Do you give into your kids picky eating habits?

redroses

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 5:19 pm

I try and try to make delicious nutritious suppers, but all they want is mac n cheese. They cry for the mac n cheese. At what point do I throw in the towel and just let them eat mac n cheese every night with some cut up veggies on the side to make me feel better? From day one I introduced them to all different foods so as to not create a situation where they are accustomed to eating the same thing but alas, it has not worked. The mention of the word chicken brings grimaces and almost tears....Meatballs are ok once every 3 weeks or so...you get the idea...

mha3484

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 5:47 pm

We have a rule that everyone takes 3 bites of whatever is for dinner no complaining. I respect reasonable preferences but the end of the day there is one dinner. I find when I take the drama out of it, DS often eats the whole plate. He threw a royal tantrum the other night that involved jumping up and down and yelling I wont be mevater numerous times. When I came back from taking care of the baby he had eaten it all.

morah

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 6:31 pm

My kids have never really been picky, though they've had phases. But I follow Ellen Satter's Division of Responsibility concept. The parents are responsible for providing the food by preparing one meal, the children are responsible for choosing what and how much to eat. My meals always have at least one thing I know they like, and then other stuff that may be something new or something someone doesn't care for. Sometimes a child will choose to forgo the veggies and load up on rice, sometimes they eat everything, sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much. I do not comment on the choices made that particular meal, though I may comment on my own food and how yummy it is. They know what's on the table is what they get no room for discussion. Yeah, it's hard to watch a child eat only the noodles and skip the cauliflower, but do it every day and eventually they more often than not do choose to go with the balanced meal and often try something new if there's a new food available.
I will say, there are some kids for whom pickiness is beyond the realm of normal and part of something underlying like anxiety or SPD. My brother, who is on the spectrum, is a very picky eater and as a child, he really would go days without eating if he was not fed something from his ridiculously narrow list. These kids do exist and you cannot use the tricks and tips that work on typically developing kids. They need to be evaluated and treated accordingly.

amother

Tan

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 7:57 pm

My kid was extraordinarily picky, avoiding multiple foods and ingredients. Turned out he was intolerant to them.

Overall, if my kids won't eat my dinner, they can make themselves something else or eat last night's leftovers. If they pick something like mac and cheese, the party line is, "You have to also take a fruit or vegetable." Each has at least one go-to.

amother

Lilac

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 9:25 pm

oh how I struggle with this!
I wish I had advice, I really do. My kids LOVE noodles with cheese.

So at the stage Im at now with a bunch of little kids, I dont even bother making suppers for them anymore.
I used to try to make different kids of meatballs/shnitzles/hamburgers/chicken nuggets. and it was all pointless. they weren't touching it. I also used to make a sit down dinner with my dh so that they see we are eating it... nada.
So I end up giving in and making things they like. pasta and cheese. Scrambled Eggs. Fish sticks. Pizza bagels. pizza. chicken soup.
My oldest gives me the hardest time bc she will not put a fruit or vegetable in her mouth.
But my others will eat cut up fruits and vegetables, which make me feel a drop better as a mother.

The only thing that keeps me going in this area, is that I used to be a really really picky eater, and my mother never fought with me about it. I ate peanut butter sandwhiches all day everyday for a good 2 years. I grew out of it, and now I love everything!
so im hoping as they get older it will get better.

the world's best mom

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 10:12 pm

I do not believe in forcing children to eat anything. However, I do believe they can get used to foods if they see it on the table often. I make supper every night, and I try to make sure everyone will like at least one thing. I would not stick with mac and cheese every night, because they can't ever develop healthy eating habits if they don't even see the healthy foods regularly.

I do not allow them to eat Milchigs on a night that I make Fleishigs. Peanut butter sandwiches are okay on occasion, but I wouldn't allow them too often.

Also, kids tend to be social eaters. They are more likely to eat something if they are sitting with the family and everyone else is eating it.

pause

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 10:17 pm

I don't.

I make supper. I try to make things everyone likes. I always have at least three different foods to choose from whether soup, main and side or main and two sides...

If you don't like it, you don't have to eat, but I ain't making you something else. I'm not a restaurant.

I also try to offer a dessert for kids who finish eating what I made so that motivates them to eat even if they don't love this particular food.

Shoelover

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 10:22 am

When we were kids we were allowed to pick one dinner that we didn't have to eat. When my mom made that dinner we were able to have pb sandwich or st like that instead. All the other nights we had to eat what was served and we weren't allowed any food till the am of we didn't eat a significant amount of dinner. Funny as I kid I remember staring at my plate like help me I can't eat this, now I wish I would have dinner cooked for me very night!

ahuva06

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 10:26 am

Shoelover wrote:

So relatable! I remember sitting at the table for hours, imagining that by the time I'd finish what was on my plate my hair would turn white!! Don't exactly have those issues anymore!

Culturedpearls

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 11:24 am

I have a few picky eaters. Some won't eat any meat or fish, others no fish, some love rice etc etc.
I make sure there's one dish that every child will eat.
I'll serve soup often for those that don't eat salad, salad on the table always, 2-3 sides. So if Mr or Miss picky chooses to just eat rice that's fine with me.
I usually will not allow a fussy eater to fill up on a sandwich. Eat what's served or nothing.
We eat all together at 6pm every night. Usually when kids see everyone else eating they do too.

amother

Taupe

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 12:14 pm

At what age is it appropriate to start saying "this is what is served"? I have an 18 month old who only wants PB sandwiches at my house. Can eat it 3 times a day if I let him! I was told that kids at that age will by then end of the week end up balanced nutrition wise (if offered). So I do offer yogurt, cheese, Cheerios etc for breakfast but today it was PB again. He also will eat more out of the house than in it (like at relatives homes). Tips please?

MagentaYenta

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 12:38 pm

chani8 wrote:

I'd be happy to serve mac n' cheese until they get sick of it. I'm the same way, I eat the same food over and over again until I get sick of it.

Give vitamins once in awhile to make yourself feel better.

I live solo and I batch cook a lot. That means I eat leftovers or transform them into something different. I made a whole beef tenderloin for shabbos last week. I had some sandwiches off of it and had some in salads. Today it is hash, with potatoes, zucchini, onions carrots, tomatoes and potatoes. It made a great breakfast burrito.

As to picky eaters, some of it may be sensory based on texture. We had the two bite rule, but menus were planned by the family so individual tastes were honored.

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 2:21 pm

With 6 kids and extremely diverse tastes, it's impossible to cater to everyone. I make something reasonable for supper and if anyone doesn't like it, they can make themselves whatever. I have one child who doesn't like fleishigs and complains that he "always" has to make his own supper (as if we always have fleishigs), but I stand my ground that I make supper and they are either welcome to it or welcome to make their own. We have oatmeal they can help themselves to, or cereal, or yogurt, or a sandwich. I have one kid who often takes applesauce. I serve a couple different items, and so even if a kid doesn't like the main, they many times like the cut up vegetable platter or salad, or the plain rice just without the meatsauce...I have one child who only likes plain pasta and not mixed with cheese or meat, etc so I leave some separate for her since it's not really any more work on my part. And they change stages frequently...and I cannot keep up with their whims, so I refuse to even try.

chavs

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 5:30 pm

We cook, try to make sure there's something they like in the meal. If they don't want it they can always have a sandwich or cereal or porridge and fruit.
I wouldn't dream of forcing them to eat something they didn't want to eat or didn't like and I wouldn't want them to go hungry either and with the cereal or sandwich option I'm not cooking anything extra.