Parents how do you make sure your picky eater....

[Iott Family]

gets their proper nutrition?

I have a 4 year old who is the pickiest of eaters! She would rather go hungry than eat what she has decided she doesnt like. So I have added a fiber chewable, a multi vitamin and a daily probiotic chewable to her diet. I am so fearful that she isnt getting what she needs to grow and be healthy. Of course, we have talked with our doctor and she is not overly concerned but I am

So, what do you all do to make sure your child/ren get their daily squares, so to speak?

 

[Magpie]

I did what you're doing - added a multi-vitamin!

Honestly, if your little one is eating either some kind of fruit OR some kind of veggie every day, you're doing pretty good. Eventually, if you're patient, her tastes will expand.

My doctor told me that children can have very limited diets and still do perfectly fine. Some kind of protein (meat, cheese, milk or nuts). Some kind of veggie or fruit. Some kind of whole grain (even if it's pretending to be white).

All my daughter ate when she was a toddler was white rice, bread, macaroni, apples, and processed cheese. I gave her a multivitamin and today she's very healthy (and has a much wider palate - she ate snails recently!).

BTW - I focussed on teaching my daughter to try a tiny taste whatever was in front of her before requesting something else. We worked on saying "no thank you" politely, without bursting into tears at the table. Most of my efforts were around teaching her good manners and getting her to stop embarrassing us in restaurants. She gradually started eating more on her own (maybe because I made her try all sorts of things for years and years).

 

[Acklander]

Mom of a picky eater here. When DS was young we used to buy one of those berry flavored liquid vitamins and have him do a shot of it each morning. We told him it was Power Ranger Juice.
As he's gotten older (currently 11) he's still VERY fussy about what he eats but has added a few things to his menu. I suspect it's always going to be a challenge.

 

[Iott Family]

I did what you're doing - added a multi-vitamin!

Honestly, if your little one is eating either some kind of fruit OR some kind of veggie every day, you're doing pretty good. Eventually, if you're patient, her tastes will expand.

My doctor told me that children can have very limited diets and still do perfectly fine. Some kind of protein (meat, cheese, milk or nuts). Some kind of veggie or fruit. Some kind of whole grain (even if it's pretending to be white).

All my daughter ate when she was a toddler was white rice, bread, macaroni, apples, and processed cheese. I gave her a multivitamin and today she's very healthy (and has a much wider palate - she ate snails recently!).

Im not sure I could EVER eat snails! But I am glad to hear she has a wider palate these days!!

 

[Magpie]

Im not sure I could EVER eat snails! But I am glad to hear she has a wider palate these days!!

She was SO proud of herself, it was really funny!

She's not what I would call an "adventurous" eater. She still thinks macaroni and cheese is food of the Gods and she has some odd habits (like putting ketchup on her salads, because she doesn't like any of the dressings). However she's definitely quite brave about trying new things!

 

[Juliegirl1]

Pediasure - my son loved it and he's now 10 and has moved on to Ensure. We stopped it for a while but he got so skinny we added it back to his diet and he is filling out a bit now. He had a reaction to acidic foods when he was an infant and would have 2nd - 3rd degree burns on his bottom from acids not being absorbed by his body. It was horrible. Doctor recommended this so he would get enough nutrition.

 

[Sorsha]

I learned to hide things in other things that the picky eater will eat.

If they will eat spaghetti, for example; make your own sauce, and process up veggies really really fine and hide them in the sauce.

Do they like scrambled eggs? Chop a little fresh tomato and a little fresh spinach into the eggs and make it "green eggs and ham" breakfast morning.

Making meatballs or meatloaf? Again, process some veggies very finely and mix them into the meat. Make tiny meatballs and stick them on toothpicks in BBQ sauce to make them fun.

Make sandwiches on whole grain bread with healthy sandwich fixings. Then make then fun by smooshing them flat and cutting them into fun shapes with cookie cutters - likely kids will be so entranced by the fun shapes they may not even notice the healthy bread or ingredients.

Read read read your ingredient lists - whenever possible, start substituting some of their favorite foods with similar, but healthier choices. Baked, lower sodium chips and crackers. Natural sugar juices and water drinks with added vitamins. Higher fiber cereals. Yogurts with natural sugars, natural fruits, and probiotics. Likely, they won't notice the difference. They want a yogurt, they don't care what kind of yogurt. They want a handful of chips with their sandwich, they won't care which chips.

Raw veggies with ranch is another great way to get more veg and fiber into kids. My younger two detest many cooked veggies, but give them a platter of raw veg and a dipping cup of ranch and they will go to town!

 

[C.Ann]

Mom of a picky eater here. When DS was young we used to buy one of those berry flavored liquid vitamins and have him do a shot of it each morning. We told him it was Power Ranger Juice.

(Underlining in above post mine..) Very, very clever idea..

 

[LuvOrlando]

From day one I have always offered my kids a pretty extensive choice of foods always alternating favorites with newbies. If I was gong to make something 'interesting' for dinner I'd make sure a really yummy dessert was on the table in full view. My daughter was the worst, still is and even now I sometimes have to bargain number of bites with her for dessert. Usually I'd start out with a demand for 10 mouthfuls but allow her to room to bargain down to 6 so she'd feel in control. My 12 year old son will eat anything and just declare afterwords 'again please' or 'never again please' but my 11 year old daughter still does this to me. I don't want food to be an issue for her so we compromise, I still insist on 5-10 bites and then let her make something else.

Tonight we are having a really yummy meatloaf and she already groaned when she saw me putting it in the oven. Let the bargaining begin

It works for us, good luck

 

[merekc]

I have/had a very picky eater. My pediatrician said not to worry about it either. He just has to try a bite of whatever it is. We usually make it fun with a thumbs up or thumbs down review on what it is. The kid doesn't realize it but while he won't eat veggies to save his life, he has eaten calamari and a unique version of "oysters" and given them both thumbs up.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our pediatrician told me just make sure they take vitamins (for my picky ones - I also had non-picky ones). BTW, I no longer have any picky eaters - they grew out of it in their own time eventually.

 

[Hannathy]

I never worried about it, seriously. As long as he drank milk and ate something with protein everyday we were good to go. Didn't do vitamins cause he doesn't like any chewable things. This child could swallow a pill at 2 1/2 ! and you can't find kid vitamins that aren't chewable.

I wholeheartedly believe in not making food a battle. I refuse to give something as insignificant as food that much power!

 

[BeenHereB4]

Oh boy do I have one of those. Although many people don't believe in the practice, I "hide" as many veggies as I can and also present the actual veggie on her plate. She has to at least take a bite before she can leave the table or there will be no snacks for the rest of the evening other than fruit.

Jerry Seinfeld's wife made a pretty good book about hiding veggie purees in lots of meals - it didn't have pictures, but sometimes you can google the specific recipe and see someone's photos of it.

Good luck! And for the record, I grew up eating bologna and black olives and that's about it. Only started eating veggies a few years ago (in my 30s!) and still don't really enjoy them, but I think I turned out ok.

 

[simba20]

I have a three bite rule with DD (age 3). I am also weird, because I don;t serve "kid's food" (i.e mac-n-cheese, nuggets, etc). She eats what we eat. However there are times when I do make something and she does't want part of it, but that's the greatness of my three bite rule. I tell her to eat three bites of it to try it, and that's all she has to eat of it (however she STILL doesn't like zuchinni). I am fine with her not liking things, but I am not a fan of the whining/attitude that comes with pickiness. Three bites seems to work for her.

But that's not the point of my reply......

What I have noticed, is fodds she previously "didn't like" she will eat if she has a hand in preparing them. I get her help in the kitchen all of the time and she helps me cook. I think, it's just a theory, that something clicks for her when she knows she had a hand in making it.

Also, I do understand. There are some foods that we do not like. I don;t force her, but DD is such a drama queen that some nights she will say she doesn't like something that she has previously wolfed down -- hence three bites.

 

[Hannathy]

Also, I do understand. There are some foods that we do not like. I don;t force her, but DD is such a drama queen that some nights she will say she doesn't like something that she has previously wolfed down -- hence three bites.

See this is what I don't understand, you say you don't force her but you do. What do you call taking 3 bites of something you dislike? There are a lot of foods that I would hate to take 3 bites of, my goodness that is all my DS sometimes eats of foods he likes!

 

[Sorsha]

Each of my kids also get to pick one or two veggies that they absolutely cannot abide, and when this veggie comes into the menu rotation, they can choose something else - perhaps leftovers of last night's veggie or a green salad.

They have had to try it, but if, after trying it, they still can't stand it, that's OK, I get that, we all have things we just can't stand. For me its mushrooms and any kind of pepper- BLECH. For DH, its onions - they make him gag. DD16 can't handle broccoli, DD10 can't stand spinach or any kind of cooked greens, and DD7 despises asparagus. So they get to make substitutions on those nights.

I am not a complete cold-hearted evil wench... just sort of. As long as they are consuming some sort of vegetation during the meal, I am good with it.

 

[simba20]

See this is what I don't understand, you say you don't force her but you do. What do you call taking 3 bites of something you dislike? There are a lot of foods that I would hate to take 3 bites of, my goodness that is all my DS sometimes eats of foods he likes!

Ummm I know my daughter and how wishy washy she is. I am a firm believer in that exposure will get her to eat something. My hsuband is the pickiest eater EVER (at the age of 36). Before he met me, he never ate vegetables. DD will say she doesn't like something that she ate happily a week before. So I cut up three bites, omg tiny child sized bites, and that's all she has to eat of it to cut the drama and whining that sometimes occurs.

And yes, I KNOW she doesn't like zuchinni....but guess what, I guess I am a mean mom because I still put a piece on her plate (I usually sautee zuchinni cut into quaters or half moons) and put one on her plate. One day, she will come around.

DD went through a phase where she'd stop eating what was on her plate as well. I finally figured out that I was putting too much on there at a time. So at a typical meal, she gets a little bit of everything. If she starts with her drama, I am able to say "three bites" and that ends the drama. If she truly doesn't want to eat it, then I don't make a big deal. Three bites is there as a reminder to cut the drama. There are things that are left uneaten on her plate, one bite or three, she's tried it, been exposed to it, and the endless drama is avoided. After her first small plateful, I then ask her what she wants more of. Since a typical meal at my house is grilled chicken (of some flavor), rice, and some type of veggies, she usually will requst more chicken and rice. Even when she tells us she's not hungry, three bite slets her know she doesn't have to eat much and can leave the table if need be, after she has a little food (three bites) in her. Indeed, one night, the little smartie ate three grains of rice and asked if it counted as three bites. She leftthe table, and then when the hubster and I were cleaning up, she came back and said she was ready to eat and happily ate a plateful of dinner.

However, I have never stood up and made her something of her own (mac-n-cheese, grilled cheese, PB&J) for not eating. It is common to hear me tell her "This is what we are having for dinner. You may choose to eat it or not. I will not cook anything else." May sound harsh, but I have a very well rounded eater, who eats (almost) everything under the sun.......her dad however is another story. At the age of two, she was begging for salads when we ate out. How many two year olds will fight you over getting a salad? We still get questioning looks for wait staff when we order her a salad. I do have to admit that when we eat out, that's about the only time she does get "kid friendly food" (nuggets, grilled cheese, etc).

Also, my three bite mindset, came about when I was in college and tried French Onion soup for the first time. Taste #1, I thought - ummmm no. Something told me to try it again, Taste #2 -- Hmmm good beef flavor and salty. Taste #3 -- I was wrong, this is good. if I stopped at bite #1, I'd have never found a new favorite soup. And yes, at bite 1 it did turn me off, but I am glad for persistance, and trying again.

I don't hold DD to three bites, one or two is fine. But I cannot take "I don't like it" when she has NEVER tried it at all.