ok my 3yr old eats all the time but only sometimes will she eat lunch and she never eat dinner but she will eat all day every 5 mins on snack and jus little things........... Can someone plz tell me what is wrong with the picture here???????????
Some kids just tend to graze all day...but she can only get the "grazing food" if you provide it! Try keeping track of everything she eats all day and see if it equals a nutritious days worth of food.
umm...you really don't know what's wrong with the picture? Stop feeding her every 5 minutes. Give her 3 meals and 2-3 snacks between meals and after dinner if she doesn't go to bed son after dinner.
She will snack all day if you let her! And if you keep allowing it, that's what she will get used to and you won't be able to change it. Set a routine and stick to it. Give her breakfast at a certain time say 7am for example then a nutritous snack at 10am then lunch at noon snack at 3 and dinner at 5or6. But keep the snack small enough, not the portion of a full meal so that it doesn't keep her full til the next meal. You want her to be able to go with time in between meals becuz when she starts preschool, they don't get to snack continuously all day long!
Maybe she is going through a growth spurt. When my child was about the same age, I implemented a snack shelf. I placed the snacks that she could eat for the day on the shelf in the morning and she was allowed to pick any snack she wanted from the shelf. When the snacks were gone, that was it. You have to be tough with not letting her have anymore once she finishes the snack, because she will probably test you. It worked out well for us. She was able to snack when she wanted and I didn't have her constantly asking me for food.
Why are you feeding her snacks every 5 minutes? Just stop giving them to her. She's 3. You're the boss. If you say no snack, there's no snack.
Put your foot down- meals are eaten at meal times and snacks during snack times. I also have a tendency to pull the same stuff my 3 year old daughter doesn't eat during meal times back out for snack. Of course your 3 YO wants the snack foods that are more fun and skipping out on the healthy meals. Also, if my daughter gets hungry before bed (she eats dinner at 6pm and is in bed before 8pm), she gets a little rice milk and crackers (usually low-salt saltines) or 1/2 a banana.....NO JUNK. My daughter is a would-be grazer but I have zero-tolerance for that. She can't do it at preschool on Tuesday and Thursday and I am sure as heck not dealing with it at home. Otherwise, my 23 mo old (who DOES eat well at meals) thinks it is dinner time - AGAIN. ugh! Good luck!
Yup my son would much rather snack all day as well--he's also 3 years old. I just try to limit his snacks before meals. I won't give him anything for a good 2 or 3 hours before lunch or dinner so that he actually eats his meal. It tends to work out for the most part.
I agree with denise...keep track for a few days/week...and maybe things will balance out! As long as the 'snack' items are healthy, you may be shocked to find that one day is more a 'fruit' day...one a 'veggie' one.
They say healthy 'grazing' is healthier in any case
Good Luck
Michele/cat
You have to choose whether you want her to be able to "graze" or eat three times per day with a snack or two in between. Grazing is actually very healthy if done correctly, so if you decide that's okay with you, you need to make sure she's getting a balance of healthy foods -fruits, veggie pieces or sticks with low fat dips or hummus, edamame, cheese, nuts -that sort of thing. If you want her to eat 3 meals a day with a snack or two -enforce it! Only make food available to her at meal times and offer her a snack that's not too huge so she doesn't ruin her lunch or dinner. Let her know that you sit down for a meal and you don't get up until you're finished. If she gets up, tell her the food will be gone because that signals that she's done. If she dawdles and wastes time at the table, you can set a timer and tell her she has a certain amount of time to eat the meal -15 or 20 minutes. If she isn't done, then the food is gone. If she whines and complains at first, just reiterate your stance and she'll get used to it.
Nothing....she is eating the way her body tells her too. In our fast paced world we have crammed meals into 3 meals a day, but for most people it is much more healthy to have 5-6 smaller meals. As long as what she is snacking on isn't just junk food she is actually keeping her stomach satisfied without overeating. What I would do if you are concerned is keep track of what she eats or create a little magnet board on the fridge with the correct number of fruits/veggies/breads/proteins that she needs to eat each day and have her be conscious of what she is eating. I made little felt ones for the fridge door for my little girl (she is 5 now). My daughter much rather have half a can of peas than cookies so which is actually 2 servings of veggies for her. Don't worry about how frequently she eats although you may want to start prepping her for school schedules if you are planning to send her to school once she turns 4 you can have her eat every 2-3 hours instead of munch all day, serving more of a platter of a few pieces of cheese, fruit, and crackers. Then by 5 she can eat every 3-4 hours which is the average school day. Also make sure to have her tested for hypoglycemia before starting school. If she has a fast metabolism she could be processing those sugars too quickly and that is why she is eating frequently. I wasn't diagnosed until high school and my parents because we were very poor refused to let me snack between meals so I had a very difficult time with energy and concentration because my body was constantly out of balance. Hope this advice helps. -J.
People will tell you to change her habits, I ask you not too. My son did that for years, my daughter too. Guess what, now they are teens who have great bodies. They don't carry extra weight and don't over eat. Forcing your child to eat on your schedule will not help them in the long run.
America is overweight because as children we are forced to eat when told and do eat how much when told. We never learn to follow our hunger and eat only when hungry. Provide healthy snacks, and don't force feed.
Her blood sugar needs to have the chance to stabalize. Go up withfood and slowly come down to produce actual hunger. Set meal times with the option of one healthy snack maybe 2x a day. If she has the chance to get hungry she'll eat at meal times. It's ok to tell a 3yo to wait a little bit to eat.
