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How to get a picky eater to stop being picky? Going to bed hungry-HELP!

cs1007cs1007 member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+

DS does well with breakfast and lunch food, i.e. carbs and fruits and dairy, but when it comes to dinner he is awful. He won't even TRY anything: pasta, meats, cheeses, veggies...NOTHING! For a few months I have been spoiling him and making him something other than what we eat just so there is food in his belly, and now I am done with it! I know that this is my fault, but my question is, now how do I get him to eat what we are eating?

The last few nights I have only offered what we are eating and he refuses to eat it and goes to bed hungry...he doesn't seem to care. Last night he woke up crying in the middle of the night and ended up in our bed...I am wondering if he was hungry???

HELP!!!

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Re: How to get a picky eater to stop being picky? Going to bed hungry-HELP!

  • MrsHyphenatedMrsHyphenated
    I don't have a solution to stop the pickiness, but what I do is freeze his favorite meals or pasta sauces, so when I come home from work, it's 10 mins to boil pasta or 2 mins to defrost, which lets me focus on making something (WW) points friendly for myself.
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  • jshfjshf member
    I posted a similar question below. Letting LO go to bed hungry and got some good responses. I've been reluctant to let DS go to bed without eating something and usually have an alternative. But he's become pickier, so I've been wondering if I should just let him go without dinner if he refuses it. It's only been a couple of days, but I've tried to cut back snacks and he does seem to eat his meals better. Of course I have also been making foods he likes. I have a couple of friends with older kids who eat really well, and they said they always just offered food, but never forced their kids to eat anything. I also have a friend who's son hardly eats anything. He doesn't even like bananas, grapes or even bread! So I feel at least DS has a little variety and loves fruit. The other thing I do is that if DS doesn't eat a good lunch,instead of letting him fill up on snacks after his nap, I will just give him an early dinner. Sometimes at 3:30. Then I will offer him dinner again at 5:30, but if he refuses and just wants a snack, I feel he has eaten a little better. GL!
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  • monica93555monica93555
    We also had this problem and still do although its not as bad as it use to be. The only thing I can recommend that helped for us is cutting back on his snacks. Since we did this he does seem more interested in dinner. The key is making sure they come to the table hungry. Matter of fact, most days our son gets no snacks at all. Crazy, I know. I don't know how he survives but he does and he does it well. We do make exceptions of course if he seems hungry then we give him a snack but usually just enough to hold him over until the next meal. Oh and also, giving him his milk after he finishes his meal helped us also. GL to you!
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  • JoannaJesJoannaJes member

    DS is more picky for dinner than any other meal. I chalk it up to being later in the day, more tired, etc. 

    I also have cut back on snacks, but I will totally give him an apple to eat if he doesn't like dinner. As long as he tries a small bite, I don't care if he has a healthy alternative. 

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  • emberlee3emberlee3 member

    My DS is exactly the same.  He threw a tantrum the other night because I put 5 pieces of pasta on his plate.  I do not make a special meal. I try to include 1 or 2 things he usually eats, even if it's just bread or fruit.  I have been doing this for the past year, and his diet has expanded ever so slightly during that time.  He will sometimes eat quesadillas (cheese only), homemade mac and cheese, or fish baked with breadcrumbs.  Those are pretty much the only normal "dinner foods" he will touch.

    It really drives me insane, but you can't force someone to eat.  He was like this even as a baby with mommy's milk, so I guess it's just his thing.  And sometimes his best nights of sleep are when he goes to bed with an empty tummy--go figure.

    DS born 8/8/09 and DD born 6/12/12.
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  • MrsCripe10MrsCripe10
    When i didn't eat what was for dinner, I was allowed a glass of milk before bed and nothing else.  I am still pickey, but now i'm the cook so I get what i want.
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  • torrey111torrey111

    it's hard because they just want food that is simple- and what we, adults want, normally has a lot of sauce, flavors, textures that are not, well, simple.  

    Our nanny told us when she was little her mom would not let her hear anything other than what was for dinner and if she didn't eat it she would get it for breakfast and if she didn't eat it she'd get it for lunch, and so on.  It was traumatizing for her.

     

     

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