking for some advice. My daughter is 5 years and 5 months old. She has a funny relationship with food. When I give her her meals breakfast/lunch/dinner she sometimes takes up to 2 hours to finish them (they're small appropriate portions and I always ask her what she wants so she chooses food she likes). When she wakes up around 7am, she doesn't want to eat, which is fine but sometimes it gets to 10/10.30 and I say okay you have to eat now as its lunch time at 12! So reluctantly she will eat.

She has said she doesn't like eating, that she wishes she didn't have to eat. She doesn't like food. She often 'drops' her food on the floor to avoid eating it. She gags and says she's got too much in her mouth and spits it out. She claims she doesn't like things she does. She says she's full after a few bites. I've reduced her portions like I will literally give her a plate of food for a 1 year old just so she doesn't feel over faced with a big plate. I have cut out snacks and just try to get her to eat 3 meals a day at least and it's a struggle. I have drawn out menus for her to choose her meals to add some fun, I've bought her new cutlery, new plates with sections in to try and encourage her, bought her a book called 'what happens when we eat'. I feel like I've tried it all. I've been tough with her, been soft.

She has lots of engery and is happy. But I'm worried about her weight and health. She is skinny and her ribs protrude slightly. She gets a lot of bruises too. She is in size 5-6 years clothes but these are often loose especially the waist on pants.

I should mention that randomly she will surprise me and eat a whole meal quite quickly, but these occasions are far and few between. She gets quite upset at meal times. She does enjoy fruit, she will eat the fruit on her plate every time. She is even reluctant to eat biscuits and sweet things too. She will play with her food, crumble it up, squish it and spend a lot of time just pushing it around. I have to keep prompting her to eat.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. I don't want her to grow up having issues with food. She loved her food as a baby and toddler.

[Pasaeoco01]

Hi there, I can imagine you must be feeling frustrated and concerned for her.

Just a thought before COVID-19 did she have her lunch at school? How did she get on?

I’m just curious at whether this has been a Relatively recent change or whether it’s been happening for sometime?

I think if it was my child I’d be considering a chat with the GP. It might be that she’s fit and well but they could offer some general advice and information about how to approach it. Or maybe even arrange contact with a dietician to support you?

If it’s a recent change perhaps it could be something that passes but I’d be inclined to check with GP.

Hope that helps.

[EJThompson2 in reply to Pasaeoco01]

Hey. Thanks for your reply.

This has been going on for about 9 months now but its getting increasily worse, she just has no interest in food, it's like it's an inconvenience for her to have to eat. She never ate the school dinners so I made her a packed lunch, she would always bring it home 90% untouched and say she just wanted to play out, she didn't have time to eat it or she wasn't hungry at lunch time.

I've decided I'm going to keep a food diary of what she eats this week and make an appointment with the GP for some advice. She is so active which is what concerns me more, because she doesn't eat enough to sustain her lifestyle 😪

[Pasaeoco01 in reply to EJThompson2]

I think I agree with you that keeping a diary over a week sounds sensible. This means that when you do see the GP you have some factual information you can present. Maybe make a note of timings of when she eats alongside what she eats.

Wishing you well with your GP appt and hope you get some guidance and reassurance soon.