Do u know any home medicine? - Kids not eating

hi friends,
i am banu.my kids are not eating properly.they're twins[4yrs old].they like to drink only juice.they don't like to eat solid food.last week i take them to the doctor.my doctor says'if they're active don't force them to eat'.but how can i leave them like this.do u have any idea.let me know?

Hi Asirabanu,

I can easily understand your problem. I too went through that frustrating phase when my kids refused to take any kind of solids..particularly my elder son. I used to put rice, dal, sabji in a mixer, liquify them and used to literally pour it down their throats. Sometimes I used to cry helplessly and used to feel guilty to eat food myself. But just as your doctor said, my doctor too said the same thing and said something else also...that children who are fussy about food and who have strong choices are supposed to grow into 'intelligent adults' ( I don't know if my doctor, who is also a good friend said that to pacify a frustrated mother...but I assure you, my children have grown into 'smart ones'.)
What you should do is, you should strictly follow a pattern with them-
Make them sit at the table, give them some solid food, preferably, cooked potatoes, small puris or rotis and just leave them alone, don't ask them to eat ..they will start on their own...
When you are eating dinner/lunch, make them join you...children generally love to imitate..they will start asking for a plate for themselves and then you give them some food..then again, don't force..leave them alone...
Asirabanu, mostly all children will become better kids by the time they turn 6 or 7..so don't worry....from then they may ask you too much of solid food, avoiding liquids and juices totally...haha...
you are actually going through a lovely phase of motherhood....though troublesome and frustrating...just enjoy it..

love
ambika

hi ambika,
thank u so much for your advise.today,i gave breakfast to them they are just watching cartoon and they ate little bit.compare to other days today they are o.k.thanks a lot.

keep in touch,
banu.

Hi Banu,

You should be feeling great to have twins. Not many are gifted with twins!
I understand how hard it is to see kids not eating and sure no mother would like to let it go

My suggestion would be to make eating a sport...! That too with two kids you can easily achieve it.

Give them the food and allocate a time for them to finish it.

Tell them the one who finishes first will get an attractive gift. Introduce differnt kinds of food, so that they would start liking one or the other.

Make food attractive - like fill the bread sandwiches with varieties of butter and cheese, cut it in differnt shapes - diamond, heart, star, etc. draw on top of rotis funny faces with the ketchup and chutneys.

Include in their daily food with rice or roti, one type of colorful vegetable like carrot, betroot, beans, cauliflower, potatoes and tell a story for eating each of them. Eg: Rabbits eat carrot so they are able to run or hop faster.
Make them imagine the cauliflower florets as tiny trees and tell them eating lots of florets is like eating lots of trees and emptying a forest and make more of your own stories.

I always believe once we introduce different taste with the kids, they will then start liking it automatically. The challenge is introducing

Hope these tips are helpful! Good luck with your kids! Don't worry.

Asirabanu,

Don't worry - kids not eating is a common problem for most mothers!

To get your kids into the practice of eating something solid, instead of only juices, you may want to start with semi-solid foods.

Try giving them vegetable soup, chicken soup (if you intend to give them non-veg), rice porridge, sago porridge, mashed potatoes, dal rice nicely mashed (in a form that you can't make out it is rice), rasam rice - almost like a thick juice (blend the rice and rasam in a blender), etc. Slowly then you can get them into the habit of solid foods.

Happy parenting!

hi rathi & amudha,
thank you for your advise.i will try to do everything whatever you suggest to me.keep in touch.bye.

warm wishes,
banu.