I have been truly blessed with 2 beautiful kiddos! But I need some advice. My 6 yr old is SUCH a picky eater! She won't eat veggies, only eats fried chicken nuggets or strips, (and is picky about that), won't eat eggs, cheese, pizza, cake, most cookies,you name it. So basically she exists off peanut butter, yogurt, and sometimes chicken nuggets.
A couple of weeks ago she asked me, "Do you still love me even though I only eat chicken & peanut butter?" (Heart Melts) "Of course I do!"
I guess she knows we are concerned for her, but don't know what else to do.
Here are some things I have tried to get her to eat:
1. For about 6 months we did the whole, "you eat what we eat or you don't eat at all" deal. The child just wouldn't eat.
2.I tried making her take "thank you" bites & eat at least 1 bite of everything on her plate. If she still didn't like it, she could then eat whatever she wanted.She always would cry & gag and it was a nightmare getting those few bites down.
3. The Dr said a child has to try something 10 times to develop a taste for it. She hasn't developed a taste for anything.
4. I have let her help me cook things, she still didn't want to taste it.
5. Told her we would have to take her to the Dr if she didn't start eating better. That helped a little, but not for long.
So, number one, if you have any other tips, please share.
And my 2nd question is this. We have family time @ the dinner table very night. The kids (ages 3 & 6) are expected to sit there for at least 15 minutes. We usually have good conversations, play conversation starer games, and it's pleasant. But now that my 3 yr old sees her horrible eating habits he's starting to refuse to eat things, just like her. Do I ban her from the dinner table?? Go back to making her eat what we eat & turning dinner into a nightmare? Let her just sit there & not eat? Help!
Thanks in advance for the tips ladies!!
!
7 comments:
Oh, yikes!
That's hard. I thought you were going to say just no vegetables or something like that.
Does she snack a lot during the day? Izzy was getting tons of snacks at school and then not eating dinner (but thankfully, she's a good eater).
Does she have a favorite tv character or somebody that she looks up to?
Did she have any problems with food as a baby or is she just being stubborn? Because if it started as a baby, maybe it's a sensory thing?
I'm sure that didn't help at all, but just some things to think about.
Maybe start a chart. When she eats what you eat, she gets a sticker on the chart. When she gets x amount of stickers she gets something she wants...a movie day, a toys she covets. My sister has been doing this with my neice. She uses jewels (fake jewels she got at the disney store). My neice gets jewels for behaving (eating dinner and doing good things) and then she buys things with her jewels. You can do the same thing with your son. My sister is doing it with both kids and the older is very competative and sees her sister getting the jewels, so she wants them, too.
BTW...your kids are adorable!!
I am no mother...and definitely not a pro, but I L.O.V.E. to cook & kiddos are my favorite!
So, one thing I might suggest: have you tried fun recipes? Like recipes found on the Kraft website. Some of them look like a certain animal, or random something-or-another. The website: (http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/YourKids/LunchboxSolutions/LunchboxBuilder.aspx)
One thing I would HIGHLY recommend is not forcing her to eat something that she clearly doesn't like. I completely agree that some kids will just act like they don't like it, but if she's seriously gagging and it's just awful, it's not worth it! I was made to do that as a child and I hated dinner time. My stomach would literally ache just thinking about it.
Hope that was helpful. I've had some experience trying to get my 5 year old sister to eat different things, but nothing like you with your own kids. :)
I got some great advice with my first child, "picky eaters are created", we have to start early giving children a variety of foods, and not giving in to their "favorites". Easier said than done.:) (I know:) It may seem mean, but I totally did the "you eat what we eat", it worked for us. After two nights of not eating dinner, they realize you won't cave, and will start eating. DON'T GIVE IN!:) (it helps to not make a big deal of meal times, i mean, serve what you're eating, sit down and eat, ignore whining, simply state, this is dinner, you will not be getting anything different, we all eat the same things in our family." if whining continues, excuse them from the table. (hope this helps:) very common challenge:)
My daughter doesn't like a lot of things either. She will not eat fruit or veggies. Favorite meat is bacon followed by chicken strips/nuggets. She loves pizza. Adores all things sweet.
I resorted to bribery. Yes I know it is bad. But, you know now she will eat Tuna Steaks, Pork Chops, and Lamb. If we want her to try something I say oh remember that such and such you wanted. She usually wants a book or movie. Well if you try this then I will buy you said item.
Now she has started trying things without me bribing her. I fix something like pork chops one night. I offer it to her. She says I would like to try a bite. She ate my entire pork chop. And I had to thaw more out for the next day for her to eat.
Sorry that I've written a short novel.
I will keep this short and sweet... as my two LOVE veggies and fruit and don't like much of anything else LOL.
However, one of my friends has a little girl who isn't a big fan of veggies.
I make my kiddos baked sweet potatoe fries and they love them. So, one day when I was watching my friends little girl... I gave her some and she loved them!!
I like beefier fries not the thin ones like Mcy Ds but you can cut them any way you like. I toss the sweet potatoes fries with extra virgin olive oil and throw them on a cookie sheet. I then sprinkle a tad of sugar and salt and bake at 375. My oven is JUNK so I always check on them... I bet 20 mins is long enough.
Sweet potatoes have a ton of vitamins so maybe that will work for her :)
I honestly do not have any good ideas but what I can say is stick with it. My mother made each of us different meals almost every night....I think it was a very bad habit that we all got use to.
Poor mom, I need to call her tomorrow and thank her for all those dinners!
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