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4 year old eating won’t eat anything

NAS75480

Hi 

I have a 4 year old little girl she has autism I’m really struggling my o get her to eat and also try new thing, at tea time worn eat anything at all she use to get chicken dippers and breaded chicken now she won’t eat much won’t all she’s eating is either sausages or mash waffles corn tea a won’t eat any kind of meat or fish even if it’s coated in something worried she not getting enough she craves sweet stuff all the time she wont eat fruit or veg she doesn’t like the texture and won’t eat any one pots has any parents got any ideas please that I can desperate 

Parents

  • My daughter was like this at 4 after the upheaval of starting school and cut back to just beans, bread, cereal and milk. I hadn’t realised she was autistic at that stage. She still has a tendency to cut foods out when stressed or given too many sweet things.

    When this happens I try not to panic! I slowly and gradually cut back on sweet food and cut back on snacks between meals. I start by offering foods she will still eat and gradually add in foods I know she used to like (it’s not fair to broaden it too far - the sensory issues are real and need to be respected). For my daughter everything has to be bland and most sauces need to be blended. She will eat some vegetables if they are raw as she prefers the texture - that is worth trying. And I ask her how she would like things chopped up as size seems to matter too sometimes. And obviously no food touching each other. It is a slow process and it’s important not to make a fuss about it. Plate it all up and talk about anything else during the meal. And calmly say it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t want it - she can catch up at the next meal.

    We too use multivitamins and minerals, more for my sanity than her health I suspect.

    And then, when she is a bit older, see if you can gently expand the range of acceptable foods a bit when things are going well.

    Most of all, don’t worry too much and don’t compare yourself to other families - that way leads to misery!

Reply

  • My daughter was like this at 4 after the upheaval of starting school and cut back to just beans, bread, cereal and milk. I hadn’t realised she was autistic at that stage. She still has a tendency to cut foods out when stressed or given too many sweet things.

    When this happens I try not to panic! I slowly and gradually cut back on sweet food and cut back on snacks between meals. I start by offering foods she will still eat and gradually add in foods I know she used to like (it’s not fair to broaden it too far - the sensory issues are real and need to be respected). For my daughter everything has to be bland and most sauces need to be blended. She will eat some vegetables if they are raw as she prefers the texture - that is worth trying. And I ask her how she would like things chopped up as size seems to matter too sometimes. And obviously no food touching each other. It is a slow process and it’s important not to make a fuss about it. Plate it all up and talk about anything else during the meal. And calmly say it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t want it - she can catch up at the next meal.

    We too use multivitamins and minerals, more for my sanity than her health I suspect.

    And then, when she is a bit older, see if you can gently expand the range of acceptable foods a bit when things are going well.

    Most of all, don’t worry too much and don’t compare yourself to other families - that way leads to misery!

Children
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