Parents, Stop Giving In To 'Picky Eaters'!

[marcyinPA]

this thread is so funny to me because i have a very picky eater... the only thing is he won't eat junk food at all!!! from the minute he went off formula, he always wanted lean meat and veggies, and wouldn't even snack on normal kid things like string cheese or yogurt. he's 13 now and healthy as a horse, except that he is a stringbean and terribly hard to buy pants for... try finding 29x32 pants when he is at friend's houses and they are all eating pizza, he always orders a chicken ceasar for himself. i know i'm lucky but i won't even tell you how enormous my grocery bill is to keep an active growing teen boy on his "meat and 3" diet!

My 14 year old wears a 29x32, but he's outgrowing the 32! He needs a 29x34...impossible to find!

I bought all of his jeans from Aeropostale and American Eagle. His khakis are Dockers from Kohl's. They are all 29x32...They are pricey, but you gotta do what you gotta do!!

 

[ReneeA]

FWIW, I'm a parent and I agree with the OP.

I have one with Aspberger's, and he can't stand the texture of mashed potaoes, jello, and cottage cheese. I don't make him eat them (he does have to try them occasionally) He eats mass quantities of everything else. DD would like to get away with only eating nuggets, but I won't let her.

I decided when they were babies that I was not a short order cook. I prepare a meal, they eat what I make. On days they don't eat alot, I allow them to have a healthy snack later.

I guess I'm lucky from what I read on here.

 

[scojos]

Thanks!

scojos, that is so cool that they having cooking classes in the U.K. for kids. My ds starts middle school next year and I was told they will be teaching the class to cook. I think it is an important lesson.

i think so too,i love my job, just wished parents wouls support more and allow kids to cook at home, loads of parents will not let there 11 year olds in the kitchen, hey i like mine in there!!!
ds can cook basics (he does a mean tuna pasta bake) and he spends alot of time chatting to us and learning.
i am not the perfect mother, but this is something i feel very strongly about too
tracy

 

[lillygator]

when we had our first daughter we did it the same way, I think she may have had rice cereal for a week or so and that was it. As soon as she could eat people food she had what we had for dinner. I did wait for shrimp and peanut butter the recommended time frame, but didn't with DD #2 simply because we had no allergies in our family and felt it was ok. Luckily neither of them are allergic to anything (that we know of at this point) and are both good eaters. They both love fruit, shrimp, crab, steak, veggies, you name it. We really don't keep sweets (desserts) in the house nor chips/salty type snacks, we do have them onhand during football season or if we are celebrating something and having people over and they get eaten, but it seems I am always throwing half a bag away. I do cook requests on birthdays, first day of school, etc...but not in the sense of one dd gets one meal one gets another, we all eat the request.

Brussel sprouts (because I won't cook them) and chocolate are probably the only things they won't eat. As I said before, the four of us downed 4 dozen oysters and some wings on Saturday....so I think we've given them some variety.


What got me with the OP, the poster has no kids but she sure knows what she is going to do with them when she gets them and won't be like these horrible parents.....


Things change when you become an actual parent - there are things we had decided we were adament against and lo and behold, once our DD was here...that changed.

 

[cheermom1]

i think so too,i love my job, just wished parents wouls support more and allow kids to cook at home, loads of parents will not let there 11 year olds in the kitchen, hey i like mine in there!!!
ds can cook basics (he does a mean tuna pasta bake) and he spends alot of time chatting to us and learning.
i am not the perfect mother, but this is something i feel very strongly about too
tracy

Both of my kids can cook and do, My step sons I am teaching them. They ask me to teach them and said they really want to be able to take care of themselves. Their mom got mad at me for teaching them b/c she said she wanted them to stay little for as long as possible. there are a LOT of issues with the step kids b/c of this not only with food but with everything, They had NO idea how to even dress themselves or wipe their own butts when dh and I got married. the youngest which was almost 4 was still in pull ups, he came up to me one day and said he didn't want to wear it anymore, I told him then don;t and of course I got yelled at and screamed at by her.

I said all that so you can imagine the issues they have with food which goes beyond the 'normal' issue of the battle of wills.

But my point is that you need to teach your kids and share with them and get them involved.

 

[lillygator]

i think so too,i love my job, just wished parents wouls support more and allow kids to cook at home, loads of parents will not let there 11 year olds in the kitchen, hey i like mine in there!!!
ds can cook basics (he does a mean tuna pasta bake) and he spends alot of time chatting to us and learning.
i am not the perfect mother, but this is something i feel very strongly about too
tracy

we love to cook and have been fortunate with our DD's, they love it too...it helped that at their daycare they had weekly cooking projects starting from age three and up. They have a full kitchen there but the recipes were age appropriate with adult help. The first part of the year the weeks were chosen byt he teachers and one child a week was sent home a recipe and we had to provide the class with the ingredients. The class made the recipe and they ate it with lunch. They also had sheets of liked/didn't like but most always liked the recipes. Then another part of the year the theme weeks would let the students sign up for which one they wanted. Also, throughout the year they would try different veggies and do the like/dislike sheets outside the class.

The head of the food bank is a reg dietician here and she comes in once a month to talk to the classes and brings an activity that is food related. This is all prior to K...and my eldest dd's school they have lots of nutritional activities and do the food pyramid, etc. I am kind of suprised to see that many schools don't do anything of this nature.

 

[Missy1961]

Same here. I cook from scratch, we never have fast food, and I still have kids with limited foods that they will eat. Do they eat healthy? Yes! Being a picky eater does not mean the child eats junk - just less of a variety.

Let's say we're having turkey burgers. Two of my kids won't eat burgers, so give them something else if there aren't many other items on the menu. Since food had never been a battle, my kids have never dug their heels in, and are willing to keep trying new foods at they mature. Years ago, none of my kids would eat chicken except in nugget form - today, roasted chicken is a family favorite for all!

What amazes me with the 7 yr old is what she will eat--she loves shrimp, ham, cheese of all types, things that I would never touch when I was a kid. But potatoes other than french fries?--she won't touch them. Loves pasta, but no sauce please--give her a spoon & parmesean cheese & she's happy. Eats a huge salad of mixed greens, carrots, celery & little or no dressing every night.

 

[Shannon G]

Well, which are you taking exception with, picky eaters, or the foods which the parents are feeding to their kids in the threads you read?

I don't believe the two are always connected. You can have a child who is a picky eater who will only eat, for instance, carrots, whole grain pasta with tomato sauce, chicken, and apples. Those are healthy foods. It's not impossible to provide a picky eater with a balanced diet, depending on what you feed them.

I think a bigger contributor to the obesity epidemic in this country is the lack of exercise, the portion size, and the amount of as well as what they're eating.

I haven't read the entire thread, but had to agree with this post wholeheartedly. Are my kids picky eaters? Sure - not the worst, but they are picky. Does that mean they eat junk all the time? Absolutely not. My oldest (7) doesn't like much meat - yes, she'll eat nuggets, hot dogs, etc, like all kids, but she doesn't like "real" meat very much. However, I don't "cater" to her by making nuggets and hot dogs all the time. I have figured out which types of meat she does like - like teriyaki chicken & BBQ chicken. Even those can be a challenge some days. Whatever I make she has to try, but if she tries it and doesn't like it I will sometimes let her have something else - usually a peanut butter sandwich.

My kids both eat fruits & vegetables, yogurt, and other healthy snacks. We seldom have chips in the house, and I only buy soda if we are having a guests over for a party. The only juice I buy is 100% juice - no Kool Aid here. I do let them get soda as a treat when we go out to dinner.

So the PP is absolutely correct that allowing your child to be somewhat picky does not necessarily mean eating unhealthy foods.

 

[lizandjason]

what do you feed your cats?

Cute. I'll laugh right along with you girls!

 

[EMom]

when we had our first daughter we did it the same way, I think she may have had rice cereal for a week or so and that was it. As soon as she could eat people food she had what we had for dinner. I did wait for shrimp and peanut butter the recommended time frame, but didn't with DD #2 simply because we had no allergies in our family and felt it was ok. Luckily neither of them are allergic to anything (that we know of at this point) and are both good eaters.

Just a word of warning about shellfish allergies. I come from an enormous family. I have several siblings and would have trouble even counting all the cousins. HUGE family. No one in the entire family has ever had a shellfish allergy as far back as anyone can remember......Until me. And no after me has had such an allergy. But mine is life-threatening. My parents could have NEVER have anticipated it. For that reason, I would never give shellfish to a child until that child is able to verbally express that they are in distress and having difficulty. I had a reaction at age 10 and had trouble even explaining what was happening, although I did try to explain to the adults that something was wrong. If I had been a toddler, I hate to think what could have happened.

Just my 2 allergic cents.

 

[lizandjason]

I feel bad for the OP here. I'm sorry, but the fact that you are moms doesn't mean you should make fun of those who aren't, JUST because they aren't. Especially since so many other moms seem to agree with her.

I never saw the OP being hurtful or mean or snarky. She even apologized.

Thank you, dear.

 

[robinb]

Then then they have to go and BREED nasty little clones of themselves. It reminds me of the saying, 'hey you! Out of the gene pool!

Perhaps the "Childfree by Choice" thread would be a better fit for you dear and you can leave the parenting to us breeders.

 

[lillygator]

Thank you, dear. I guess some people never mentally leave junior high. Then then they have to go and BREED nasty little clones of themselves. It reminds me of the saying, 'hey you! Out of the gene pool!

wow...seems to me we know who hasn't left junior high!

 

[lillygator]

Just a word of warning about shellfish allergies. I come from an enormous family. I have several siblings and would have trouble even counting all the cousins. HUGE family. No one in the entire family has ever had a shellfish allergy as far back as anyone can remember......Until me. And no after me has had such an allergy. But mine is life-threatening. My parents could have NEVER have anticipated it. For that reason, I would never give shellfish to a child until that child is able to verbally express that they are in distress and having difficulty. I had a reaction at age 10 and had trouble even explaining what was happening, although I did try to explain to the adults that something was wrong. If I had been a toddler, I hate to think what could have happened.

Just my 2 allergic cents.

wow....scary, guess I got a little complacent. They are 7 and 5 now, so hopefully nothing will come up in the future although I would think it would have by now?? not sure.

 

[joviroxx]

FOR THE RECORD...


2) I do not condone FORCING anything. If you are TRYING to feed your kid healthy food, regardless of whether he chooses to eat it, you are doing an awesome job. If you are NOT trying, and you're going through the drive through every night or giving your kid toys just to shut them up as one of the previous posters said, then you are NOT choosing the correct way to handle this situation. Period.3)

You should write a book. You apparently have all the answers and know the correct way to handle these things. PERIOD. When you do finally have some experience behind you, you will be UNSTOPPABLE!! Good for you!

Me? I've found there are no absolutes when raising kids. Found that out after I had them. Also realized that a lot of so called "parenting strategies" went out the window once the kids did arrive. Funny as well, how I've had to adapt for each kid. Different kid, different way to handle things. I wish there were absolutes, that would be great, then you would always know what to do and when to do it!

You should have no problems however! I envy you....

 

[scojos]

Just a word of warning about shellfish allergies. I come from an enormous family. I have several siblings and would have trouble even counting all the cousins. HUGE family. No one in the entire family has ever had a shellfish allergy as far back as anyone can remember......Until me. And no after me has had such an allergy. But mine is life-threatening. My parents could have NEVER have anticipated it. For that reason, I would never give shellfish to a child until that child is able to verbally express that they are in distress and having difficulty. I had a reaction at age 10 and had trouble even explaining what was happening, although I did try to explain to the adults that something was wrong. If I had been a toddler, I hate to think what could have happened.

Just my 2 allergic cents.

i too have an anaphalactic reaction to prawns and some other shellfish, but avoid them all and fish at all costs (not a massive fan and not worth the risk) i have also in the last few months developed a reaction to pineapple (the outside not the inside of my throat swelled, pants, no dole whip.
my kids have been allergy tested (they are clear) but no one else has this problem in my family, just me!

im glad to see so many of you teaching your kids to cook, i know its basic, but i soooo feel knowledge is power, and alot of the worlds problems, from medical issues (my eldests add is controlled via the feingold diet) to obesity could be controlled by decent skills in the home
thank you for making me feel good about what i do
tracy

 

[lizandjason]

Perhaps the "Childfree by Choice" thread would be a better fit for you dear and you can leave the parenting to us breeders.

No thank you, I'm quite comfortable here. I'm enjoying it...most of the posters are perfectly rational human beings who don't feel the need to resort to snarkiness.
I would never imagine that there were people out there who would be so nasty...but this is a great lesson for me in examining human behavior. You have led the pack of nastiness and it is really sad to see someone so angry. I wish you all the best.

 

[lizandjason]

wow...seems to me we know who hasn't left junior high!

And I'm saddened by you as well, dear.

 

[si-am]

Honestly, I don't have a dog in this fight, but the hostility and defensiveness I'm seeing from some people on this thread is pretty amazing.

The OP apologized EARLY on if her first post sounded accusatory. That is more than most people here in the Dis will do.... but no, you all just kept at it, jumping and picking and being mean for absolutely no reason.

I hope this isn't behavior all you moms are teaching your kids. No wonder the schools are full of bullies.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thank you, dear. I guess some people never mentally leave junior high. Then then they have to go and BREED nasty little clones of themselves. It reminds me of the saying, 'hey you! Out of the gene pool!

Wow, just wow....

This poster deserves every single negative comment that she has elicited here on this thread....

I have have not been a fan of how this board is way over-moderated...

But if terms like 'mentally junior high', 'BREED(ers)', 'nasty', etc... ( all in the same short post, no less) do not qualify as a personal attack on other posters...

In my prior post, I had said 'No snarkyness or disrespect intended'....
I now rescind that.

Wow... just WOW...