Do you have a child that is a fussy eater???
By ronita34
@ronita34 (3922)
Canada
January 18, 2007 2:52pm CST
My oldest daughter is an extremely fussy eater and i find myself always cooking her something seperate on the side. Have you ever suffered with the problem of a fussy eating child??? Do you have any siggestions for me as to how i can get her to eat what the rest of us are eating???
1 person likes this
39 responses
@judyt00 (3497)
• Canada
18 Jan 07
My youngest was like that! However, she soon learned that she ate what was on the table or went without. My older two remind me that when she was born I had more money, and she never even had to eat their least favourite things. you aren't doing your child any favours by letting her away with only eating what she wants. She will be spoiled and demanding in everything soon. Insist that she eat at least a teaspoon sized amount of everything you serve. She will not let herself starve, as long as you stand firm, and don'tgive into her temper tantrums. once she misses a meal or two, she will eat as she is supposed to. by the way, my youngest is now the one with the most varied diet because she isn't afraid to try new things.
2 people like this
@ronita34 (3922)
• Canada
18 Jan 07
I do put my foot down and tell her that she eats what we eat or nothing. It is certain things like corn and i try hard to convince her that its good but she wont try it. She doesn't throw tantrums she knows better than that i don't stand for lip! I will try our methods and be firm though!
@4monsters4me (2569)
• United States
19 Jan 07
I agree. Catering to her is just going to make her more picky. I get so sick of meal times with my oldest (she is 6) because she wants to pull stuff like that. I pretty much make the same dishes all the time and each time I make them she goes on and on about how she doesn't like whatever it is I made. I know it is bull because she ate it last time I made (usually after a big fight). I refuse to make 2 different meals for our family.
One of the biggest argument days is holidays. I love Thanksgiving--it is my favorite holiday so I made a big meal. Turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes...the works. She refused to eat any of it and said she didn't like any of the food I made. I was so mad. She sat there crying and whining the whole meal. All she wants to eat is processed food (mac and cheese, hot dogs, etc). She refuses to ever try anything new and does whatever she can to get out of eating anything she has deemed unfit for her.
And she does go to bed without eating many time. After Thanksgiving she went without dinner for 2 nights in a row because she refused the leftovers we had and I refused to make her something different when we had all that food to eat. Her tastes change so often I can't keep track of it anyway. Just at Christmas she refused to eat her mashed potatoes and said she didn't like them. The other night I made them again and she ate them all and wanted more last night. It has only been a month since Christmas and all of a sudden she likes potatoes (the no potato thing has been going on since she was 4).
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
19 Jan 07
First of all you lead by example, so you eat those vegetables Mom. They should be part of your normal diet. Second, tastes do change and our rule has always been to at least taste the new thing. The kids have found it to be true that they may not like it now, but maybe in a month, or year. Also, kids should only eat when they are hungry and when little that is counted over a day and not one sitting. There are creative ways to hide the offending vegetable in other things too if that helps you! You have spoiled her by cooking something different for her. Our kids have always chosen from what is on the table and thus far since I have shared food and made it fun freely, they have not developed many dislikes. Good luck, you may need to stand firm if you change things now.
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@4monsters4me (2569)
• United States
19 Jan 07
That is true. My tastes have changed greatly even since I got married. As a baby/toddler my parents have told me many times that I loved carrots, Spaghetti and shellfish. As a child I hated all of those. As an adult I still dislike them but will eat carrots if I have to (still don't like the taste). I like spaghetti okay now and like it more and more each year it seems. I still hate shellfish--bleck, lol.
I have had to accept that my kids' tastes are changing too and it is frustrating because foods that they loved last year they won't touch this year but I still make them try at least a few times.
2 people like this
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
20 Jan 07
So glad that this will help and that ronita concurs. Eating is definitely and learned experience and we can do alot to have healthy eaters with a bit of effort.
@ronita34 (3922)
• Canada
20 Jan 07
This is true and i do just this. Every meal that i cook has a side of fresh veggies cooked too perfection ... lol! I lean towards making every meal i make count and i do not serve the easy to cook no good for you stuff. I like to make everything from scratch and i always add the greens !!
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@dixielol (1579)
• United States
18 Jan 07
My 2 year old niece is a picky eater. She loves cheeseburgers from McDonalds. But at home she will not eat them. She also wont eat pizza & most other foods that kids love. So what does she want? Well, if I heat her a can of mix vegetables, she's in heaven! She loves soup, beef stew, brocoli, spinich, tomatoes, green beans, peas, raw carrots & lettuce. I guess she gets it from me because everyone else in the family is big meat eaters except me and her. Im not to worried about brakin the habit since they are good for her any way. How old is your daughter? If she is young then tell her that she's a big girl & can eat what mama & daddy eats now. Or if she eats so much of this food she gets an extra hour of TV or a new toy. If she is older then just dont fix anything else. She'll eat what you give her then
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@honeybunnie (51)
• Philippines
18 Jan 07
i can suggest that you cook whatever food you'd eat that your child would likely eat. like me i have a 6 year old son who is a fussy eater whenever i think of something to cook i see to it that he can also eat that dish so that we could eat the same time and i could get him to sit at the dinner table i would sometimes cook potato croquet or something new to his eyes by that he would get intrested in tasting the food if your lucky well he would finish the whole plate ;)
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@beckyomg1 (6756)
• United States
18 Jan 07
I have really fussy eaters, i have one that will eat what i make and another that just makes his own dinner. So as long as he is making it and not me i think that im ok with it.
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@emarie (5442)
• United States
19 Jan 07
my kids are fussy eaters sometimes. we have things we know that they would eat. its not the healthiest things in the world, but at least their eating. i normally make seperate meals (such as dinner) for my kids because we eat at different time because my husband normally comes home later. if they refuse to eat what you give them then find out that they would eat give them that PLUS something different. and keep offering more and more of the different food every meal. they'll eventually get hungry and eat it. they won't starve themselves...hopfully. if my kids wanted to eat something else and we didn't have it, i tell them sorry, but this is all we have. eat it or don't eat at all. we don't have much money, so they can't be too picky on some things.
@beautyoperater (1890)
• United States
18 Jan 07
If you find out let me know. I have a 17 year old daughter who is really picky.
She won't eat anything but John Morrell Hot dogs, Hy-Vee sliced cheese, Tony's pizza, and Hy-Vee mac and cheese, and Ramon Noodles chicken flavored.
The only peanunt butter she will eat is skippy.
We have tried subsitutes telling her it was the brand she likes. Doesn't work. She can tell the difference. I feel like I'm running a restraunt. I wish I could make one meal and be done but no I don't like this or that.
I hope she grows out of it sometime.
She doesn't even eat vegetables.
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@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
22 Jan 07
I know how this goes. My niece who I help raise is the same way. She can be very picky at food. I know several here have stated well just make the regular food and if she doesn't eat it too bad. Well that's fine and dandy till she she doesn't eat dinner for a few days and mentions it at school. All it takes is one person to hear she's not eating dinner and you get a visit from DCF. They don't hear the fact food is offered just that she's not eating.
We try to make things she likes but if not it's usually something simple she wants with it instead. Hot dogs or tuna sandwich. She won't eat peanut butter and jelly but those two she will and at least they are somewhat healthy. The side stuff usually isn't too much of a problem it's the main food she doesn't like.
All I can suggest is to keep offering different types. Have her try things now and then. Tell her you try and you can still have the other. Sometimes it works.
@design (849)
• Ireland
19 Jan 07
My oldest Daughter is extremely too if she could have pasta with butter ever night she would, she can't seem to stand any flavours, I wish I could get something to suppress her over sensitive taste buds, but now at this stage it's probably physlogical.
Can't help you but we've tried the blind fold test, where we blind fold her and get her to taste things, out of about 20 items she's tried she liked 8 ish and will eat 3 now no problem, the things she doesn't like we re-taste later in the month.She looks at things and says no so we really had no other choice but to do this.
What I find amazing is her being my first born got every thing homemade, by the time my second Daughter came along with work and the like, she was given lots of processed stuff and baby jars and she now eats everything and will try everything.
@kimber_1975 (142)
• United States
19 Jan 07
my son is also a very fussy eater,he wont eat meat at all,but chicken nuggets,hotdogs,thats about it for the meat part.its hard but if he wont eat what do ya do?I kinda make our meals around what he will eat,if we have a big meat and potato dinner he will get grilled cheese,hot dogs,nuggets,or even peanut butter and jelly.really what ever he asks for other wise he wont eat
@beutfulmama6701 (1718)
• United States
20 Jan 07
my daughter has been a fussy eater from day one. her father is very strict in the fact that she has to eat whats put in front of her and canno leave the table until she does so. After a long time convincing him that we cannot force her to eat w simply came up with these ideas. I put a little it of each thing that we are havng for dinner that night lets say, steak potatoes and green beans. she started off snobbing her nose at everything, bu then we said if you eat 4 bites of your steak 2 bites of your potaotes and 3 green beans than i will make you something else. if you decide that you like them and are willing to eat it all then i will give you a specail after dinner treat. it started off with her just eating the amount i told her then she went to ill eat 4 pieces for you and 4 pieces for daddy and she did that with everything. now we only have to do that if we introduce something new to her.
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@AmberNormandin (883)
• United States
19 Jan 07
how old is she??? my oldest daughter is 2 and she is the hardest kid to get to eat!! she practically lives off fruit i swear!i worry about her sometimes because she wont hardly eat much at all. ive learned that if put something in front of her and give her a spoon or fork, she atleast TRIES it and if she likes it, she'll eat it and if she doesnt, she spits it out and i dont make her eat it. now sometimes ill know its something she likes and she's being difficult, ill make her eat 3 bites of it or else she cant down and go play. she gets mad, but it works!
@angelastreit (287)
• United States
19 Jan 07
My husband and I always mixed something that she really liked in with something with something that she hated. It really works wonders cause now she eats just about everything that we put in front of her.
@yamiboo (466)
• Philippines
19 Jan 07
My 2 year old is a picky eater. We tried introducing her to other foods so that we don't have to cook food for her separately but there would be times that she wouldn't want to eat our food. Most of the food she likes are the soupy ones, and her rice must be a bit "wetter" than ours. It really takes time for them to develop their taste buds so even if she's 2 years old already and must be eating the same food we eat already, I take it slowly. If she doesn't like a dish now, I'd offer it to her again after a few weeks to see if she'll like it this time. Sometimes that style works, sometimes it doesn't. Just offer to her first what she likes then eventually try other foods. My daughter used to not eat meat. Everytime we mix meat in her food, she would swallow the rest of the food but spit out the meat (don't ask me how she does it coz i have no idea how she can separate the meat from the rest of her food), but now she's improving. I figured that chicken is the softest meat so I started introducing her to chicken again, be it fried chicken, or chicken nuggets. Now she eats anything with chicken. My next project now is pork.
Again, just take it slowly.
@kavilpuppi (163)
• India
19 Jan 07
My daughters were also very fussy eaters.i suffered a lot when therewere small. it used to take more than an hour to feed them.AS and when they grow up automatically everything changes.sit on the table to gether then they will eat.
