If you have little ones at home, how do you deal with the picky eaters or ones who don't want to eat what is on their plate?
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M$7 Answers
A child will never starve themselves completely, they can be stubborn, they can make you feel terrible, but they don't have the willpower or body to starve themselves. Therefore I never made any of my children finish things they didn't like ( was very rare anyway ) - it just meant that's all they had to eat.
Anyway, it was so rare for my kids to refuse anything anyway - and I do believe that's because I gave them all types of food from a very early age...all types of meats, all types of fruit and vegetables and lucky for me we have plenty of fresh produce to try! I also grew lots of vegetables in the garden when they were small so they helped me pick ( and eat ) straight from the plant. When we grew brussle sprouts they wanted to try them just like everything else growing in the garden :) Not a problem at all! Growing a mushroom box was great too, they were amazed at how fast they grew and how and we ate mushrooms on toast for weeks! hehehe
I think when they take a personal interest in the food you buy, grow and prepare children are much better eaters and will be willing to try many things :)
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M$
Our kids always go through fazes of great eating and picky eating, but the main thing is do ride out those picky stages with back-up solutions.
When our son wouldn't eat anything of the main dinner I or hubby had made, we would ask him to take a bite just to try and if he didn't like it, he could have something else but no dessert. He would often go for the second choice and no dessert option and we would pull out his favorite granola, oatmeal, soup, nattou (fermented soya beans they often eat in Japan) and rice, tofu with soya sauce, plain yoghurt with fruit, or another healthy option that we always had around the house. This has become a rule we have kept with our second child and it seems to be an easy, non-confrontational solution to dinner table stress.
I think this is a much better solution than forcing your child to eat everything even if it makes them sick- me and my brother threw up at the dinner table being forced to eat our most hated foods. I really hated meal time with the family and as a mother, I would never want my kids to feel like that. I would never force anyone to eat anything they dislike, so why do it to my own child?
Hope this helps.
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M$
The best way in my opinion is to do the following.
1. Offer several comparable protein dishes, several comparable starches, and several comparable vegetable dishes, and let the kid choose one day each week which one protein, one starch, and one vegetable s/he wants to have.
2. On the other days, require a certain amount of protein, a certain amount of starch, and a certain amount of vegetable be eaten before any seconds can be had, before any desert, and before being excused from the table. The food being served is the food the child will eat. That's what's for dinner (or lunch, or breakfast).
3. If there are particular foods the child detests (e.g. Brussel sprouts) just don't serve those, making instead e.g. broccoli. However, being picky to the extent of "no veggies" is not acceptable.
4. In an age appropriate manner, explain the importance of each food group to the kid's health and development.
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M$
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M$While she loves friut and veggies she will NOT eat meat !!
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M$
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M$
Well, with young kids, it's hard to let them pick, because you can't have a 4-year-old dictating the entire grocery list. By the way, being a picky eater isn't any more "evolved" than people who eat what's in front of them. A lot of "kinda sewers" grew up too poor to choose, or too polite to spit food into their napkins :p
I know a lot of people who also used to get told that broccoli was "little trees," and they were encouraged to play with them in order to get them to eat it. I've also heard that most kids will eat cauliflower if it's mashed up and they get told its mashed potatoes. Just like a lot of kids will eat yogurt if it's colored.
I think the trick with kids is all in the presentation.
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M$
