fussy eating

Karen - posted on 07/25/2010

I feel your pain, if it is not pasta my 5 year old hardly eats. well unless it is hamburgers and hotdogs. she won't eat fish, steak, porkchops. when we ask her what she wants for supper(to make her feel like she has helped) she keeps saying pasta. I did get her to eat cubbed steak by smothering it in sautayed onions and green peppers with terriokey sauce. we have tried telling her that steak when ground up is hamburger. still hasn't worked. we fight everynight also to get her to eat what is on her plate. never ending battle

Anne - posted on 07/10/2010

I really wouldn't worry about your sons diet too much so long as he is eating a variety of foods. My son will only eat raw vegetables, some fruits and uncooked pasta and fries. The only meats he will eat are sausages and chicken nuggets and that is about all. I make sure he gets his fat and protein intake through full fat milk shakes. I will ask him to try different foods by asking him to " please just take a little bit and chew it", most of the time he will spit it out but I will give him lots of praise for trying it. If he actually eats it I will give him a reward ie. a kinder egg or something like it. Another tactic I use is to tell him he used to like it when he was a baby, this sometimes works and he'll try it even if he spits it out.
We used to get into arguments with our son at meal times too, but now I've learnt to relax and just give him what I know he will eat. I do try to introduce new foods from time to time to see if he will eat it.
I watched a documentary on some picky eaters who have a diet far worse than my sons and the children went to see a nutritionist to see if their health suffered from the diet they had. None of the children were malnourished and this actually set my mine at ease. This is when I stopped trying to force the issue with my son. He is healthy and happy.
Hope this has helped you in some way.

Michelle - posted on 07/09/2010

With my 6 year old we are finally at a turning point with the fussy eating. Not quite there yet. He was a fussy eater from about 18 months old, and the one thing I refused to do was make seperate meals for him, because I felt that he needed to learn to eat what was put in front of him.
I think it is something they slowly grow out of, to be honest. Nothing major worked for very long, so I will give you some tips that worked a little longer.
1/ I found, in the library, a cookbook that had meals that related to Shrek. This had things like stir fries that were named "wild rat and worms". I know, sounds kinda gross to eat, but what we found is that it became really easy to name other regular meals when you get into the swing of it. This worked for about 8 months, and would still be continuing now, 2 years later, if I didn't get sick of eating rats and worms LOL. (there is more in there than that, but I like my food real after six months)
2/ (and I still use this one) At the dinner table the night before food shopping, and not a big drama, I ask everyone what meal they would like to eat for the week. Everyone gets a say about at least one meal, and then a joint decision on the rest (obviously depends on how many in the family). This has taught Nathaniel, and his older brother Seth, what is involved in making meals interesting all the time, and how to mix things up. Kids are surprisingly good at picking healthy things when given the choice. If they pick something like fish and chips or hamburgers, then tell them you can make them better at home. Since Nathaniel has had a say in the meals he is happy to eat other people's choices too.
3/ Involve kids in helping prepare meals. It could be small things while you are getting used to it, and build up slowly. With this, having worked in hospitality, I gave my kids safe kitchen rules which they must follow or else they are thrown out of the kitchen, and after that you find that it is quite fun to have them there. Unless you are surprising them with hamburgers (or similar) made "better" at home.
4/ put slightly more on his plate than he can eat, allowing him room to "compromise" how much he eats. I make sure he knows that he has to eat some of everything, but there is room to compromise. This negotiating tool has worked well too, because it has made him feel like he has control of the situation, when in reality I have succeeded in getting him to eat what needs to be eaten.

good luck

Jennifer - posted on 07/07/2010

I have pick eaters all the way around. I have a meat and potatoes kids. A I want chicken, rice and bread. I also have a I will eat only my vegetables kid. I ask each child to pick a day that is theirs. On that day they help plan the meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It helps them to slowly start to make compromises and learn more about meal decisions. I also make bargains. If he eats so much of said vegetable or meat there will be a dessert(jello) for after dinner. You just try to find which way you can get your child to agree to eating meals. Sometimes, someone comes away from the table hungry due to stubborness. That happens. I make a rule not to argue with children...they can be insane on their logic of why they should not do or eat something.

Merenda - posted on 06/30/2010

My son is age 6 and eats everything. When he says he do not want to, i always finds something that he likes and ask him if he finishes dinner or lunch then he could have it. But if he still refuse, i always manage to prepare the food in a different way to hide whatever he decide not to eat that day. Trust me this work! Do not let them be too choosy with food or else he will miss some important nutrients he needs to grow up healthily.

Jennifer - posted on 06/12/2010

A trick that I have learned is to let them help you prepare the food. Children are more willing to try something if they helped create it. Or even including your child in the meal planning stage. Once they realize that their opinion matters and that you listen to them they might be more willing to try new things, and may even like them.

Also if you start your child out with a very little portion of the meal, and tell them that they have to try everything, at least one little bite, than they might be more willing to try it, and may come to the conclusion that the food isn't as bad as they thought it would be.

Hope this helps :)

Janette - posted on 06/06/2010

There is a littlies food chart guide set up as a type of a reward chart that has the number of servings as a picture the child can colour in every time they eat that particular food grp or you could mark it off with a star. i have used this with my very fussy nearly six yr old who eats like a sparrow. Quite effective they enjoy seeing their progress. (the link is www.littlies.co.nz)

Jaime - posted on 05/25/2010

I have tried to hide meat in spagetti sauce, mac and cheese, anything but doesn't work he will not eat it. He will eat all beef hotdogs though (I don't buy those "little bit of everything" hotdogs uck) so he is at least getting that once a week or so.

Wendy - posted on 05/25/2010

It is totally normal for kids to be picky eaters at this age. When my oldest son was this age, he would only eat pizza. Well pizza has bread, meat, and dairy, and veggies except for the high fat content, not so bad, so we made Friday pizza night, but the rest of the week he had to eat whatever I made for dinner. My youngest, who is 5 now, loves chicken, and fish and even pork, but will not eat beef. He will chew it, then place it back on his plate. I figure at some point he will grow out of it. What's important is that he gets a balanced diet, otherwise give him a multiple vitamin and talk to his pediatritian to make sure he is getting enough protien. Spaghetti sauce is another great way to sneak meat and veggies into his diet. I think most kids like spaghetti and meat sauce.

Jaime - posted on 05/20/2010

LOL My son wouldn't even eat meat as a baby and still won't eat red meat. He only eats fish filets and chicken nuggets or fingers. He is very very picky but he does love his veggies and will some fruits.

Tracy - posted on 05/12/2010

I give my 5 1/2 yr old son two choices the dinner I made, or peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Once in a while I will give him the choice of two hot dogs with cheese, or two frozen bean and cheese burrito's with cucumber slices on the side, or a bowl of cereal with fruit slices, instead of the meal I cooked. The main thing for me is to remain calm, and try to give him the "good" dinner, but not get too mad at his choice if he doesn't go with what I want him to really eat. I've tried mixing veggies and meat in mac & cheese, and sometimes he'll eat all of it if he's hungry. I keep trying different things to see what he'll go for, and what really doesn't work. He'll eat a salad if nothing else is to his liking. It's better than nothing, even though I wanted him to eat the other items on the plate. He won't starve!:o) Have him help you prepare things he likes, too! My son loves to make things himself.