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Daycare Menus, Breakfast, Lunch and Snack Ideas>Child Refuse to Eat!!!
Danie362 10:17 AM 04-15-2013
Okay I have a child (2 years old) that will not eat no matter what I cook. I have been caring for him for two weeks now and mom says he eat everything but not true. What can I do to encourage this child to eat? I don't want his family to think I am not feeding him.
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MsLaura529 10:35 AM 04-15-2013
Is he new to the daycare environment? He could just be distracted by everything going on that he doesn't want to eat. Have you asked mom what his favorite meal is? Maybe try to incorporate one or two of his favorite meals into your menu and see if that helps? Good luck!
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MrsSteinel'sHouse 10:47 AM 04-15-2013
I would be sure to let mom know that he is still adjusting to his new surroundings and that he isn't eating a lot. But that your sure once he settles in that will change. The only thing you can do is offer him his meals. At some point he will decide to eat. He will not starve in the meantime.
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Danie362 11:46 AM 04-15-2013
He is new to home day care but has been in a daycare center for awhile ans he just turned 2 last week. @ MsLaura529 I have talked to mom but she say he likes all food but he only like green beans as far as vegetables and I have included them but don't want to keep giving him green beans if everyone else is not getting the same . We cant have green beans everyday.
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Danie362 11:51 AM 04-15-2013
@ MrsSteinelsHouse I have informed mom about the situation and she did tell me that most of the time he eats some food before leaving home in the morning. I will keep giving him food, so I am sure he will eat soon and we as as a group so he see's everyone else eat too. Thanks ladies
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AmyKidsCo 12:28 PM 04-15-2013
Originally Posted by MrsSteinel'sHouse:
I would be sure to let mom know that he is still adjusting to his new surroundings and that he isn't eating a lot. But that your sure once he settles in that will change. The only thing you can do is offer him his meals. At some point he will decide to eat. He will not starve in the meantime.


It's our job to provide healthy meals, it's the child's job to decide what and how much to eat. Aside from literally forcing food down their throats we can't MAKE them eat, nor should we.

Keep offering food and don't give him a lot of attention for eating or not eating (or he may realize he's got power over you by what he does or doesn't eat). Hopefully if it becomes a non-issue he'll just start eating on his own.
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Elizabeth 06:13 AM 04-25-2013
Don't make him eat forcefully. Try something else which kids like in general. see what other kids around him like to eat in the day care.
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JoseyJo 12:52 PM 04-25-2013
We had a 2.5 yo dcb start a few months ago - same situation. Mom says he is not picky, will eat anything. He doesn't eat AT ALL for 9.5 hours a day for the first week here, except 1 morning at breakfast when we had cold cereal, and 1 afternoon snack that we had apples.

By the beginning of the 2nd week of care I was totally freaking out! Talked to dcm on phone (she is always rushing at drop off/pick up) and found out that she just feeds him whatever he asks for, whenever he asks for it (ie poptarts, cold cereal, crackers, cookies).

We just kept offering the same healthy foods we always do and he started eating. 2 months in and he now eats the bread, the fruit (sometimes) and occasionally the vege. He hasn't lost any weight and he is trying something new 1 or 2 times a week so in a few months he will be on track I think! He does watch the other kids and when they are really enjoying something he usually tries it
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mpb12 05:48 PM 05-01-2013
Originally Posted by Danie362:
Okay I have a child (2 years old) that will not eat no matter what I cook. I have been caring for him for two weeks now and mom says he eat everything but not true. What can I do to encourage this child to eat? I don't want his family to think I am not feeding him.
Are you serving your own food or the parents are bring their own? If you are serving your own then ask the parent(s) to bring it from home, and record meal time and show s/he whats going on while you try to feed the child. If the child eat their home food then it`s the taste of your food that the child is not used to. Parents lie and they lie a lot about their child`s behavior at home. I am in this business long enough to catch liar as soon as they start it.
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mpb12 06:01 PM 05-01-2013
Originally Posted by Elizabeth:
Don't make him eat forcefully. Try something else which kids like in general. see what other kids around him like to eat in the day care.
Wrong advice! Reason one is that that child will spoil the whole group who are eating health food. In my daycare he eat or he stay hungry all day, juice only after finish their food, otherwise only water, all my five toddlers eat everything I put in front of them. I cook all kind veggies, meat,natural rice, tofu, and all kind of Asian veggies, as soon as they finish then they have juice, and desert. We should never give options to babies, they have to learn the taste of food. I have a toddler that eat junk food at home and here he eats everything I give to him, his mother told me that she did not believe me, so I started to record every meal and then I showed it to her, she almost fainted because she has hard time to feed him right. If she was not given choices he would be eating well at home too.
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mpb12 06:10 PM 05-01-2013
I have a schedule book which I provide the parents with, they must write down the time the kids get up in the morning and if they had food or not, and from that I write down what we did, diaper change, how much food they eat and so on, it makes my life easy and for the parents too. Breakfast time are from 8:00 to 9:00 AM and lunch at 11:30 to 12:15. then snacks in between. If any child show up after this time then it will be only snacks and milk. I`m doing it for almost 30 years and maybe that`s why I like what I do. Been organized and feed children on schedule will always make our business much easier.
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Josiegirl 03:36 AM 06-14-2013
I've had a 5 yo dcb for the past year and he has very limited tastes. In the beginning, it bothered me a lot because all his food would get thrown away, then his mom would show up and he'd be starving. So what happens? He gets to go home and eat junk food. I don't care if he eats or not anymore. I serve him a spoonful of each thing we're having. If he chooses not to eat, then so be it. There'll be another meal/snack right around the corner. What does bother me is that all I hear during the meal is I don't like this, I don't like that. I just don't cater to him anymore.

One day he came in, I happened to ask them what they did at home the night before. He said he ate all his corn dog for supper so he could have some chocolate afterwards. Way to go.

So my best advice is serve what you serve to all, just give him tiny amounts. And if he doesn't eat it, that's his choice.

A side comment: I've never ever seen such fussy eaters in all my life as I have the past 5 years or so. Is it a sign of fast food lives? Ugh!
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Lkurtyak 12:35 PM 06-23-2013
I have a 2.5 yo dcg who came to me only eating peanut butter. She not only didn't eat what I feed her but she would throw an all out temper tantrum if it wasn't a peanut butter sandwich. What has worked for me is not giving her a choice (you eat what I make, or you don't eat is my rule) but giving her a little control too. For example: I offer a healthy desert to all my kids but will only give it to them if they've tried their food. They don't have to eat it all, just take a bite of each thing on their plate and I'm satisfied. As it turns out, this dcg is starting to like some of the things that I'm serving and has even begun to ask for seconds! This is after weeks of not eating! She enjoys the control of being able to say no to food, and I enjoy seeing her eat some healthy foods Good luck! I know its frustrating.
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sddaycare 06:00 PM 07-14-2013
I had a dcb a few years ago who all of a sudden, after being in my care since an infant, stopped eating. It went on for weeks, wouldnt eat a thing. Dcm and I tried everything. One afternoon I overheard dcb (4years old) tell another dcb that if he tells his dad he doesnt eat at daycare, dad takes him to McDonalds! Wow, I couldnt believe it! I immediately called dcm and she fixed that problem!
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