How do you deal with picky eaters that waste food at meal time?

Both of my kids are grown up now, but when they were younger they were never really fussy at all. My 11 year old granddaughter is a different story. Her taste buds have changed since she was younger. She no longer likes peppers, onions, mushrooms etc. , but we can usually work around it, and most of the time she can just pick it out.

I know when I was growing up my mom and dad put whatever they cooked on the table. We had to eat it or we didn't get anything else. When you are hungry you will eat whatever is cooked. I've seen so many parents cooking several different things because this one doesn't like what the others like. I've never done that because if children know they can get whatever they want they take advantage of it. I know I'm kinda old school but it worked for me and for my kids.

My son was a very picky eater for a while and I got very frustrated with him leaving meals. After a while I decided that rather than waste food we could ill afford, I put my foot down and banned all sweets and junk from the house. He kicked up quite a fuss for a couple of days, and although I had to cope with the tantrums, it soon sunk in with him that if he wanted to eat then he would have to eat what was put in front of him. He soon figured out that home cooked meals were actually tastier than sweets and junk :-D

Good morning...I've commented before...just LUV your avatar..as my boat is called "Little Penguin"...and that's just what I would like to have painted on it! Gosh...it is difficult...as my son, went thru many of those stages ( alot of it was propogated by his step sister, she wouldn't eat butter, beans, etc., and so he wouldn't!) I cooked the things he didn't like, and over time, I guess curiosity convinced him to taste...and finally enjoy! I don't think there is any "pat" answer...due to individuality. For me...growing up...you ate what was on your plate, or you went hungry...but we were also POOR dirt ranchers! I must say, tho' sweets and treats were/are very uncommon in my household...as well as "soda pop" of any form. Just my way of life, Take care....and Cheers!

My daughter will eat a portion of her food. Then say she is full. By bedtime she wants a bed time "snack". Now my hubby ir I just put the un eaten food in the fridge. When she asks for her "snack" we bring out the uneaten leftovers. Sometimes she will eat more, sometimes not.

Well, if you know your children doesn't like the food why are you going to make it for them and expect them to eat it? Some people I know make the food they want to have and there family will eat and then she makes something else for her son. You can't blame someone for not liking certain foods. And you can't force your child to eat them either. That's my opinion anyways. If there just trying to be difficult then thats another story but if the honestly don't like the food then make them something else!

Hello my friend! My, your daughter is growing up, and this is merely a "testing" time for her. If experience is anything to go by, kids continually test their parents to see how far they can go. This is what I think she was doing, and you handled it in the correct way. Naturally, they prefer sweets and snacks, cola, etc., to what seem to be mundane meals to them. Whilst she knew she could get them, she was filling herself with these treat foods to the extent that she didn't have room for her healthy meals. I feel you've handled this in exactly the right way, by putting your foot down and decreasing her "treats" until she has learned to enjoy a healthy meal. She's found that a healthy meal is quite enjoyable and she probably feels better in herself, for eating healthily. It doesn't hurt either to coax them into eating the healthy meal by giving them a small sweet treat, for eating their meal. The only way to be frugal with it, is if you have a garden, or some large containers in which you can home grow some vegetables. Give her her own little vegetable garden, and when they've grown enough to harvest, involve her in the harvesting, or even let her do it herself, with your guidance. I'm sure you'll find that she'll be more than happy to try her very own, self-cultivated vegetables; they'll be cheaper and have much more flavour. If you have the space, you could also keep a few chicken, perhaps, and make her responsible for feeding them and collecting the eggs. Going back some years, my Mum used to have to pull in the reigns sometimes, as there were four children and my Dad wasn't very well paid. I'll always remember her corned beef and baked beans pie! lol. She made one every week, and we loved it... a money saver that was purely acceptable to the kids! ;p There are lots of ways of saving money... you just have to be creative sometimes. I do it now. I had two sausages left over, and didn't fancy eating them as they were. So, I took a can of macaroni cheese out of the cupboard, skinned and cut up the sausage meat, sliced a couple of mushrooms and a section of red pepper, cut some small broccoli and cauliflower florets, and stir fried the vegetables with the sausage meat. Then I put these in a dish, added the macaroni cheese, stirred it all together, topped with grated cheese, and a broccoli floret, and baked it in the oven. It was delicious and cheap! Brightest Blessings my friend. I hope some of this will help, or even make sense to you

we have always laid down the rules when it comes to eating at our house telling our kids that we do not run a restaurant and they have to eat what everyone else eats. i still have a problem getting my child to eat sandwiches for lunch and cereal at breakfast but she does eat them.

For me, it's rather easy, if there are kids around like nieces and nephews. I would fry some fresh fries, some bits of scrambled eggs, and then have a bit of greenery too. Mix it up, and I'll mix it up with the eggs, so it won't be seen. Like long beans and etc. And then I'll have salad bits on top of the fries, so they would just eat them without thinking much. Fruits can be a bit hard, but that can be solved by making fruit juices. They like it each time.

I put the food on servers in the centre of the table, and everyone can take as much or as little as they like. My rules, as far as the kids go, are that everyone has to have a little bit of everything even if it´s only a mouthful, and that what you serve onto your plate you must eat. It doesn´t always work with my youngest, but if he leaves something on his plate it´s not normally allot and I´ll just eat it myself.

My mother had a difficult time dealing with the eating habits of my brother and sister, when they were young. I observed that mostly kids are picky eaters and they change the habit once they grew up. My sister and brother eat all kinds of food now. I eat food sometimes, even if I am not hungry because I hate to waste food. I also don't prefer to keep the food in refrigerator and reuse it.

i have a little sister, who is picky with her foods..she doesn't eat those veggies prepared by mom..if i were my mom i don't think i can handle those kind of picky kids.