Picky eaters come in

DeputiesWife · May 2011

I know it probably has been talked about before!

How do you get your pre-schooler over being picky? Do you have rules at your dinner table? What if they flat out refuse to eat any veggies?

I am at a loss -- DD wont try anything new - we offer it on different occasions. She has a select few foods she does eat.

Thanks in advance.

ArcticFox · May 2011

We try a lot of variety. I'm not that great with compromising because my husband is rarely home and I don't have a lot of patience.

But for instance she wants cheese and crackers every day for lunch.. but she also kind of likes strawberries, so she 'has' to have a bowl of strawberries before she gets the cheese.

Sometimes I just try to make foods more enticing -

like a sandwich cut into shapes
fruits cut up in shapes (even just an apple cutter = flower), and also with dips - caramel, or peanut butter, or yogurt, etc.
same with veggies.. also the month before easter I can't tell you how many baby carrots my dd ate, because it was "bunny food" and we gave her a little ranch dressing!
Also for some reason, divided or character plates have been really appealing to my kids. Sort of like the bento box theory.. all those little compartments are visually appealing and they get the variety too.
There are also 'gimmicky' stuff my DD likes - like mini bagels or "crabby patties" - yes like spongebob - I cut a roll so it is 'mini' and I make her a mini burger (we are vegetarians, so it is a veggie burger).
My DD also likes stuff like edamame.. I can't think of any other good examples, but edamame is fun and interactive in a sense..

DH always says how the "kids eat what we eat" but right now I'm having spicy indian food, or we make smoked gouda sandwiches or something - so I feel like there has to be some kind of compromise.

bubbs147 · May 2011

Her star/reward chart has worked wonders for us. If she tries something new, she gets a star on it. (And she loves to put them on herself.) She recently discovered asparagus (I cut it into bite sized pieces, seems to look less intimidating like that, and put buttery spread on it), chicken salad, and beef brisket. Sometimes she will offer to try something new if she can have a reward (like yogurt after dinner or something).

mgfit1 · May 2011

My DS was a great eater until he turned about 2...then he would no longer eat any fruits or vegetables at all except apple sauce. He would eat sandwiches, meat items, pasta, casseroles, etc..... He is going to be 5 in July and about 9 months ago we finally put our foot down on the food thing. It was not fun and I am sure some people may flame me for doing this but we just finally put food on his plate and told him he had to eat it or go to bed. It sucked for several nights...yes, he went to bed in tears at 6:30pm at night (I was just about bawling downstairs listening to him cry) some nights. When he finally figured out that we were serious and that he would go to bed he started eating most things we gave him. He now eats bananas, oranges, apple sauce and grapes for fruit. I told him he had to pick one more fruit to start eating...I tried to give him a choice of one so he had some control so hopefully this week we can get him eating another fruit. For veggies he eats broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, zucchini and a few others. Now when we go to friend's houses and they serve him something, I tell him he needs to eat his broccoli or whatever it is and he does with little to no resistance - I can't believe it! The other night I served a stirfry with broccoli slaw, onion, garlic, carrots, red peppers and water chestnuts...he actually ate it with no questions asked! I also made a casserole with pasta, creamy cheese sauce, spinach, onion, garlic, mushrooms and red peppers and he gobbled it up. We are making progress! It was not fun, but I have to say when we are with friends and their kids we actually have the best eater of the group. The asked how we did it but none have done it with their kids. I hated forcing food on him but we try to eat really healthy in our house so I refuse to do chicken nuggets and grilled cheese every night. I never cook 2 dinners anymore. He has to eat what we eat. He tells me that he likes broccoli and spinach....it's nice to hear!

MrsAmers · May 2011

Since turning 4, DD has occasionally started trying new things. And we can also ask her to try one bite of something new without starting WWIII. We do allow her to spit it out if she doesn't like it. I would rather she spit it out than not try it at all.

I never make a second meal. I put a little of everything on everybody' s plate. Both kids choose what they are willing to eat. I do hide veggies in a few things because they kids won't eat many veggies on their own. But they both eat fruit, they both eat a few different protein sources, and they both love cheese. One eats rice & cous cous, the other one eats noodles. One likes dips and the other likes dipping crackers in soup.

I don't really make any ethnic foods since my DH isn't a fan (other than italian or a little mexican) and neither one of them does great with casseroles...so I haven't being doing them for a while.

But I feel like they eat enough of a variety to be healthy even if they won't eat everything I cook. When they get older, we'll set more requirements about trying a little of everything and we'll try to expand their horizons. But I have NO desire to make food a battleground. If they only ate 2-3 things, I would work harder at it. But they eat enough good stuff that I'm not going to battle them for control over what they put in their mouths.

STP2006 · May 2011

For the most part, I believe in the rules of--I decide what's offered, you decide what/whether to eat, and try to back off, figuring I'll end up with him eventually liking variety if there's no pressure and I don't offer junk.... (I never make a separate meal for him, but will take out some meat for him before adding a spicy sauce or something)

We also have improved the variety or "taste one bite" thing by putting a small (2-3 bite) serving of everything we are eating on his plate. If he wants seconds of ANYTHING, he has to try one small bite of all the things on his plate first (he doesn't have to "clean the plate" of course).

Some days, he says no thanks, and is done with 3-4 bites total of the whole meal (and that's ok), and others, if he really wants extra of his favorite, he'll at least put a bite of everything in his mouth. (some of which he spits out, and some have been added to his repertoire because he surprises himself by liking it (like snap peas) Either way, we all stay at the table til everyone's done.

We also found he was more likely to try things when his plate wasn't very full. He seemed to get overwhelmed by larger servings.

Good luck!

franciscaz · May 2011

ArcticFox:

But for instance she wants cheese and crackers every day for lunch.. but she also kind of likes strawberries, so she 'has' to have a bowl of strawberries before she gets the cheese.

That has been the most useful thing for Harmon.

We also got him Thomas the Train food set. If he wants to eat with them he has to at least try eating what we are eating.

My son has real serious food issues and so I pick my battles. I try to introduce things that are not to crazy different from what he likes now. Slowly but surely he expanding his diet and is not so scared to try new things.

DeputiesWife · May 2011

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Currently we have a star/reward chart for sleeping thru the night. This has been a battle since she was small - she has never been a good sleeper and she is so excited that when her green light on her alarm clock comes on she gets a star.

I've tried the shapes of foods, making happy faces - I will try the shapes with fruit and start using her character plates again.

DH says the same - she eats what we eat and dont give in -- but I, too, am the only one home with her for dinner time. At daycare she does eat what I pack her - PB sandwhiches or cheese and crackers, fruit, and yogurt and a snack.

Its more the trying of new things - she wont eat any meat, or veggies - and absolutely NOTHING green, not even green M&Ms.

I will try to relate things to her favorites, thats a great suggestion, currently she loves max and ruby as well as fancy nancy.

We also do - eat this piece of fruit and you can have whatever her favorite is at the time - I do try to balance it out somewhat.

Thank you again ladies!

lmdbww · May 2011

We're in the same boat. Currently we do "if you dont eat your lunch/dinner you get nothing else until it's eaten" and Dd has been doing better with at least eating what she's been offered. As long as she eats something i'm happy but i'm hoping going to preschool and seeing other kids eat other things will get her to try them.

The list of things she will eat is very small. Chicken nuggets, veggies (only steamed, not with any sort of sauce), select fruits (usually fresh). Sometimes pasta and rice. Nothing casserole, wet looking, nothing sandwich. We are also on a full nut free diet and limited eggs (but she wont eat eggs anyway).

septemberdreams · May 2011

When I was young, I was a picky eater b/c my mom let me be a picky eater-she catered to me.

I don't cater to my DS and he's a great eater. He eats what we eat, he sees us eating fruits and veggies. His choice is take it or leave it. He doesn't have to eat it but there's no other choice. We do introduce new foods a little at a time (a bite or two) so he can get used to it and gradually increase the amount. When he went on a veggie "strike" (eating everything, then saying he's too full for the veggies), we would have him eat his veggies first. Or sometimes making him eat the veggies before the pasta or something else he really wants. We would do the same with our food. The only choice he has is whether to eat.

mabma80 · May 2011

One rule at my table. You eat it or go to bed hungry. That's how our parents were. We also tell them if they eat all or at least half of their dinner, they get a special treat (candy, popsicle, etc.). If they choose not to eat, I wrap up their plate cause they ALWAYS come back saying they are hungry. So, I reheat their plate and they eat most of it. : )

They don't like the texture of ground beef for some reason, except for spaghetti. Weird. They LOVE steak and everything else. Veges, I don't have to push to much with DS#1. But DS#2 will not eat them. But he will have a salad with ranch dressing and that's it. I'll take it.

They are part German, so sausage is a must in their menu. HAHA!!

KristinKD · May 2011

DD1 has made such an improvement since turning 3. She was such a good eater as a baby, but started getting picky around 18 months, and I made the mistake of catering to her just because it was easier. We fell into a rut where she was eating pasta (whole wheat, fortunately) for dinner most nights.

I wanted to avoid that with DD2, so as she started eating foods, I started cracking down on DD1. She's always had a few bright spots -- she loves pretty much all fruit, broccoli and peas, even breaded fish -- but getting her to eat any sort of meat and more of a variety of vegetables was a battle. Since cracking down, she now actually likes chicken (though still no meat, since I don't eat it and don't cook it often) and sugar snap peas and couscous and a bunch of other things that she would have thrown a fit over a year ago. Overall, she's a pretty healthy eater; it's just her variety that still needs a little more work.

There are a few things that have worked for us. First, just getting her involved, whether by helping me bread chicken by sprinkling breadcrumbs with a spoon, or by shaking cinnamon onto sweet potato fries, or pouring milk into mashed potatoes. Somehow she developed a love of butter -- it must have been on her grandmom's watch, since I never add it at home -- so she's much more willing to try something if it has butter on it, and I often let her add that herself. Likewise, she's also more willing to try things if she can dip it in hummus or ketchup. Also, even though she's really good about eating her vegetables now, I still sneak in some purees here and there just for the added nutrition: butternut squash puree on grilled cheese, cauliflower puree in macaroni and cheese, yellow squash puree with parmesan on pasta.

Our rules at the table are that she at least needs to try one bite of something new, and she can't have seconds of her favorite thing until she finishes everything else on her plate. She gets a treat if she cleans her plate, which isn't a habit I wanted to start, but it has worked. Most of the time she asks for a smoothie, so it's not an entirely bad habit.

I don't always make her eat exactly what we're eating, but I do at least give her the same components. So, when we have, say, pesto pasta with shrimp, she has to try the shrimp and "green pasta," but since I know she doesn't like them yet, I also have plain pasta (with pasta sauce or yellow squash puree) for her. If we have couscous with spinach, tomatoes, and beans, she'll have couscous with peas (and butter, naturally!) but she has to try a bite of ours too. In that sense, I've been trying to base our meals around things I know she'll eat, if not the same as us, then with only a few minor tweaks, so at least I'm not cooking two entirely separate meals.

I'm a reformed picky eater now with a picky eating kid, so I know what a pain it is. Good luck!

shopgirl78 · May 2011

I have two really good eaters and then there is DS1 who is picky. I don't make special meals, they eat what we are eating. If its like fajitas, I will make quesadillas for them instead. Or plain noodles if they don't like the sauce. You get a little bit of everything but if you want more of something, you have to at least taste what (if not eat) everything else on the plate. I am flexible with some things. I do try to consider their tastes when cooking. There are no snacks unless you eat most of your meal.

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