S/O Picky eating.....

Shoegal36 · December 2013

Anyone have any plans on how they will deal with this when the time comes?

I would like for my supper time rules to be 1) you have to at least TRY every food 2) you have to stay at the dinner table until everyone is done eating and 3) I'm not making a separate meal for the child. If they don't want to eat it or finish it, that's fine, but they don't get something else (unless it's been determined previously that they genuinely don't like it)

H is in the mindset that they should be forced to eat any food and can't get up until their plate is empty because that's the way he was brought up.

I don't think kids should be forced to eat and it's ok to sometimes have foods you really, really don't like. If they are just pretending they don't like it...well, they won't get something else and they won't starve but they'll know better next time.

I think this is gonna be an issue for us as we have differing opinions on it.

Thoughts?

And no, spanking is not an option

c-elizabethf · December 2013

My thoughts are pretty much like yours, my dh say if she doesn't eat what we cook she won't eat. He jokes but I think he would be the one to sneak her junk food lol.

Boo0512 · December 2013

My goal is to get my child to eat at least half of each item on her plate. If she refuses, it'll be a time out/loss of a toy. My family was in the "clean plate club" and I don't entirely agree with that.

As I mentioned in the other post when they are older they will have the option to make themselves a reasonably healthy meal if they won't eat what I have made.

My MIL hardcore catered to my DH and SIL and they are both super picky eaters and its to the point of rude. I rarely make DH or SIL something they like. SIL is famous for picking out almost everything in a dish and pushing it to the side. I will not let my kids turn into them!

jedimindtrick · December 2013

Don't forget that our taste buds mature as we age, so there's a very good chance that stuff really does taste like shit to them. This is why we all eat stuff now that we didn't eat as a kid.

We will not force foods, because I believe that leads to food issues later. However, I also won't serve junk. Chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese won't really ever be on the menu, so they won't know better. I think if you start with healthier options, they will eat healthier. I don't expect him to eat all veggies, but cheese sticks and yogurt are a better option to me than animal crackers. We will try to avoid processed foods as much as possible. Within reason.

TradeMama · December 2013

We do one bite for each year old for everything on their plate. If I know they hate it (and they've tried it before) I don't put it on their plate. So a two year old takes two bites, etc.

MrsM1111 · December 2013

Like most thoughts here, they must try everything once. If we are introducing something new, we will make sure there is something else on the table that is known to be liked. They won't leave the table until everyone is done. I do like the bites per age rule - I may have to incorporate that somehow. My real trouble will come from H who hates peas and green beans. His dad made him sit at the table til they were gone, so he learned that when that was served, he just wouldn't get to watch TV or whatever else he wanted to do and would sit there until bed time. I don't like that and have tried to explain to him that with our children he needs to follow the same rules for meal time. We will absolutely not be making separate meals.

Lolalipsy · December 2013

As long as they try it and then still don't like it that's fine.

I like what @trademama does. I think I'll adopt this approach.

CNJ4EVA · December 2013

My view is this; I don't eat foods that I don't like, I'm not forcing my kid to either.

That said, you don't know that you don't like something unless you try it, so I will be making LO taste things.

motang · December 2013

My toddler is a very picky eater. Just getting her to eat things she likes is a huge accomplishment some days. I have done many things in order to get her to eat: make her her own food, bribery (watch Mickey on tv), singing songs, anything. I don't like it, but it's what works for us. I still introduce her to new things daily and make her try them, but oftentimes I end up falling back on things i know she likes so meal time is not a negative experience and she eats.

flyliceandcoffee · December 2013

I grew up in a household where I had to eat everything that my mom cooked otherwise I didn't eat. I know I'm a picky eater, and this used to drive my mom batty. I think we're gonna have more of a problem feeding S foods that we don't want to eat instead of the other way around. We're not going to force S to eat anything because we know first hand how that turns out, but we will want her to try everything we give her. If she doesn't want to eat it, that's fine, but as long as she tries it that's all we ask. She won't be getting something else to eat though, nor will she be getting chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas every night either.

TradeMama · December 2013

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VtSG_PDluPw

mommatotwo2 · December 2013

My view as a mother of a 5 year old is that I try really hard to get nutrition into her, but sometimes I just need to get calories and protein into her, period. We buy decently healthy white meat, whole grain breaded chicken nuggets that are mickey mouse shaped and she loves them. We oven bake fries. We don't really eat a lot of mac n cheese, because I don't particularly care for it, but if she wanted it, I'd let her have it. I serve a veggie or fruit with every meal and she has to take at least a couple of bites of everything on her plate. I do let her leave the table when she is finished, because she gets 2 hours of time to do everything between getting home from after school care at 6 and going to bed by 8. That includes dinner, homework, bath (some nights), a little time for play, brush teeth, bedtime story, and lights out in bed by 8. I'm not going to make her sit at the dinner table for 1/4 of that time if she has made a reasonable dent in the food I put in front of her. She's a very healthy, active little girl and she's really not a picky eater and generally makes good choices for snacks and whatnot.

Kashy · December 2013

I grew up having to eat everything that was on my plate. There were a lot of very unpleasant dinner time wars between my mom and I.
I agree with they try everything once and I'm not making more then one dinner. DH and I are on the same page hopefully DS will be too lol So far he seems to like everything we have given him so I'm hoping he stays that way.
As for staying at the table until everyone is done, I'm not sure if we will do that. We never did that growing up BUT we always all ate dinner together. That is one thing I want is family dinner time.

blush64 · December 2013

I believe in family dinners at the table in the diningroom or kitchen. Sometimes, when the kids are older I have problem with eating pizza and watching a movie in the family room.

I will never force my kids to eat everything on their plate and I don't mind giving another option if the dinner I made is something they don't like. The other option would be something simple or something they would make themselves when they are old enough.

One of my sons has had a very rough road woth eating. He ate/nursed wonderfully as a baby and toddler but had extreme difficulty as a child and even now as an older teen. I hope A doesn't have the same issues. He never really had fast food or juice, in fact he hated fast food, juice and most junk food until recently.

Shoegal36 · December 2013

My reason for wanting them to stay at the table is from seeing my neice quickly take 2 bites of her supper, and saying she is "full" because she is so anxious to go play with the toys at my parents. They let her, and then 20 minutes later she is back out in the kitchen saying she wants a snack because she's hungry. I mean obviously if we're going to sit there and chit chat for an hour she shouldn't have to stay but I feel like if she had to stay until everyone was at least done eating that she would eat more.

D&S724 · December 2013

Speaking from experience, my older two kids were extremely picky as toddlers. I used to stress over it so much because they would only eat certain foods. The only saving grace was that they loved fruit and ate a lot of it (still do). Now they are 6 and 4, and it's much easier to get them to try new things. For one thing, I don't make separate meals, but I do try to make things that I know they'll at least try. Our dinner rule is that they have to take a few bites, and at least one bite of a veggie. They have actually started liking broccoli! The only way they'll get dessert is if they've eaten most of what's on their plates. At this age it's much easier to reason with them and hold something over their heads, KWIM?

The bottom line is, if your kid ends up being picky, don't stress too much over it. They'll get there eventually. The way I see it, they won't be eating chicken nuggets at their own wedding!

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