My daughter is 2.5 years old and is a picky eater and doesn’t seem to eat much at all.Most times she does eat,it’s only a few bites.She doesn’t seem to like a full on meal and tends to graze on the things I offer her during the day.What are some ways other mums have worked around this issue as I want her to get all the nutrients etc that she needs.Thankyou.
3 Replies
Let her graze. That's normal for kids her age. They're busy, they like to play a bit, eat a bit. Their stomachs are still small, relatively speaking, so they fuel up in little bits and won't enjoy sitting still to eat large amounts. Make up a grazing platter or a compartmentalised lunchbox with foods that she can snack on (fruit and veg, crackers, sandwiches, cheese, hardboiled eggs, ham or chicken etc) keep it in the fridge and just let her pick. As she grows you'll find she takes in more in one sitting. Meet her where she is rather than imposing an adult's appetite and schedule on her.
Perfectly normal behaviour for a child that age. Is she underweight or showing signs of deficiencies... maybe just a health check to see she’s ok?
Platters are a great thing for this age. A variety of food covering all the nutrients on a plate that she can pick at when needed.
Cheese, veggie sticks, Healthy dips, meats, fruits etc.
Be grateful! My babies are not teenagers and eating me out of house and home!
But seriously, the other comments are correct, it's normal and grazing on the good stuff is completely fine.
Also, I accidentally discovered that telling mine not to eat stuff was a great way to get them to eat! They would climb up while I was preparing veggies for dinner and would graze on those, I would have to tell them to stop otherwise there would be nothing to cook. And like all good toddlers, they did the opposite. We all want what we can't have so maybe try some reverse psychology. And enjoy food your food in front of her too :)