my 3 year old cried about her weight?

When children live happy and nurturing lives they have to create their own crisis to deal with. You sound concerned and worried about her reactions. You being concerned and worried is an emotional umbrella that she gets to stand under. Lighten up about this. I think its cute. Maybe it is television, or Disney Videos, or images of her favorite princess or heroine that she wants to emulate. Play along with her commitment to having a slim figure.

If you take her emotional outbursts in stride, it will create an understanding that there is nothing wrong. when my 4-year-old was upset at not being able to read like her 9-year-old brother, and Mom and Dad I simply told her that children don't learn to read until their 5th birthday. This satisfied her. Then on the morning of her 5th birthday I found her trying to read the newspaper and crying and sobbing. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was 5 years old and still couldn't read! I was surprised at how literal she took my words and how she still remembered what I had said around a year ago. I then put together a hand-drawn reader for her and proceeded to teach her to read. She actually got what words were, and could now read the phonetics of the words. She would take her little reader to kindergarten and proceed to read to her school mates. She asked that I proceed to make another five readers, which I did, each more difficult than the last. She then could read other books, signs, and eventually the newspaper.

The way I see this applying to your little girl is to use this opportunity to teach her proper nutrition. In the U.S.A. child obesity is a major problem, especially in preteens. By then their eating habits have been established. Let her know what foods are good for her, and what foods are fattening. Vegetables are good for you, milk, eggs, fish, fruit, nuts, whole grains, etc. Let her know that fast foods, cookies, candies, sugary drinks and treats are not good for you. If she eats healthy this could be a good affect her infantile concern for her looks has on her.

You have a golden opportunity here, you can teach her to eat her vegetables, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and to avoid snacks and sweets, and you needn't worry about her starving to death.

wow i seriously cant believe she would even think of saying that or even realize that her belly is any different than it was before. I have been around many children, babysat, have younger siblings and have never heard of such a thing. I wonder if someone in pre-school, day care, (if she goes there) mentioned anything. You should kind of pursue it and find out. Even though she was happy the next day, its way too early to be self conscious and its quite strange. If its the TV then you need to monitor what shes watching because shes so young, she shouldnt be watching regular day time television, only kids shows. Keep an eye on her because you don't want her to start off life on the wrong foot, and start finding flaws in her body and self image. Good luck

OH NO! thats horrible. Maybe she heard someone talking about their belly. Have you ever said anything about your weight in front of her? Or maybe she got it from T.V. if you watch any of those celebrity shows where they talk about stars gaining weight or like the janice dickinson show where she says the models are fat. I suggest you tell her her belly is beautiful and she needs to eat so she can grow taller and that her belly will stretch out too. Tell her that her belly is where the food goes before it goes everywhere else and that it will not be as big some days. well good luck!

Children understand more than we give them credit for; if we only understood how deeply the drink in everything we say and do - Look how many ads there are on tv right now about how to get trimmer abs, how to lose weight - focusing on sexy scantily clad women - false images of what a woman is 'supposed' to look like... then listen to ourselves; I have to lose weight, I am so fat - I do not fit in my clothes any more - I am bad - I had an icecream or a tasty dessert-

did you ask her why she felt her belly was so big? maybe there was something else going on in her mind - maybe she felt her stomach expand [bloating] - who knows -

Maybe there is too much emphasis on looks - [we all need to hear we look good - but if it is the only thing that we talk about - could it be that they lose out on the appreciation of the other great things that make us human? like what a great job you did with building the tower of blocks - look how you helped mommy put a way the clothes- oh look, how Lindsay is sweet to her baby brother - just an idea -

It isn't normal for a 3 year old to be concerned about her weight. She is either imitating someone else's actions or the constant attention that your families shower on her daily has made her start focusing on appearance. Stop making comments to her about her physical beauty, surely she has other things you could draw her attention to. Really sometimes parents today make to much over their kids, she will have a fine self esteem even if you are not always trying to say things to her to build it up.

OK first of all she had to have heard it from someone else calling someone fat cause most kids wouldn't say stuff like that unless they heard an adult say it before. Cause most kids that young use word and sight association that how they learn what different stuff is like when you show them a bottle and say bottle same thing someone says fat and shows something fat that's how they learn. Cause she just isn't going to know what fat is someone had to teach her. And for what you can do is tell her that its wrong to call people names and to make fun of them. And the next time she does it just smack her hand a little and tell her again no that's wrong to do,she'll get the point. And as for the other shopper well she probably thinks the child hears it from her parents or another adult they been around calling people fat.

This is going to sound crazy but I think she may have come into this life having died in a previous life as a teenager maybe anorexic. No way could a 3 year old come up with this kind of fear on their own without some special kind of extenuating circumsntances. I do psychic work and have worked with a child who died as a teen in a past life and came into this life having teen problems when they were way too young to know what these issues were. TV/media is not going to plant those kinds of ideas in such a little child's mind.

Was she talking about her belly getting bigger as if she was going to have a baby?

Are you concerned about your weight?

I would just file it away for the future. Hopefully this really isn't about the correlation between weight and eating.

And whatever you do, don't discuss anyone's weight issues in front of your children.

Maybe she saw something on tv or maybe another child said she had a big belly or said she was fat. I have seen this happen in preschools and elementary schools.

Hopefully she will forget all about it soon.

It is the media that puts thoughts in their heads like that and can start eating disorders at a very young age. If the talk continues and especially if she does start to show signs of an eating problem (like not wanting to eat) then i would get her professional help. I have known 4 and 5 year olds to show signs of anorexia