Toddler refusing food at childcare
4 answers /
Last post: 07/06/2022 at 5:59 pm
Can anyone advise please? My daughter who will be 3 in July refuses any food at her childminders! She is happy there but won't eat anything and get distressed at lunch time. Then when we collect her she's starving!
We've tried packing all her favourite foods, packed lunch, childminder providing lunch. We just don't know what to do next. Any tips please?
Hi Emma, do you know what your CMs routine is at lunch. For example does she have a half hour lunch schedule that perhaps isn't long enough for your child? And do they have to sit around the table?
I'm a childminder and I've had a few issues with children and food. So I researched things. An article said that children under 3 can't be expected to sit still and may be too excited by all the toys and maybe can only manage a few mins. I then changed the way I did things. I asked the child to sit at the table for a bit, and when they didn't, I then put their food on a different toddler table and left it still in the kitchen, but more accessible and let the child play, but then them know their foods there if they want it. Every so often the child had a few bites and went back to play. Some people would disagree with me and say kids need to learn, but I've done so much research and had training on child development and sometimes too much is expected of them and every toddler is different.
Your child may feel pressure to eat with teh other kids at the CMs and maybe a different approach may help. We all want our kids well fed and not to be hungry, so I personal try everything with my mindees if the parents agree with my approach, and in the end we work something out
Hi Emma, do you know what your CMs routine is at lunch. For example does she have a half hour lunch schedule that perhaps isn't long enough for your child? And do they have to sit around the table?
I'm a childminder and I've had a few issues with children and food. So I researched things. An article said that children under 3 can't be expected to sit still and may be too excited by all the toys and maybe can only manage a few mins. I then changed the way I did things. I asked the child to sit at the table for a bit, and when they didn't, I then put their food on a different toddler table and left it still in the kitchen, but more accessible and let the child play, but then them know their foods there if they want it. Every so often the child had a few bites and went back to play. Some people would disagree with me and say kids need to learn, but I've done so much research and had training on child development and sometimes too much is expected of them and every toddler is different.
Your child may feel pressure to eat with teh other kids at the CMs and maybe a different approach may help. We all want our kids well fed and not to be hungry, so I personal try everything with my mindees if the parents agree with my approach, and in the end we work something out
Thank you! They have a set lunch at 12 and everyone around the table together. There's normally guite a few in total including staff. It's packed lunches so i only ever give her what she likes to take but she gets distressed at lunch apparently. At home we normally have lunch 12.30 so may be timing I guess. I'll speak with our childminder and see if she can be a bit more relaxed. Thank you x
Try a rewarding chart or let her pick her own lunch box so she can be excited eat it. Use special cutters like star cutters for sandwich etc she could be nervous there and not comfortable. Little steps but try a reward chart if you eat a sandwich you get sticker when your home then if you eat it all sticker but start just little steps. Let her pack her lunch with you pick a special lunch box cc