I am having trouble getting my son to eat meat??

Renee - posted on 10/14/2009

Alicia that is funny, my son is the exact same way with meats!! He will chew and suck the flavor out of it then spit it out. I tired to give him the Gerber Chicken and Stars soup, he would eat everything else but would spit out the tiny pieces of chicken. He loves to dip things in ketsup or BBQ sauce. We are learning different meats that he will eat by just feeding him off our plates. Last night we had sloppy joes and he loved it! I found "chicken nuggets" that my son loves to eat and I am happy to feed him. They are soy chicken nuggets-Morning Star- brand. They have more protien in them then the real chicken nuggets and a lot healthier.

Alicia - posted on 10/14/2009

Meat is tricky for my son. I think it is a chewing thing. He apparently does not like to exert much energy chewing, so he usually spits it out after the flavor is gone. Sometimes he keeps packing it in, and then it all comes out. I try REALLY small pieces and actually feed it to him so he does not get too much at once and that works most of the time. I don't think he minds the flavor, just has trouble chewing, even w/ all 4 molars. He does not like stringy meat...I thought nice tender chicken from the crock pot would be right up his alley, but that's his least favorite. My latest tactic: ketchup! burger in really tiny, pea size bites with ketchup is a hit. Chicken with ketchup. He has no trouble at all w/ frozen chicken nuggets. I hate giving them to him b/c I swore I would not (!!) but I try to find the healthiest ones I can and only do it once/week if i can help it. I also have luck w/ deli meat. Due to all the preservatives and high sodium, I don't like to over do it but he REALLY likes oven roasted turkey and chicken breast. I guess like anything, you just have to keep at it, but it can be so frustrating.

Myra - posted on 10/13/2009

My husband and I don't eat meat much, so this wasn't too much of an issue with us. However, when I started out, I gave my daughter the Gerber Sweet Potatoes and Turkey dinner. She loved it. We moved from that, to chicken...real chicken. I usually bake mine. So, I just cut part of mine off, and cut it so it is kind of stringy, then went the opposite direction so that it was really gross looking, but easy to pick up and chew if she wanted to; in all honesty, the way it was cut, it didn't need to be chewed. Roast can be done the same way. From that, she moved to a little bigger pieces.



She seemed to kind of have to get a taste for meat, but also familiar with the texture. That may be the problem your son is having...he may not have a taste for it yet or the texture may just be unappealing. Just keep at it, he'll eventually decide it's something good for his palette. Meat is just kind of...earthy, and it can take some children a while to develop a liking for it.