eating habits

krystal61705 · September 2011

DD is SOOO picky. She literally will only eat mac and cheese, chicken, pasta without sauce, pancakes, cereal, pizza and cheese quesadillas. She does snack pretty well (fruit, yogurt, etc.) but I cannot get her to eat anything new! I have tried "sneaking" veggies in anywhere that I can and she immediately spits them out. Any healthy meal suggestions??? TIA!

kmhunt11 · September 2011

We were discussing something similar yesterday. Some one suggested giving very small portions of several things- both things she'll eat and things she won't. If she at least tries a bit of each thing she can have more of what she wants. This way she tries new things, but still gets enough to eat. I've also decided that the time has come that she eats what we eat (within reason). As the other poster said "I'm not a short order cook." DD is 3 1/2 and really should eat what we're eating. The other mom said she makes sure that at least one side is something her child really likes, but DC must try everything before having more of the preferred food. It all seems so simple, but I am so tired of arguing with DD at dinner time. I need to let go and realize that A) Young kids just aren't very hungry at dinner time; and

She's not going to starve to death if she's too stubborn to eat dinner.

krystal61705 · September 2011

kmhunt11:
We were discussing something similar yesterday. Some one suggested giving very small portions of several things- both things she'll eat and things she won't. If she at least tries a bit of each thing she can have more of what she wants. This way she tries new things, but still gets enough to eat. I've also decided that the time has come that she eats what we eat (within reason). As the other poster said "I'm not a short order cook." DD is 3 1/2 and really should eat what we're eating. The other mom said she makes sure that at least one side is something her child really likes, but DC must try everything before having more of the preferred food. It all seems so simple, but I am so tired of arguing with DD at dinner time. I need to let go and realize that A) Young kids just aren't very hungry at dinner time; and She's not going to starve to death if she's too stubborn to eat dinner.

Great advice! Thank you

franciscaz · September 2011

Bribery has been an effective weapon. We try new foods that are similar to that which he is eating and than when we want him to try it we bribe. My son has serious Sensory needs and so we can't force him. Even bribery doesn't always work but it has helped.

kada626 · September 2011

With dd it helped to keep on serving the item I wanted her to eat. If it's new, she may not eat it but the 4th time I put it on her plate she is used to seeing by then & she tries it.

Another thing that used to work for us when she was being a fussy eater, is giving her coins for eating. We will just get about 10 random coins and place them on the table. We will say if you try steak and eat two bites of it, you can pick a coin. Then after dinner, she puts them in her piggy bank. We only did this a few times with certain foods and then stopped giving her money for it. She now eats those food though!

howleyshell · September 2011

It's against human survival instincts to allow yourself to starve.

She eats those foods because you make them available to her.

If she didn't have them available to her she would eat something else.

Our approach has been you eat what you're offered or you go hungry.

I make one dinner for all of us with a protein, starch and fresh veggie. If they make a "happy plate" they get fruit after dinner as a treat.

I've had them boycott an entire meal and while it's hard to watch/do as a parent they'll eat dirt if it's what you serve them come morning time.

I'd plan a menu plan that you and your DH would like to eat, consider some accommodations like no sauce on the pasta or not mixing things that would normally be mixed (like for us with stir fry they want their rice separate from the meat and veggies) but other than that offer what you and DH are eating.

We try to make sure that there's at least 1 thing out of the 3 that they'll eat happily and if it's the starch we put a very small amount on their plate and tell them that they can have more after they finish the rest of their food so they're not starch loading like soooo many tykes to these days.

It seems like a battle but it doesn't have to be. No bickering, no ultimatums, no begging. It just is what it is. This is dinner. This is dinner time. You can choose to eat it or not - it's your call. If you choose not to eat it the consequence as you'll quickly learn is that you're hungry. Once you're hungry you'll eat almost anything.

I know it seems harsh to some but I promise you it works.

My kids eat EVERYTHING. Brussel sprouts, mushrooms, muscles, any kind of sea food, egg plant, you name it.

They can't conceptualize the idea of saying "no" and having something else offered that they like better so they eat what's given to them. They certainly have favorites and they also have things that are "not my favorite" but over all they will eat anything because they know it's expected of them.

When something falls into the "not my favorite" category we usually expect them to eat less of it but continue to offer it occasionally in hopes that as their palates evolve they'll come to enjoy the flavor.

I suggest taking things like pizza and mac and cheese out of your regular rotation and making them more of a special treat. If I served those things regularly I'm sure that would be the preference of my kids too! Heck - if they didn't make me as big as a house that's what I'd want to eat at every meal too! They're yummy!!!!

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