8 Year Old Who Doesn't Eat Anything.

Well, heres my opinion, and some may agree or disagree. First of all I have 2 children, and from the time they were little, you were not allowed to refuse to eat. You eat what is put in front of you, if its something new, you must try it, if you dont like it, that is fine, but I was a single mom and I couldnt afford to cater to my childrens wims, you had to eat what I gave you. My children are now 4 and 6, there are a few things they dont like (onions, gr peppers ect), but as for vegs, meats, salads they will eat any of it. But my sister on the other hand had only one child. Because of that she always catered to what my neice wanted ( she would say well if she dont want it she dont have to have it), my neice would always tell my sister " I dont like that", but if my neice was at my house she would eat what I made, because she knew at my house you eat at least half of what is put in front of you... and she would do it, sometimes going as far as to scam her mother, she would eat things at my house and then with her mom she would tell her she dont like it. Anyway, she is now 9, she then was afraid of getting fat.. so she wouldnt eat so she didnt get fat, what she would eat for mother became less and less, she even stopped eating her lunch at school. My sister finally didnt know what to do and Dr phil was having a show on eating disorders. My sister made her sit down and watch it. Dr phil even talked about one girl who died from not eating. My sister explained this is what is going to happen if you dont eat, my neice started to cry and from that point on, which was about 3 months ago, my neice will eat whatever her mother puts in front of her, she is back to eating her lunch and she finishes whats on her plate. She doesnt talk about being fat or not wanting to eat. To some this may sound extreme but it is so important that children have nutrition to help thier little bodies work and grow. I was glad this worked for my neice.

My sister went through a whole "phase" like that when we were younger. It was like all she would eat was McDonalds nuggets and fries, nothing else was good enough. My mom tried EVERYTHING. Finally she said if you won't eat meat and veggies then you HAVE to take vitimins every single day (doctors actually suggested vitimin replacement for her). There are chocolate favored chewy things that are really protein, and my sister took flinstone vitimins every morning. She pulled the no meat thing for a LONG time (I'm talking years), until she met her now husband. We don't know what he did or how, but she eats EVERYTHING, right down to shark and shrimp! I'm sorry I can't really help you with food suggestions, but asking your doctor what she thinks might be helpful (at the yearly check up if you have not been). Also, as the other K. said, try not to make it a force issue. Good luck!

If its just the 'no meat' thing, thats perfectly fine. I personally have been a vegitarian for 15 years. Try some tofu. Theres many ways to cook it and it actually tastes like meat and its full of protine ^^
There are several kid friendly vegitarian cook books out there, I just cant think of any names off the top of my head.

When my sister was little, she wouldnt eat anything that touched eachother. Even spegetti had to be seperated, the sauce just couldnt touch the noodles or she would throw a fit and not eat.
I remember my mom taking us kids to a nutrition group that the WIC office had. They showed how to make fruits into little animals that were fun to eat. (Like taking a can of pear halves and putting one half on a plate. Use either a piece of red licorice or red pepper to stick under the big end as a tail. use grape halves for ears and raison for nose. chocolate chips for eyes and chex mix for feet. makes a cute mouse ;} )

I like what one ladys response here said about sitting down and talking with her about her growing bodys nutritional needs.

Good luck with this ^_^

Hi Denise! I have a 6 yr old step daughter that was super picky when I first met her. She is still picky but not as bad as she use to be. I got her involved with the grocery shopping when she comes over and let her pick a side for our meal. That way I knew that she would eat at least eat one thing. I also have her help pick recipes out of a kid friendly cook book that has pictures (check out the library). I noticed that she is more likely to eat something that she picked out than what I just put in front of her. Alot of picky-ness I think comes from being in control of what goes into their body. Also all of our kids must eat however many bites they are old we call it our "bite rule". So my 8 yr old eats 8 bites. I don't care how big the bites are just as long as they try it. I explained to the kids that it can take up to 20 times of trying something before you like it. My stepdaughter use to gag and throw up too when I made her try it. It was a more self induced throw up because she was upset and worked up because she already had it in her head that she was not going to like the food. But I explained the "bite rule" to her and then let her pick some foods out and she has stopped gagging and throwing up at every meal. It was hard at first but now she knows what to expect when we sit down to eat and she isn't as anxious about food. Also I think a vitamen is a great idea.
Here is a link to the goverments food pyramid web site. http://www.mypyramid.gov/kids/ At 8 she is old enough to understand that your body doesn't grow without healthy food. If she know she needs so many of each food group you and her can sit down and figure out ahead of time what she needs to eat everyday and make sure that she is getting proper nutrition. Also my doctor told me with a picky eater sometimes it is better to look at the nutrition over a week instead of daily. As long as for the week she ate all what the pyramid said who cares if one day all she ate was apples. (My step daughter pulled that one on us!) Sorry soo long but I hope that gave you some new ideas to try!

I thought all the ladies here had great suggestions. Just to add something... maybe you could take her with you to the grocery store and let her pick put things that she would like to try or wants to eat. ( with your approval of course... nothing but chips or snacks wont work). She can even get things that she can make herself which will be fun for her.
I also thought about doing this little game that I do with my 3 year old. You will have to tweek it to be more for an older child of course, but it works really well with her.
We have a chart on the fridge that we use to keep track of what she eats. For every meal that she eats half of she gets half a point. For every meal she eats ALL of, she gets one point.
For every NEW thing she at leasts tries she gets 2 points!!
When she has collected 20 points she gets a trip to the toy store. With your daughters age, she may enjoy a trip to the clothing store instead!!! haha! But you could always try something like that to help encourage good eating habits. I thought the mom that posted about explaining to her about good eating habits was right. Is she understood why her body needs good food then maybe it will help her a little...
Good luck with this! I have two daughters coming up as well,I know this can be a challenge!!

I suggest teaching her about the food pyramid. Then have her go shopping with you and pick out foods from each food group. You could even involve her with preparation of the meals.

Denise,

There is fussy eating, and then there is Anorexia. Be careful about forcing her to eat. Maybe can you sit down with her and have a talk about nutrition, the things her body needs to develop, little to no meat is OK, and what foods does she like. Help her see that new foods and experiences can be exciting and fun. Perhaps offer her an alternative to dinner, like she can make her own PB&J with whole wheat bread. Be sure to have healthy snacks at home, like plenty of fresh fruit, some veggies, multi-grain bread and crackers, trail mix, healthy nuts.

If meat is the difficulty, get a fun vegetarian cookbook. Maybe the two of you can cook together.

I know you must be at your wit's end. I wish you well, and hope you can find a no-pressure way to settle this. Please let us know how you work it out.

Best wishes,
K.

Wow, all these nice Mom's rationalize and negotiate with their children. I hope their children appreciate how nice they have it;)

My kids get to see the reappearing meal. If they try everything and only eat one thing that's fine. But if they are having a food related temper tantrum "the re-appearing meal" It gets wrapped in saran and into the fridge and next time they are hungry wow it looks a lot like the previous meal they refused. After being heated a couple times sometimes it doesn't really resembled the meal they refused...lol. The re-appearing meal lasts for 24 hours if uneaten the new dinner is the next choice. (We rarely have this problem at breakfast or lunch, probably because there are rarely vegetables in either)

I believe this is a test of wills. Is your will power stronger than hers? Have you in the past "ran a restaurant" in the effort to have her eat something?

In our house the re-appearing meal has been extremely effective. My children know I mean business. Try everything, eat what you like. If you act crazy, temper tantrums/throwing food/fake or forced gagging... you will be reminded that my will is stronger than yours... and I will do it with a smile on my face.

Have a nice day.

I too have a child that is very difficult to feed, and who used to projectile vomit a lot. It turned out she had acid reflux, and also for a bit was allergic to milk and eggs. Have you investigated possible causes for her not eating, ie. have you tried taking her to a gastroenterologist, allergist, or to the Cleveland Clinic's Feeding Clinic? Is she at a normal weight/height range for her age? If there is no medical reason for her not eating, I would do what you are doing and feed her what she likes/wants, but I would not withhold food just give it to her whenever she wants just to get her to eat.

Hello Denise. I have no suggestions for food, but I have been where you are. To me it sounds like your daughter is doing the same thing mine did for the same reason. ATTENTION! She throws a big production, forces herself to "throw up" (which I am thinking it really isn't) all over her food. I refused to bend when it came to my daughter. She ate what I cooked or went to bed hungry after sitting at the table long after everyone else left. Now, she eats and she eats what I serve without a problem (unless someone who gives her what she wants is around). When the problem first started my Hubby thought I was the biggest *** fill in the word of your choice :), but it worked and is still working. She takes at least two bites off of everything on her plate, even if she "doesn't like it" which are three words not allowed at my table. Now, those are two of my bites, not I took two bites out of the kernal of corn, I generally feed the two bites to her and she is 8, but it works. There is an entire list of foods she eats at my dinner table that she throws a tantrum over eating at her mom's house b/c her mom always caved in to her and the same thing with her dad. I cook ONE meal and every one eats it.
I know that wasn't exactly what you were looking for, but I personally belive I am not a short order cook, I am not running a resturaunt and the only person who gets special food is the baby who can eat very little table food. I had a horrible 6 months of tantrums, going to bed hungry, and gagging, but it was completly worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Best of luck!