My daughter will not try anything new

Nicole - posted on 07/17/2012

Kimberly, I feel your pain..... Our daughter also refuses to eat anything mixed together, and if anything is touching on her plate she wont touch any of it.. She is 8 yrs old on the 26th of this month and weights only 41lbs. If I do as the docs, and everyone else thinks, IE only giving her healthy choices.. She will NOT eat for days... I went to her doc and told her and she said she will eat when she gets hungry... OMGOSHHHHHH I am so frustrated. The thought of putting my daughter to bed hungry drives me insane....

Deanna - posted on 07/16/2012

I agree. Give her 2 options for dinner if you want. personally I make dinner period. My thought process is this. If they are hungry they will eat. If they want to be picky they can. I have had picky eaters, especially since I have 4 kids. It came down to this. Eat it or don't eat. Once dinner is over that is it for the night. Now for the hitch. Since there are 4 of them I give them the option of trading sides or negotiating with each other. A couple of my kids don't like tomato but do like salad greens. Another doesn't care for the greens but likes tomato. See how this works? I don't put dressing on their salad until they are ready to eat it or until they are, depending on their age. Same goes for peas, broccoli, fresh green beans, etc. IF I make mac and cheese they MUST eat everything on their plate before getting a serving of the mac and cheese. period. They tried the fit thing and when they ended up in the corner or in their room they stopped that. The complaint at that time was they were hungry. Okay. I got out their plate that I had put saran wrap on it and placed it back in front of them. They can eat it or not. The second fit meant they got a warning of "if you want to throw a fit you won't eat and won't get it back a third time". We only got to that once for each of the older 2 kids. The older two would always warn the younger two that mom was serious so if they were hungry they better just eat it. Sounds mean but I am the parent. Not them. I decide what they eat. Not them. If they want junk then when they grow up they can get a job and buy it themselves. They know this to.

Casey - posted on 07/11/2012

I agree with Gianni. Don't buy the junk she eats and then you can say, I'm sorry we don't have any ***. We have ***** to eat if you are hungry. The first few days may be a lot complaining but she should come aroun,d, after all, she will be hungry. maybe let her go to the store with you and pick out some healthy options of food and maybe even help you cook it. That way she may feel like she has more of a choice in what she's eating. You can even talk about it, and let her help choose some meals if you can't get to the store together.

You say she wants to be healthy? Is " health" to her weight/appearance or general health? I imagine 10 is an age where body image can become a real issue. I would watch for that, especially if she is having eating issues. I dealt with an eating disorder for many years, And it can start young. If you suspect it's more than just not wanting to try new things, I would talk to her doctor about it.

Gianni - posted on 06/22/2012

Most importantly -- do not, I repeat, do not -- indulge her. I know that it's extremely frustrating trying to get her to eat, and in the end it's really tempting to just give in to her demands, but that'll only push her towards it more.

Lay out only options that are relatively healthy and give her choices ("tonight, we're going to have enchiladas and meatloaf with veggies. you can have your choice of either."). If she refuses to eat, say fine but leave the food out; eventually she'll get hungry enough and she'll eat.

You may also want to talk to her about other things -- it sounds like this refusal to eat stems from something more, perhaps bullying, weight/image concerns? If all else fails, consult your pediatrician.