Family meal time has always been one of my favorite parts of the day. Gathering together to unplug, catch up, inquire about each others days, laugh, share and nourish our bodies in the process, however, I’ve come to dread breakfast, lunch and especially dinner.
I loathe having to beg my son to eat.
I have grown tired of the negotiations that take place at our dining room table.
I hate being on meal patrol!
I know this is a common problem, but OMG, if Lucas would just eat, I would be happy. Honestly, I can handle the potty talk, drawl out bedtimes, and boundary testing if he would just EAT!!
All the sit up straight, face the table, stop touching your feet, watch your elbows, just two more bites, and try it, pleaaaaase aside, my husband and I struggle daily and nightly to get Lucas to eat anything. I understand his young palette is still developing, but he doesn’t even enjoy “regular” kid food. He won’t touch a French fry, chicken nugget, hot dog or dream of dousing anything in ketchup. What does he eat you ask? The list is very short.
Pasta.
Lots of pasta.
Tons of pasta!
But, it must be prepared a certain way; not too much olive oil, no fancy breadcrumbs on top or other garnish and he would prefer a cheese shaker on the side. Oh, and he likes to eat it with a spoon. So, in addition to being picky, he’s particular about his food too.
Carbs are his favorite food group.
Just recently he started asking for plain cheeseburgers from Old MacDonald’s (as he calls it) and as much as I hate fast food with a passion, I consider this a HUGE victory. It’s protein, right?
In talking to Lucas’ pediatrician, at the end of the day as long as his meals have been colorful (yeah, right!), she tells me not to worry, but I’m a mom and I will worry and I know that yogurt, a cheese stick and a half a banana can’t be all that nutritious for anyone.
I’ve tried a handful of recipes from Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food and let’s just say, they didn’t go over very well. My sleuth son was on to my attempt at getting him to eat better.
I consider myself a picky eater and now I fear I’m raising one too. Any advice for me or better yet, make me feel better, what parenting challenges are you facing?
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Friend, I’m sorry! It’s really not easy! Emma is my picky one… My solution was to let her help me prepare the meals by washing, peeling and chopping veggies, dicing ham or chicken, decorating plates, making her own sandwiches with a selection of stuff put in front of her. She loves eating tacos as she chooses what she puts in them too. I just ask her to try and don’t make a big deal if she doesn’t like whatever she tries. Good luck Mama! He’s bound to change when older and he looks super fit and healthy, so no worries 🙂
Soohie! My new name 😉
This has always been a HUGE issue at our house. I hate mealtimes as well. Here’s something I saw on Pinterest that has worked well for us….I put the food on the table and they all complain. I tell them to eat it all or no dessert. They still complain. So I bust out a die (Pinterest said use two bites, but I think they are too young for that many bites), and they roll it. Whatever number is on it is how many more bites they have to eat. I didn’t think it would work in a million years, but it does. Every.Single.Time.
my kids are picky too. But differently picky. Two like meat, two don’t. Three like pasta, one doesn’t. Three do dairy. Three out of four do well with most any fruit. And vegetables, hard to get any of my four to eat those. The list continues. I make a dinner filled with at least one thing everybody will eat separately. I worry about it off and on. I think most moms do. Just know you are not alone 🙂
Food is a weapon that my kids and I have been wielding against each other through the years. Carrots, fish, mashed potatoes, french fries, peaches, bananas, yogurt, eggs – the list of foods that they refuse to eat changes all the time. I once heard it takes a child to be served a rejected food fifteen times in a row until they eat it. It worked for us.
The only exception is fruit – my daughter hasn’t touched any fruit other than apples and grapes in 7 years, and even those are sporadic. It’s become a phobia. Begging, warnings about scurvy and digestive health, and simply serving and insisting she take a bite – none of these things help. And how do you serve peaches fifteen times in a row?
Ahhhh, FOOD. Always a battle. My niece used to eat NOTHING but mac and cheese and chicken nuggets (but only if they weren’t too nugget-y….or something). She finally grew out of it. It’s hard, I know. I believe, though, that it’ll pass. Keep offering things alongside things that he will eat. We’ve done a lot of different strategies here. I feel your pain.
My guys go through phases of “I love this” followed immediately by “I don’t like this anymore.” It is hard to keep up when their tastes change so frequently. I try to serve at least one thing that I know they will eat per meal, so I know that they are eating something. My guys also love snacks, so I make our options as healthy as possible so that I know they are at least getting some nutrients. Best of luck, food phases are rough.
This happens. And he’ll be fine. Also? The Old MacDonald’s thing is hilarious and made me laugh.
Zoe doesn’t eat a damn thing unless it’s handed to her as a snack. Crackers, pretzels, fruit leather, sometimes even fruit. But she’ll ignore an entire plate of food at mealtime. It’s maddening, but she’s growing. Just gotta keep offering I suppose. I was a picky eater as a kid, but I have a much broader palette now. So maybe when he’s in his 30s you can say I told you so?
I totally get this, as I grew to hate dinner time especially as our two year old is a picky eater…in the last month I found two things work1) including him in meal making as much as possible and 2) once all the food is on the table we sort of ignore him a bit and to our surprise he will start to eat even a little..it’s like when he knew I’d cater to him he’d totally play it up but ignoring him a bit and acting like I am really enjoying dinner works!
I was really relieved when I read (somewhere) that kids sometimes go through phases where they just want carbs, and that’s not a bad thing. My kids are super picky (not as much as yours though) and I feel the same frustration because I am an adventurous cook and eater. I’ll get them there though!
My youngest is like this sometimes. But she has a wicked passion for bacon. And chicken. But not chicken meat.
Does he like smoothies? You can get a lot of fruit and vegetables in smoothies if he’ll drink those.
I really do hope that the older he gets, the more eager he is to try new things. I don’t care if he doesn’t like something, but he should try everything. I have hope though. A lot of my friends were picky eaters growing up and now eat just about everything. 🙂
We have been battling this very same thing for over 3 years. It’s only been in the last 4-5 months that my oldest has opened up to trying new foods, so his repertoire has expanded beyond just bread. Yes, he was a carb monster. Now he eats a variety of things, though not all healthy, and none include meat, vegetables or fruit in any visible form, but it’s a start. It will be a long road for us.
My second boy? EATS EVERYTHING. 🙂
I used to be suggested this website by way of
my cousin. I’m now not sure whether this submit is written by way of him as no one else recognize such specified about my trouble.
You’re amazing! Thanks!