| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| FaithfulchickWI |
Posted - May 24 2012 : 10:45:59 AM
I have a 2 1/2 year old who is all about eating carbs and sweets.(which she gets at her dad's house) I have been trying to get her to eat meat and more veggies, but it has been a battle. Does anyone have ideas? |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| countrymomof2plus1 |
Posted - Jun 13 2012 : 6:12:33 PM
great question.. i have a picky eater as well.. and will also use some of the advice.. love the cupcake liner idea.. my DD will try the samples at costco too.. will have to try this!
...a vintage life in a modern world.. |
| FaithfulchickWI |
Posted - Jun 05 2012 : 05:56:50 AM
Ladies things are looking up she the other day she ate some rainbow chard..it worked well because we made a rainbow :) Making things into shapes/pictures has also been very helpful. Thank You all!
And Emily Anna you are right...you are close by I love find things like that out :)
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| Emily Anna |
Posted - Jun 01 2012 : 11:21:20 AM
Callie, you should do an image search on Yahoo or Google for bento boxes. Some of the things they do with food is amazing. You wouldn't have to go to this extreme, but maybe doing something similar would get your daughter more interested in fruits and veggies. Like Nini said, maybe just cutting veggies in a fun way or what Lorena said about making a "forest" out of it might be enough to be exciting to your daughter.
PS.....you're only a hop, skip, and jump from me! :) |
| erowease |
Posted - May 30 2012 : 7:42:40 PM
When mine were little the best advice I got from my pediatrician was to make sure I always served healthy meals and when they are hungry they will eat. So I tried to establish set meal/snack times so that food did not become a battlefield. So with that said, I still faced the battles but always gave the kids options as to which healthy food they wanted and kept all of the junk food out of the house. If they didn't eat at meal time that was fine, if they were hungry later they were given the option of then eating the meal they passed up or a healthy snack. My picky eater learned that everything tasted better with ketchup. I also learned how to sneak some foods into others that I knew they would eat. For example ground up carrots and zuchini in spaghetti sauce. I constantly have battles trying to get them to eat veggies so have gotten creative over the years.
Lesley |
| countrymommy85 |
Posted - May 30 2012 : 07:48:28 AM
Oh yeah, I agree with having the kids help. My kids are almost 3 and almost 2 (they are 11 months apart) and BOTH like to "help mama" and "cook'em with mama". I've had both kids roll biscuit dough into rolls and we cooked them (obviously kids like to eat carbs anyway but it was a start). Then I had them help me cut up broccoli, stir fry veggies, cut up meat for different dishes and they love seeing the things they helped with on their plate and they have been eating better from that too. Glad to hear your daughter is getting more adventurous!! Best of luck :)
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
| FaithfulchickWI |
Posted - May 30 2012 : 05:34:41 AM
Thanks again for all the advice. We are taking steps in the right direction :) My daughter has started to eat "baby meat balls" and pea pods (which we planted in the garden) She has the help gene so anytime she can help she is more prone to eat it :)
I really appreciate all of your input and support :) |
| queenmushroom |
Posted - May 29 2012 : 4:39:37 PM
I told my 4 1/2 yo that broccoli were little trees and he needs to be like a dinosaur and eat them. Cauliflour are just white trees like christmas trees in the snow. Eat spinach so he can be big and strong like popeye. Allen's cans spinach with a pic of popeye on it. Hide some of these in favorite carb meals like mac and cheese. Make homemade chicken noodle soup with veggies in it. If you can, have a small garden or container garden with veggies. Show them where their food comes from and if they (help) take care of the plants, they will be able to eat the veggies later. Make calzones (call them inside out pizza's) and put some ham cheese and broccoli in them or what ever veggies and meat you want or better yet help them make mini pizza and let them top english muffins with veggies, meat and cheese. Sometimes, letting them help will encourage good eating habits and if they can pick out their veggies, they may be more open to eating other kinds as well.
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
| Joey |
Posted - May 28 2012 : 11:16:32 PM
I agree with all the tips above. My Dd went thru a stage where all she ate for 3 meals a day was pickles. For my GD it was olives.
I believe in making kids "try" 1 bite and you either eat what is for dinner or you don't.
I am a psych nurse who has worked with eating disorder patients. Due to that, I have never gotten into a power struggle with kids over food. I just offer it and they eat it or they don't..no big deal, as long as they are not losing weight. I am very casual about it.
Also, my mother power struggled over every mouthful I ate,..or didn't. She would make me sit at the table all night if I didn't eat my spinich and then give it to me for breakfast the next day. I NEVER ate it! (and no, I did not have an eating disorder ever.) I ate almost everything and the funny thing is that the stuff I hated as a child I still hate as an adult..that's about 3 things but I still hate them.
Everybody has good tips above and hopefully something will help. Good luck. Joey
Well behaved women rarely make history. |
| sue5901 |
Posted - May 28 2012 : 01:59:34 AM
I would say let them help prepare it and cut it into small bit size pieces as well but I know this doesn't always work.
However my daughter went to a healthy eating class for toddlers with her 2 1/2 year old and they taught them a technique to get toddlers to try something new which I thought I would share.
Get them to-
Touch it
Smell it
Kiss it
Lick it
Taste it
Do each one in turn and no worries if they stop at a certain point- most of all don't stress out over it - be relaxed and make out its no big deal and the other tip they gave was never moan if they spit something out - praise them for trying it. Oh and keep the plates of food offered small - you can always give them more if they want it but too big a plate of food can look daunting.
My Grandson is not a fussy eater but this did get him to try new foods and eat more veg.
Dance like nobody's watching! |
| MagnoliaWhisper |
Posted - May 27 2012 : 5:54:18 PM
Yeah when I was growing up we didn't know there was a choice. lol We just ate or I guess the other choice was not to eat. I wouldn't keep things you are not wanting them to eat in the house, so they aren't a option, children won't allow themselves to starve....my grandmother grew up during the depression they only ate cornbread and milk (had a cow) every night....I'm assuming no one turned their nose up to it, since that was the only food.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
| countrymommy85 |
Posted - May 27 2012 : 08:31:03 AM
Mine have started the "ew, yuck!" stage. But, since we eat together and they see what Mama is eating and I act all excited about everything on my plate they have slowly (like a month or two now) have been trying new foods! If they aren't sure about it or say the dreaded "ew,yuck!" I just tell them that it's okay and we can try it again later. We eat mostly meat and vegetables and I've been trying to wean them off carb dependent tastes since about Christmas time. It takes time, especially when the little ones around people who love sweets/carbs and also say "I hate (insert healthy food)" or "ew, yuck!"....
So, take heart, it will take time to adjust the taste buds and it gets frustrating. I refuse to make separate meals for picky eaters especially if there isn't an allergy or condition involved (my daughter has just been diagnosed celiac). So if I make something like meatloaf and green beans for dinner and the kids don't eat it and they give me the dreaded words I just tell them that it's okay if they don't want to eat it but that is what is for dinner and there won't be any snacks before bed time. They usually at least try it because I'm not forcing them into it. Rarely they have gone to bed asking for ice cream (which, if you don't eat dinner you do not get!) But they sure ate well the next morning! The next time I served it up, they were much more willing to try it. I don't purposely make icky things for them but I do want them to have a healthy palate like any mom wants for their kid.
So after a few months now they are also willing to try new foods with me, and they even eat salad! LIttle things like special toppings (my kids LOVE olives sliced on their salad) and dressing helps too. I mean, whoever heard of 3 year olds eating salad and enjoying it? Well, when they see adults eating it and enjoying it, after time they too will be willing to at least try it :)
Just keep on keepin' on and after time things will get easier :)
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
| knead2garden |
Posted - May 26 2012 : 2:55:11 PM
My kids love chicken nuggetts, which I do not buy, so I make "chicken nuggetts". The recipe I use has chicken in it, but it is also FULL of uber small veggies (put through a food processor). If you're interested, I can post the recipe for you. It makes a ton, so you can freeze some for quick meal nights.
I will offer these words of encouragement. My oldest is 6 years old and my husband and I marvel at how well he eats...now. We were so worries that he would never eat a healthy meal. I just kept putting the veggies on his plate...every meal...every night. This may sound mean, but I always try to cook 1 thing I know the boys will eat, so of course they gobble it up...I refuse to give them seconds of the thing they like until they've tried everything on their plate. I don't make them eat it all, but they have to try it. I read somewhere it takes 20 times for a toddler to like a new taste. By golly, I'm determined if they say the don't like it, they'll know for sure they do not..lol!
~Ashley
#1677
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught." -Baba Dioum |
| oldbittyhen |
Posted - May 26 2012 : 1:57:38 PM
I never had a problem with any of my 4, but everything they ate was raised/grown here on our place, I have a friend that is going thru what you are going thru, and she found that her little boy will eat ANY veggy or fruit if he picks it himself, so her kitchen garden has turned into her son's favorite place and his eating habits are completly improved, and if the meat is mixed with HIS picked produce, he has no problem with that either...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
| musicmommy |
Posted - May 26 2012 : 10:19:05 AM
One of my three boys was definitely a pickier eater. Silly guy! We discovered that he would try anything in a sample thing at Costco so if we were having something that he might not even want to try, I would cut it up and put it in muffin liners. That would usually get him to try it.
When I was really ambitious, we would do lunch in a mini muffin tin. He would love that. I guess sometimes, changing the presentation might work?
Oh, for my oldest he went through a phase where the only meat he would eat was chicken. So, everything that came out of the kitchen was chicken, even meatloaf.
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
Bob Marley
www.becomingwendy.wordpress.com |
| FaithfulchickWI |
Posted - May 26 2012 : 10:12:13 AM
Thanks Ladies... I all ready to try your tips. I will keep you posted :) |
| MrsRooster |
Posted - May 24 2012 : 11:19:35 AM
Mine was a great eater. But you might try these links:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2182301_kids-eat-healthy-foods.html
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-infants-toddlers/feeding-picky-eater-17-tips
http://www.parents.com/recipes/nutrition/kids/getting-kids-to-eat-healthy-foods/
http://www.growingraw.com/kids-eating-healthy.html
Hope this helps. Remember, this too shall pass. LOL
www.mrsrooster.blogspot.com
www.flossesandcrosses.blogspot.com
www.morganicinstitute.blogspot.com
Farmgirl #1259
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| Ninibini |
Posted - May 24 2012 : 11:18:13 AM
I'll tell you what, Callie - when my son was little, he was the pickiest eater in the world. He did, however, love the whole lunchable concept. SO, I bought one lunchable, a few small canape cutter and went to town. I threw out what was in the package, and then every night, I would cut up mini pieces of turkey and cheese sandwiches, or pbj's or mini pizzas, or just lunch meat and just cheese without the bread, with a small fluted round cutter to mimic what you find in the store, and place them in one section. Then I would cut up carrots in fancy, ruffled slices or stuffed celery with peanut butter and raisins, cut them up into small logs, and put them in another section. I found he would even eat broccoli florets if I included a little ranch dressing as dip! I would cut up apples, toss them with a little lemon water, and place them in a little snack sized baggie, squish the baggie tight and stick it in another section. Or, at other times, I'd put applesauce in little plastic rounds and include that instead. Sometimes, I would cut up strawberries or peel orange slices or cut grapes in half instead. (You can wash and reuse the baggies). I would include little baggies of wheat thins or homemade chex mix or some other kind of cereal as a "dessert" treat, and then I would seal up the tray with plastic wrap and place it back in the box. He was little, and none the wiser. I bought little plastic reusable juice boxes and filled them with chocolate milk or juice each night to go with them. When he came in the kitchen, he'd see the opened box on the counter, the open tray full of good things on the table, and he'd be thrilled. Everything was so cute and finger sized that he didn't really care what it was - plus it came in that fabulous package that he just loved. I can remember one time a little buddy of his saw his lunch and simply marveled at it. His mother wanted to know where I bought THESE lunchables, and with a wink and an arm around the shoulder, I veered her toward the kitchen to reveal my source. She LOVED it! It wasn't until he was 9 or 10 and a hearty eater that I burst his bubble - he found the container and box in the the cupboard and simply said, "Mom - what gives?" Thus the illusion was shattered. But he did admit that was pretty ingenious - he never knew!
Hope this helps!
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - May 24 2012 : 10:53:48 AM
Sorry, I'm in the same boat. I have a 3 year old who flat out refuses to try anything other than organic chicken nuggets, sweet potato (and turnip fried--shhh! don't tell her!), pizza and grilled cheese. I eat EVERYTHING under the sun and I can't pay the child to even "try" it.
I wish I could help or give you some sage advice--I've cut food into cute shapes, I've made 20 different dinners, I've done it all and it always ends up in a fight with me so frustrated that I just want to run for the hills. I'm done with that!
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
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