Tips for restoring the child's appetite after illness

When they are sick, children can lose their appetite so that their food intake is reduced than usual. Even though they have recovered, the child's appetite will not immediately return to normal. If you are worried that your little one will lose weight and his nutritional needs are not being met enough, you can try the following ways to slowly restore your child's appetite to normal.

How to restore a child's appetite after illness

Even though after being healthy, the child's appetite can increase again, in the recovery period the child's body needs time to get back to getting used to receiving more food intake. Especially when a child is sick for a long time, the child will have difficulty finishing large portions of food.

After recovering, the child's body is usually still in the process of recovering so that often the child still feels some disturbing symptoms. So that children get used to eating in the ideal portion, you can apply the steps to restore the child's appetite as follows.

1. Increase the portion of the meal little by little

As a first step to restore appetite, you should not force your child to immediately eat large portions. In children who are recovering from a disease that attacks the throat, usually it is still difficult to swallow so that the child has difficulty eating.

Immediately giving large portions of food can actually traumatize the child so that it can further reduce their appetite. Appreciate his wishes and opinions first by following how much food intake he can swallow. After that, you can gradually increase the portion of the child's food until it reaches its ideal portion.

During the process of eating, create a calm and pleasant atmosphere. You should not continue to encourage your child to eat when he has difficulty chewing.

You also shouldn't overly persuade children to eat with the lure of toys. This method can actually damage the concentration of children while eating. Allow the child to chew according to his ability while you continue to offer food neutral, without intimidating.

2. Implement a regular eating schedule

If when sick the child's eating schedule becomes disrupted, try to re-adjust to the child's original eating schedule. A regular eating schedule is very important to provoke a child's appetite.

The ideal distance between meals can lead to cycles of hunger and fullness so that children eat enough at the right time. According to IDAI, the appropriate meal interval for children is a minimum of 3 hours. With the ideal number of feedings per day is 6-8 times, adjusted for the child's age.

Don't forget to include eating a snack (snack) in the child's daily meal schedule. In an effort to restore children's appetite, snack foods can help increase children's nutritional intake which is still less than optimal after recovering from illness.

3. Try a variety of foods, but still nutritious

One of the efforts parents often make to increase children's appetite is by providing their favorite foods. Your little one may indeed be able to eat the food they like in large portions, but parents often forget about the nutritional intake their children need.

It is okay to give children's favorite foods, as long as these foods are the main food. If your favorite food turns out to be a snack, you should give it a snack. Don't use snacks as a substitute for main meals, even if your little one doesn't want to eat.

The strategy you can do to restore a child's appetite without neglecting nutrition is to combine their favorite foods with other nutritious food choices. If your child really likes chicken, you can vary the food recipe by using chicken as the main ingredient.

4. Adequate fluid needs

While trying to restore a child's appetite, nutritional intake may not be fulfilled optimally. Not only thinking about food, you also need to pay attention to the child's body fluid needs. Make sure their needs are still fulfilled. Especially if your little one has just recovered from an illness that is at risk of causing dehydration, such as a respiratory infection, diarrhea, or vomiting.

In addition to drinking more water, you can provide fresh fruit juice to meet your fluid needs.