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Why does a child eat little food and why is this dangerous for the baby?
Parents of young children often worry that their child eats very little and generally has a poor appetite. With the best of intentions, parents try to force-feed their baby. But this can harm the child. Small children require a special approach, which many parents are not aware of.
Why does a child eat poorly – reasons
Poor appetite in a child can occur for many reasons. Your child may have caught a virus or have a stomach ache. Whims are also common – the child demands tasty food and refuses everything else.
Often, parents worry excessively about their child’s poor appetite and tell their child how important it is to eat a lot. In this case, the child may refuse to eat in defiance of his parents.
Many parents make mistakes in nutrition and force their child to eat by the hour, eat all the food on the plate and eat unloved foods. To achieve what they want, parents may resort to shouting and threats, ultimatums and tantrums. Then the process of eating will become a stressful situation for the baby and problems with appetite may worsen.
Advice for parents if their child is not eating well
Famous Ukrainian pediatrician Evgeniy Komarovsky told what to do if a child has poor appetite. He compiled ten tips for parents of young children.
- You should not constantly tell your child how important and healthy it is to eat – this is counterintuitive.
- Never show your child that his desire or unwillingness to finish his food is important to you.
- It is strictly forbidden to force a child to eat through blackmail, threats, shouting or encouragement. Forced food is not digested normally because the stomach has not produced enough acid for digestion. Allow your child to eat as much as his appetite allows, but no more.
- If your baby starts to get distracted while eating, turn away from the spoon, or directly say that he doesn’t want to eat anymore, you should stop eating.
- If you have problems with appetite, you need to make sure that the child cannot find food on his own between meals, and snacks should also be avoided.
- At the stage of creating a menu, you can ask your child what he wants more. But if, after serving food, a child demands to replace the dish, you cannot give in. A child must respect other people’s work.
- Simple ways to stimulate your appetite are to eat smaller portions, increase the intervals between meals, or make your food thinner.
- Sweets dull the feeling of hunger, so a child with poor appetite should be given sweets only after meals.
- In order for a child to “wake up” his appetite, he needs to move more. It is unlikely that your baby will want to eat if he lies in bed all day.
- It is important to make sure that the child does not want to eat, but can. Poor appetite is not dangerous, but if it hurts your child to eat, you should immediately consult a doctor.
