My nephew will be four in May. I am so lost with what to do with him! He is the slowest eater ever, and I mean SLOW. It can take him an upwards of three hours to finish a bowl of food.

If it's something unhealthy or sort of medium line he will wolf it down. If it something healthy or something he doesn't enjoy he will drag it out.

I time him. He gets 20 minutes after my daughter is done to eat. Marlow eats at a decent pace, it usually takes her 15-30 minutes to eat her food. But then he eats next to nothing and I'm worried he's hungry all day.

Normally I wouldn't think twice about it. I am a firm believer of kids will eat when they are hungry. But he's wasting food right and left, he's not getting anything healthy in him most days, and I feed him three meals a day, five days a week. So I know exactly how little he eats.

Let me give you an example of todays lunch. We had broccoli and cheese macoroni. I gave each child two scoops. Marlow ate all of it, had two more scoops, ate all of that, had three tim bits (a mom had brought them this morning as a treat) and then been washed up and put down. Total time? About half hour. The other child ate almost all of his, said he was full, we bargained three more bites, then he also got desert and got town. Elapsed time by now 45 minutes. I had forgotten to set the timer with Marlow so I set it after this boy. 20 minutes. In those 20 minutes, then 10 extra because I was in the middle of washing up a baby who had coated himself in food, my nephew ate two noodles.

So in an hour and fifteen minutes he maybe ate six noodles and one bit of broccoli.

And the chewing!!! If he doesn't particularily want to eat it he will chew it forever. He once chewed a bite of carrot for three hours. If it had been chocolate it would of been chewed for twenty seconds. He once chewed a bit of porkchop for almost five hours. We didnt even know it was in his mouth until the next meal!!

I'm looking for suggestions. Because at this point I honestly am starting to wonder why I even give him food lol. In one day he may eat fifteen noodles, one bite of meat, and half a baby carrot. And do it all over again the next day. I'm not open to making him special meals, as it's not fair to the other kids in the dayhome. And I can afford to buy special vitamin drinks and his mother won't. I have tired making the food colourful, making it into designs, and putting things on his plate he likes along with things he doesnt.

I should also add he hates food touching and ANY sauce. Ketchup, ranch, bbq sauce, cheese sauce (except in mac n cheese), spaghetti sauce. Anything and everything.