As a preschooler, your child should have a healthy attitude
toward eating. Ideally, by this age she no longer uses eating—or
not eating—to demonstrate defiance, nor does she confuse food
with love or affection. Generally (although almost certainly not
always), she’ll now view eating as a natural response to hunger
and meals as a pleasant social experience. Despite your
preschooler’s general enthusiasm for eating, she still may have
very specific preferences in food, some of which may vary from
day to day. Your child may gobble down a particular food one
day, and then push away the plate with the same food the next
day. She may ask for a certain food for several days in a row,
and then insist that she doesn’t like it anymore. As irritating
as it may be to have her turn up her nose at a dish she devoured
the day before, it’s normal behavior for a preschooler, and best
not to make an issue of it. Let her eat the other foods on her
plate or select something else to eat. As long as she chooses
foods that aren’t ov