How to increase appetite in a 3-4 year old child

How do vitamins affect appetite?

Vitamins for appetite for children, after activation in the body, improve the absorption of nutrients. Energy production starts, the full functioning of internal organs is normalized.

There are many reasons why a child began to refuse food. There are cases when the parents themselves are to blame. The baby may have a disordered eating behavior, and some may develop an aversion to food. Moreover, if the parents themselves felt bad in childhood, then there is a high probability that the same situation will repeat with their child. Dr. Komarovsky explains in detail why a child refuses to eat and what the child’s appetite depends on.

The following vitamins and minerals have a positive effect on a child’s appetite:

A – has an effect on the skin, helps strengthen the immune system and vision;
group B is involved in digestive metabolic processes and is beneficial to the nervous system;
C strengthens the immune system and promotes the functioning of the digestive tract;
zinc strengthens the body's defenses;
magnesium affects blood sugar and glucose;
iron affects the formation, development and maturation of blood cells;
oligofructose increases the microbial flora in the intestinal tract, which has a beneficial effect on digestion.

How to increase your child's appetite

Most parents would like their child to eat more, but complaints about poor appetite are not always justified. Inadequate nutrition of the youngest should be a serious concern, since for them a deficiency of nutrients can result in serious health problems and developmental delays.

First of all, it is necessary to exclude medical problems, and if there are none, parents can establish proper nutrition.

After a walk and active games in the fresh air, even the most notoriously unwilling people willingly eat.
Get your little one interested in the process of eating, and the ability to carefully eat porridge will come with time.
Fidgets cannot stay in one place for even five minutes - they talk, get distracted, try to run away and return to games. Accustom your fidget to table manners.
The other extreme is children who do not want to open their mouths and eat food. Adults stage theatrical performances, persuading them to eat another spoonful. There is almost no benefit from food swallowed without desire - without appetite, the secretion of gastric juice does not occur. All children in the world are extremely curious. Turn lunches into an educational process by telling interesting stories about products and dishes.
If one of the adults is sick and cannot eat or the mother is on a diet, do not be surprised if the child also refuses to eat. Children are impressionable and model the behavior of others on themselves.
Teach your little one that there is a certain meal time when everyone sits down at the table.
You will have to show character and learn to deny your child candy and ice cream at unspecified times.

The eating behavior of children can be different: some meekly eat everything their parents offer, others eat a little at a time, as if they were having a snack. Each person requires an individual approach, and you should focus on your well-being.

To improve appetite, especially in winter and spring, it is necessary to provide the child with vitamins.

The benefits and harms of children's vitamins for appetite

Everything in the body is thought out. When nutrients are ingested, all organs function properly. If something is missing, the child’s health worsens, he becomes irritable and does not want to eat at all. Vitamins to improve appetite in children can normalize the level of nutrients.

However, it should be remembered that with excess everything happens exactly the opposite. If the daily dose of nutrients is exceeded, the child develops headache, lethargy, irritability, and insomnia. In addition, an allergic reaction, such as a rash on the body, may occur. Therefore, it is important to adhere to the recommendations of the doctor who prescribed the specialized complex and observe the required dosage.

Popular children's complexes

Not only vitamins, but also other drugs, for example, Glycine, Lysine, Creon, can increase a baby’s appetite. If the problem of poor appetite in a child lies in nervous stress or a disruption in the production of enzymes in the stomach, the doctor may prescribe these drugs, and not vitamins.

There are also vitamin complexes that can improve children's appetite.

You should pay attention to preparations containing zinc . A deficiency of this microelement can lead to impaired perception of smells and tastes. After starting to take vitamins, improvement is observed within a month.

Popular vitamin complexes:

Pikovit;
Vitrum Kids;
Alphabet;
Complement for children;
Multitabs;
Kinder biovital gel, etc.

Don’t forget that you shouldn’t choose your own vitamins. This may lead to results opposite to those expected. If you don’t have the opportunity to visit a doctor, it is better to use other ways to increase your child’s appetite.

Indications for the use of vitamins to increase appetite in children

Vitamins for children to increase appetite can only be used with a doctor's prescription. There is no need to choose treatment on your own and immediately give the drug to your child. This can only harm the child’s body.

The pediatrician prescribes a drug complex in the following cases:

prematurity;
birth injuries;
malnutrition;
great physical or mental stress;
strengthening the immune system;
rehabilitation period after illness;
lack of nutrients in the body;
growth period;
fast fatiguability;
preventive measures for colds.

Important! Vitamins are not medicines and cannot replace a nutritious diet. They are used only as a biological additive.

other methods

If taking vitamins to increase appetite in many cases does not pay off, how can you help a child who eats poorly and often refuses to eat? The following recommendations may be useful to you:

Positive emotions during meals are very important. The process of eating should be accompanied by positivity. It is necessary to forget all grievances and misunderstandings, set the table beautifully and arrange the dish so that your mouth waters just by looking at the plate.
Diet. For a feeling of hunger to occur, the body must be ready to eat food and gastric juice and saliva must be produced. If feeding occurs according to the clock, the body prepares for the next meal out of habit, without even seeing what it is going to be fed. Then the instinct of self-preservation kicks in if the dish is completely inedible. After digging into the plate, the child asks for something more tasty.
Change of diet.
Having read books about the benefits of vegetables and fruits, parents feed their baby salads, but he craves meat. Sometimes, on the contrary, the diet is balanced, but the dishes are not tasty. Try to find other recipes, use other combinations of products, plan the menu with your baby.
Foods that may increase appetite. It is known that natural apple juice, drunk half an hour before the main meal, improves appetite by causing an increase in the production of gastric juice. Rosehip decoctions, blackcurrant tea and chicory have a good effect on children's bodies. Cumin and anise seeds can also improve digestion.

What vitamins should I give my child for appetite?

The multivitamin complex may vary depending on age. What is allowed for a 3-5 year old child is under no circumstances allowed for a baby. When purchasing you should pay attention to:

manufacturer;
composition and dosage of substances contained;
best before date.

Vitamins for appetite for infants

At this age, the best vitamin complex is mother's breast milk. At the same time, it is not always possible to feed a child in this way, for example, when the baby does not get enough to eat or the woman has stopped secreting it.

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If the newborn begins to refuse food, the pediatrician may prescribe vitamins that increase appetite in children, which contain calciferol. For bottle-fed babies, all beneficial substances are contained in the milk formula. Therefore, in most cases it is enough to just give “Baby”. At the same time, there is a high probability of developing rickets in artificially ill people; the doctor prescribes vitamin D.

Vitamins for appetite for children from 1 year

After 12 months, you can already give many complexes. The specialist will prescribe the drug that is suitable for this particular child and select the required dosage. In pharmacies you can find the following vitamins for children over one year of age:

Vitrum Kids are produced in the form of animals. The tablets are chewed after meals.
"Kavit Junior" is sold in the form of plates. According to taste, they are divided into apricot and chocolate.
"Pikovit" is a sweet syrup. Production - Slovenia.
"Kinder Biovital gel" made in Germany has a low cost (200-220 rubles) and is used with meals, 1 tsp.

Vitamins for appetite for children from 3 years old

Three-year-olds can already be given chewing candies or effervescent tablets. Here the list of drugs becomes even wider:

"VitaMishki" are marmalade candies. Costs about 350 rubles.
"Supradin" contains 12 vitamins in combination with minerals.
“Alphabet-Our Baby” is a Russian drug produced in sachets. Daily intake is 1 sachet.
"Multabs - Baby" is produced by a Danish pharmacological company in the form of chewable tablets. The cost varies from 450 to 510 rubles. As a rule, it is enough to take 1 tablet per day.
"Pikovit" from the age of 3 is produced in the form of chewable tablets. Take with food. The price of the drug is 250-290 rubles.

Vitamins for children for good appetite are used strictly as prescribed by the pediatrician, regardless of the manufacturer. You should not use the drug on the advice of friends.

Vitamins for appetite for children from 6 years old

On the Russian market, the following drugs are considered the best vitamins for appetite for children over 6 years of age:

"Elkar" is produced in three forms: a solution for oral administration, effervescent tablets and a composition for intramuscular injection, the dosage is prescribed by the doctor;
"Pikovit";
"Kavit Junior";
"Vitrum Kids"

Each product has attached instructions, which show the daily dosage and rules of administration according to age. You should definitely read it before starting to use the drug.

Is your appetite really bad?

Before figuring out how to increase appetite in a 3-year-old child, you should first understand whether this problem really exists.
Maybe it’s just that the mother or grandmother thinks that the baby should eat more, but in fact he eats the amount of food that is fully enough for him. There is also a point that many parents simply do not take into account. A child grows most actively in the first year of life; height and weight progress rapidly during this period. From birth to 1 year, height usually doubles, and weight generally triples. This is why babies have a very good appetite. Then the baby begins to crawl, walk, and finds it difficult to sit still. It turns out that he uses his energy to the maximum. Accordingly, he will eat well in order to replenish his reserves of much-needed energy.

By the age of 3-4 years, children reach a phase of their development when there is no longer active growth and a period of stabilization begins. Naturally, the need for nutrients decreases somewhat and he no longer needs as much food as before. So, in this case, do you need to figure out how to increase the appetite of a 4-year-old child or just leave everything as it is? Each parent must realistically assess the situation and determine whether there really is a problem or whether it is fictitious.

Pediatricians' opinion

Before prescribing vitamins, in addition to reducing appetite, doctors evaluate all factors in combination:

Does the child have a balanced diet? It refers to the daily consumption of vegetables and fruits, meat and fish dishes, dairy products and cereals. In this case, problems with the immune system are unlikely to arise, and problems with food will soon go away.
Environmental conditions in the child’s place of residence. In the absence of beneficial factors, such as sun, water, clean air, the doctor will prescribe a specialized complex. This is especially true for residents of the Far North.
The well-being and growth of the baby influences the specialist’s decision. He will be able to give a complete answer only after examining the child.

The opinion of pediatricians comes down to the positive effect of children's vitamins to improve appetite. However, they are only a preventive measure; if after the course no positive changes have occurred, then a full examination of the body should be carried out and the root cause should be looked for.

In addition, experts note that if a child, in addition to a decrease in appetite, has the following factors, then most likely the body does not have enough nutrients:

fast fatiguability;
decreased attention;
restless sleep;
gums begin to bleed;
irritability;
cracks appear on the lips.

According to a survey of mothers, about 80% of women noticed an increase in their child’s appetite after completing the prescribed course. At the same time, there are those parents who have not seen any changes. This may be due to the incorrect selection of vitamins that increase appetite in children. In any case, repeated consultation with a specialist will be necessary.

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To increase the appetite of a little one, pediatricians advise observing the following conditions:

Spend time outdoors regularly, take walks more often. Especially important before lunch. Active and energetic games help awaken appetite and improve metabolism.
When eating, completely avoid watching TV. As an exception, experts only cite cartoons during the afternoon snack, when the baby has a little food, for example, fruit and yogurt.
Consume sweets between meals in minimal quantities. Of course, not completely eliminate it, but it should be reduced.
If a child completely refuses food, there is no need to force him. The body itself knows what and when it needs. Therefore, calmly react to an uneaten lunch. Here it is important not to get irritated with the baby, under no circumstances scream or try to force him to eat. After all, as you know, the more you are forced to do something, the more you don’t want to do it.
Each child is individual and needs to be approached. As you know, children love pasta very much. Therefore, it is the easiest way to feed your child this dish. You can offer your child a game of catching pasta. To do this, you need to boil large pasta (feathers, horns, bows, etc.). Give your child a small spoon or fork, or even a toothpick or chopsticks. Let the baby catch all the pasta using any device. A very interesting culinary game is made with spaghetti. Children like to eat long pasta with their hands, without any equipment. There is no need to worry about cultural upbringing, because sooner or later the child will learn to eat properly. And now it is important that he eats at all, no matter how.

Using traditional medicine recipes to improve children's appetite

You can get your baby to eat well again by using traditional medicine. Among the most popular methods are the following:

Offer stimulating foods. This could be an apple or carrot, including in the form of juice, berries: cherry, raspberry, strawberry, kiwi; citruses. It is recommended to offer such appetite stimulants to your baby about half an hour before meals.
Tea. Peppermint tea can stimulate the digestive system. To prepare it, pour 0.5 teaspoon of dried and crushed mint into 250 ml of boiling water, leave for 15 minutes, then strain through cheesecloth. If the baby is less than two years old, then it is recommended that he drink a tablespoon of this tea on an empty stomach; older children need to be given the drink twice a day, ¼ cup. Fennel. A drink made from the seeds of this plant can even be given to infants (in this case, it helps improve digestion). Older children can drink it as a stimulant. To prepare this tea, you will need fennel seeds (one teaspoon), which will need to be poured with a glass of boiling water. The drink is infused for two hours, preferably in a warm place. Children should drink a tablespoon on an empty stomach. With currant leaves. This tea, which improves appetite, can be given to children over 3 years old. It perfectly quenches thirst, you can drink it in any volume.
Garlic. When cooking, you can add a small amount of garlic. It also helps solve the problem, including by improving both the taste and aroma of dishes. In addition, it is very beneficial for the immune system. This product can only be used by children over three years of age;
Use of bitters. These are infusions of herbs such as wormwood, centaury, calamus or dandelion root. They can be found in almost any pharmacy and purchased without a prescription. In most cases, they are safe for the body (except for cases of individual intolerance). The action is based on irritation of the gastric mucosa, as a result of which the desire to eat increases reflexively.

The product is effective, however, due to its specific taste, most children simply refuse to take it.

Wormwood. It is recommended to drink this tincture for three weeks on an empty stomach, fifteen drops. If necessary, you can repeat the course no earlier than ten days later.
Calamus (rhizome). Dry rhizome (ten grams) needs to be poured with 0.2 liters of boiling water. The product is infused for half an hour. Every time before meals you need to give a quarter glass of infusion to drink.
The collection is delicious. This infusion will be effective if you drink it three times a day 30 minutes before meals. Dosage – dissolve a tablespoon of the product in a glass of warm boiled water and give it to drink.

Fish fat. This remedy is taken in courses of thirty days with a two-week break. Twice a day you need to consume one teaspoon of fish oil in liquid form. You can also take fish oil in capsule form. Then you must follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Pomegranate juice. Give a glass of juice regularly for breakfast/lunch/dinner.
Bee pollen. It can also act as an immunomodulator and a source of large amounts of microelements necessary for the body. Consume pollen once a day, in the morning on an empty stomach. If we are talking about a child, then one teaspoon is enough. Caution should be exercised, especially if you have (or have ever had in the past) a tendency to be allergic to bee products.
Aromatherapy. This original and interesting method is also used quite widely. For this procedure you will need one of the following aromatic oils: bergamot, chamomile, hyssop, cardamom, juniper or wormwood. If desired, you can alternate the oils or, after trying several, choose the aroma that you like best.

ATTENTION! The use of traditional medicine is permissible, but only if the child does not have any diseases. All of these drugs can cause an allergic reaction, so for the first few times it is permissible to give them only a little at a time and closely monitor the child’s condition.

No vitamins

Whatever the reason for poor appetite, the problem is that as a result the child does not receive the nutrients he needs for growth and full development. And this applies primarily to vitamins, since most of them, in principle, are not produced in the human body or are produced in insufficient quantities and come only with food. And if this does not happen for some reason, then it is necessary to take care of additional sources, that is, vitamin complexes developed specifically for children, taking into account their age-related needs. For example, VITRUM® Kids Gummi.

These vitamins are good because they come in the form of gummy bears, and with different flavors: orange, apple, grape, lemon or cherry. But, unlike sweets, they do not spoil teeth and have a good effect on digestion, as they contain pectin. In general, even small-toothed children should not have problems with reception. In addition to the pleasant taste, VITRUM® Kids Gummi have a balanced composition, including 9 vitamins, 2 minerals, as well as choline and inositol, which are necessary for growth, development of intelligence and memory.

VITRUM® Kids Gummi should be used one gummy per day. A vitamin complex will be appropriate both as a prevention of vitamin deficiency and in case of errors in nutrition, when a child does not receive enough vitamins from food. And since now, unfortunately, the quality of food leaves much to be desired, you cannot be one hundred percent sure that the baby has enough nutrients, even if he has a good appetite. And in this sense, regularly taking vitamins will definitely not be superfluous.