Any advice for slow-eaters?

[Angelight]

Will slow eaters eventually grow out of it? Or will they grow up to be slow eaters as well? My DD also a slow eater, takes 45 min to an hr to eat :shock: Very worried that when she goes to school, recess time is not sufficient for her to finish her food.

[stayhome]

Angelight,


I tell ds to eat bread when starting of P1, as he can eat faster with bread. He ate noddle once but cannot finish within the time. I always make sure he finished his portion of lunch before school, so need not to worry if he just take only bread or light food like fish ball, egg and cake. Some parents pack lunch for their slow eater kid, you may want to consider.

My dd2 who used to eat slow but not as slow as my ds. She had out grow the habit sometimes in P2 or P3 cannot remember exactly.

[jiyou2003]

[quote=\"rains


My kid's mouth doesn't move when there's food inside. She doesn't chew until I point at her cheek to get her to show me that it's moving.

quote]

This is actually what DS does when comes to meal time.
He can dance to me :boogie: when I blow up.
His weight is 20kg, at 117cm height and taking Pediasure milk, multi-vit. Goodness me!

[auntieM]

Is your DS 7 year old jiyou2003?

My weighs about the same now at 7.. ..and drank Pedisure added on to fresh milk also not much 'result'.. .
He is eating fine now but still need to nag nag sometimes.

[blueblue]

My 3 1/2 ds also takes 45min - 1h to finish his meal…sometimes I find it frustrating too…


but then he will sometimes spit out bones (sometimes I did not check properly)…so I rather he eat slowly rather than eat fast and swallow the bones too…

[chen tai]

Hi,


My DDs are 4 years old & 2 years old. they are super slow eaters too.
So i put them on a highchair (so they cant move around), no distractions like TVs & toys, and remind them that they cant get off unless they finish their meals.

whoever finish 1st can start to play their toys. So eventually both wl compete to finish their food faster.

undst all kids are different...so have to try different methods n see wch is the best way for them..

[Mamalicious Alicia]

Hi Mummies,


My first son does not like to eat, number 2 likes to eat. But of late, Number 2 follows what his brother is doing. So if my eldest son is running around and not eating, number 2 will do the same. Both of them are very active kids who cannot sit down for more than 10 mins on a stretch. So in order for them to sit down and eat their meals, they are either watching their favorite show or playing wii. Its a bad habit to cultivate. Sigh what to do. Since my objective is to make them eat as much as possible. Its a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Mamalicious Alicia

[carebear]

When my DS was little, he had no problem eating the food that he liked but will shun certain food. I was not pushy and let him the food of his choice so eating was never a problem for him.

With my DD, it was different. She ate small amounts each time but would get hungry in a short while. She was literally munching throught the day. So for her, it was finger food.

Both my kids don’t eat vegetables, but they eat lots of fruits and drink juices which are freshly squeezed.

My nephew is very different. He will chew and ruminate on his food for 1 hour and my MIL who takes care of him is always complaining.
When my kids are at her house, they also don’t like to eat her food cos she cooks all kinds of herbal stuff and fish, which are not appealing to kids.

However when my nephew comes to my house to eat, he is able to finish his meal relatively fast, albeit still small amount.
I also note that my MIL gives him snakcs and milo in between his meals. So of course when it comes to meal times, the poor child is not hungry.
Also during meal times, she gives him a large amount of food and expects him to finish it.

IMHO, we should analyze why kids eat slowly or eat small amount.

Is it because the food is not appealing to their taste?
Is it because they have been given snacks in between meals?
Are we pressurizing them by giving them a large amount of food on their plate which they find intimidaing?
Is it because they prefer to eat small but frequent meals?

[samuelarnold]

I would have him checked out to make sure nothing is wrong.

If he has any distractions while eating… such as tv … etc… turn that off…
Give him something he enjoys doing once he finishes eating such as playing outside etc… and only once he is done, that might encourage him to eat faster…
But do have him checked to make sure all is ok…

[meow69]

my ds is also a slow eater usually takes abt 45min to 1hr n don’t likes to eat vegg, but he can eat better in childcare centre n faster. I asked him why he can eat faster in centre, he told me he don’t want to be the last