No wonder parents worry when a child has a poor appetite. Indeed, together with food, a growing organism receives all the necessary set of vitamins and minerals, without which neither normal physical growth nor mental development are possible.
Why is there no appetite?
To help parents, pediatricians, nutritionists, and even psychologists pay attention to this issue. If you combine their efforts, you can identify the main reasons why the child has a poor appetite:
- He is thin, but very energetic and agile, and an exact copy of his parents - the same miniature, but very active. But he eats normally, just the body does not need more food, the hereditary factor plays a role here. In this case, doctors advise not to increase the portion, but to diversify the menu so that it contains nutrient nutrients.
- The usual situation is when an obedient but easily excitable child at the dinner table becomes uncontrollable, stubborn. He begins to put forward various ultimatums, does not want to listen to anyone, and by persuasion and threats the situation only worsens. There can be many reasons for this behavior. The most common - the baby really wants to attract attention at any cost. In such circumstances, most often, as in a mirror, reflects uneasy relationships between parents who are constantly busy figuring out relationships between themselves. But the kid wants attention, and if, even being capricious and refusing food, he receives it, then you can sacrifice a delicious dish.
- A child spoiled to the best by excessive attention, love and care. And that is why it has turned into a small capricious egoist who is sure that no matter what he does, he will be forgiven and will continue to be cherished. But still, internally, the naughty protest ripens against extreme care. He wants him to be treated like other children, that is, punishment should follow his whims. And refusing food is a great occasion to prove oneself.
- Too harsh parenting makes the child miserable. Whatever he does, punishment most often follows. But someday the child will want to answer with the same coin. Why, for example, do not punish parents? And in this case, the child’s poor appetite is not a refusal to eat, but a response to adult cruelty.
Early etiquette
Many parents want the baby to amaze others with his ability to eat right from the youngest age, observing etiquette. And an ordinary lunch turns into one long instructive process. The child has to monitor his own posture, chew nicely, and operate with cutlery, which strives to slip out of weak children's fingers. And in this case, it is better to refuse food than to feel the displeased look of adults and wait for the next notation.
Food stains - no reason to be punished
According to psychologists, most often a child’s poor appetite is caused precisely by adult behavior. A strict punishment for spilled soup or a cutlet on the floor for a long time inspires the baby with a fear of doing something bad that his mother will not like. And if dinner periodically turns into a showdown between parents, then the child’s most delicious meal will be disgusting.
First of all, parents should control their behavior, showing by their own example that at the dinner table the family is going to not only eat, but also to spend time in a friendly atmosphere.
You can not punish the baby for dropping a spoon or spilling jelly on clothes. But if he learned to hold the spoon correctly, ate everything carefully and thanked for a delicious lunch - this is a great occasion for praise, and everyone present at the table should mark this event. And to keep clothes clean, mom needs to take care and purchase a small apron or napkin to reliably protect against possible stains from food.
But what to do - the child has a poor appetite due to the fact that someone at the table eats too untidily, chews food loudly and sprays liquid dishes? Most often, too elderly family members may behave this way in connection with some diseases. In this case, you can feed the baby separately, nothing bad will happen, on the contrary, the child will be comfortable.
Food followed by dancing
Often parents themselves contribute to the appearance of poor appetite when they accustom the child while eating to listen to fairy tales, watch cartoons or refuse to eat if he does not hear his favorite song. This is how an ordinary lunch turns into a whole show, when all the relatives are involved around the little tyrant, if only the plates are empty, and the little one is fed and satisfied.
After a while, he becomes so used to such entertainments that there simply is no other way to eat for him, the situation is becoming more complicated, since one fairy tale may not be enough and more and more interesting events will need to be invented, otherwise refusing to eat will become more categorical.
In this case, when the child eats poorly, how to raise an appetite, the experience of those families in which all households gather at the dinner table and discuss the events that happened during the day, exchange tips, and this time passes in a friendly and cheerful atmosphere.
Negative memories
Appetite also disappears if any very negative memories are associated with food. For example, while eating, the child choked, for a long time he could not clear his throat and inhale fresh air. These negative impressions can permanently deprive the baby of the joy of eating, even if he has long forgotten, which caused fear.
The same phenomenon can remain after acute poisoning, the symptoms of which the baby is very difficult to tolerate:
- severe vomiting opens;
- frequent liquid diarrhea begins, which causes pain;
- the temperature rises, and if it rises above 40 degrees, convulsions can occur;
- dehydration begins, all useful substances are eliminated from the body, because the child becomes lethargic, quickly gets tired.
When any illness and simply malaise began, these are always good reasons for a child’s poor appetite. Then the diet should not only be reduced, but also changed, fed at the request of the patient, but in small and frequent portions so that the stomach does not fill up and vomiting does not occur.
Diet innovations
If a child turns one year old and a poor appetite suddenly turns into a problem, most often the reason may be his intense emotional state:
- new unfamiliar products appear in his life, which he can evaluate already quite consciously;
- new requirements are presented to him during meals, for example, to eat on his own, and this is a stressful situation.
If the parents have taught the child to a somewhat monotonous meal, he may refuse another. And if this problem is not particularly visible at home, then during the trip, at a party or in kindergarten, it will be difficult for a child to perceive new products, most likely, he will simply refuse them.
New conditions
But if the child has a poor appetite at 2 years old, this may be due to a visit to the nursery group. Homemade food is fatter and more refined, and if the baby prefers the wrong dishes that are offered in the institution, it will be much more difficult for him to adapt. It will be difficult for those children whose parents did not take into account the dietary schedule, since it is difficult for kids at this age to change their minds.
Advice to parents
Lack of appetite can occur due to many reasons, and each subsequently can adversely affect health. This means that parents from an early age of the child should be patient and calm, and if poor appetite becomes a cause of concern, then observe and find out what caused it. The main thing is patience. With the help of force and coercion, not one parent has yet succeeded in awakening a good appetite in the child. Therefore, such measures are definitely not an option.