How can I get my 5 year old to eat?

Do not teach your child to gulp down his food. He is eating food the way we are all supposed to eat- slowly and taking our time. At least the boy is eating, DO NOT set a time limit! That is horrible advice if your child is under weight!!!! Slow eating would not be the culprit though!

hi :) I wouldn't worry to much about the slow eating try as another poster suggested and give him smaller amounts if he is having a drink with his meal stop the drink as he will lose appetite and maybe watch what he drinks leading up to the meal, it could just be that he is not hungry so has to pick until its all gone, a child who is hungry does not take long to polish off their plate ( i have 6 children ranging from 18 to 10 months ). Try smaller amounts on a smaller plate and as others have said no desert until the main meal is finished, I personally don't go for the give them what they want to eat theory, I figure we are eating this meal so everyone eating this meal one cant go through life doing as they please when they please and kids need to learn that from very early age. I would also be taking the plate away after 20 Min's or so , a child will not starve themselves to death and there are many responses by experts that say the same thing and am sure your doctor would also. Just a few suggestions good luck with it all :)

My son is 5 also.

I have to turn off the TV when I want the kids to eat, otherwise they seem to forget they are at the table to eat.

Yes, give them a time limit.

They might as well get used to it now, they will have to do it in school soon enough.

If he isn't finished eating by the time the dinner dishes are done, then take away his food and he'll be hungrier at breakfast.

Take him to the doctor. If the doctor says he is underweight, then you worry. But I don't think I would let him sit at the table for two hours, either. Feed him small meals more often, maybe? He may be overwhelmed by the amount of food you are putting in front of him at a time. AND...if he wants peanut butter three times a day, give it to him. My grandson went throught a stage where all he wanted was yogurt!

i know it sounds counterproductive but at school we give the kids a certain amount of time to eat and we watch what they are eating to make sure they eat their sandwich first instead of cookies. we give them about twenty or thirty minutes to eat and then they have to pack it up. give him a time limit and perhaps make desserts you know he really likes, if he does not eat enough food by the time time is up, then he does not get to finish and he does not get the dessert he wants so much. it seems wrong, but usually after we do this with the kids at lunch and they have to wait until they go home to eat again, they are hungry and eat. this is what we do to get them ready for school in summer camp (towards the end of the summer), once they realize there is a time limit or they have to wait until the next meal-- they start eating much better.

Maybe the food he is eating he doesn't like to eat?

You could set a time limit to the eating time and if he doesnt finish then the food is thrown away and threaten that if he doesnt eat all his food he doesn't get dessert or a treat.

Like Adam T said, have a race for who can eat there whole entire dinner, then go out for icecream or play games.

I don't understand what corolation his slow eating has to do with him being underweight because whether one eats fast or slow they ingest the same amount of calories from the same meal. I highly doubt a doctor told you he was underweight because of slow eating. My daughter was a slow eater and not once did her doctor tell me she was "underweight". If your son is underweight it is because of something else, not eating slowly.

wait til he is hungry and feed him the things he wants. No i dont mean cake and candy, but if he wants a PB&J sand for dinner give it to him with a bit of the dinner the rest of you are eating

race him for a prize like staying up 10 minets later or something like that he will find it fun and try