Home Hot Topics Articles Directors' Choice Awards About Us / Contact Us Activities & Curriculum Activities for Outcome-Based Learning Arts & Crafts Music for Learning Recommended Reading Sharing Boards: What Do YOU Think? NEWSlink Current National News Conference Calendar Topics In Early Childhood Education Art and Creativity in Early Childhood Education Job Sharing Board State Licensing Requirements Stay Connected! Each month we'll send you an email filled with articles and ideas for your classroom. Subscribe Now Date: 8/2/2003 3:39:00 AM Author: Brenda Nixon (parentpwr1@juno.com) Subject: 4 y/o stopped eating Jennifer, Thanks for posting your question to the earlychildhood forum. I hope now your 4 y/o is eating...even if it's a tiny bite and slowly :) I didn't have this problem with either of my daughters but may I suggest a couple things? First; remember that preschoolers go through (this is developmentally normal) food jags. This means they put on the brakes and don't eat, or they want only PB&J; or mac and cheese for a week, or they pick at their food then say they're full. It can drive parents nuts but it's normal. The best way to handle a preschooler's eating ups & downs is to act matter-of-fact about it (don't react). Remove their food when done. Don't argue, cajole, beg them to eat more or anything. Simply remove the plate. You don't have to "rescue" by delivering in-between-meal snacks either. On the next mealtime, serve the food, eat your own, relax and see what happens. I offer this because sometimes food behaviors turn into manipulation and a child will "act" picky or whatever just to get attention from the parent or to see the parent get nervous and beg their child to eat. Don't. Second, perhaps your little one had a minor bacterial infection that made digestion unpleasant. Sometimes kiddos get minor illnesses that go undiagnosed. In any event, if she did, it made it difficult for her to eat. What you might do now is to keep a "food diary." Privately, watch and record what she eats for a week. Then if you feel there's a nutritional deficit or a need to worry, take that diary with you to the pediatrician. Now you have something in concrete to share with the doctor. Hope this helps. For more parenting helps visit me at www.parentpwr.com. Name: Email: Subject

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