Picky Eaters...Do You Make Them Something Else?

[Candyland]

SO, just what do you do with those picky eaters who ewww what's on their plate? Do you dare make them something else like you're home is a restaurant?? ::

[laundrymom]

SO, just what do you do with those picky eaters who ewww what's on their plate? Do you dare make them something else like you're home is a restaurant?? ::

Not til the next day. Lol

[MissAnn]

If they say "eww" or "yuk" I tell them that if they don't like what is on their plate they should keep that to themselves because you might hurt the person who made the meal's feelings....it's poor manners. I just keep giving them whatever everyone else is eating......a protein, fruit, vegetable and bread......and they should find something they like. The kids here eat very well and I don't even serve chicken nuggets, hot dogs or boxed macaroni and cheese. By giving them something else to eat is only reinforcing the behavior. I also don't make them eat.....if they are hungry enough they will eat.....maybe not at that meal, but at the next....that will probably be the junk food they get at home though!

[mac60]

Simply NO! As a little dcg said yesterday...."YOU GET WHAT YOU GET AND DON'T THROW A FIT".

I have one 2 1/2 yr old who will actually put his elebows on the table, sometimes his face......which are both quickly removed cuz that is simply rude.....and say I don't like it.....I started putting the foods on his plate that are iffy if he will eat or not, before I let him have the couple of foods that he will eat. When I would put 3 or 4 foods on his plate, he would eat maybe 1 or 2, and leave the others saying he doesn't like them. I don't play their food games.....No haste No Waste hee.

[legomom922]

I nver had this problem since all my DCLs were little but with my own kids, if I was ever serving something they didnt like, they can always have PB & Jelly sandwhich. There are some things they will just NOT eat, even if you paid them a million dollars. Me included. I was a VERY picky eater when I was little, and I still am. If I dont like something, I am not eating it, no matter what. So if they really wont eat something, I would not "make them" Just serve 1 alternative meal like the PB & Jelly. Schools do this as well.

[nannyde]

My kids are great eaters but now and then I will have one that doesn't like something I'm making. It's almost always when I'm trying out new spices and it's something they aren't familiar with.

I always keep four ounce containers of stews in my freezer for these times. Yesterday I slow cooked a roast, potatoes, carrots, and mixed veggie stew and when I go to divide it up for day care meals I will make three or four big baby food jars of it to pop into my freezer door.

When a kid doesn't like something new I will take it out and nuke it. It only takes a few minutes to heat and serve and I know that ALL of them will eat roast beef stew so it will be a good alternative.

Sometimes it takes five/six different attempts before they will get used to a new spice so I know I have back up food just in case. I don't have to do it very often but the way I see it is that the kid eats 19 or 20 meals for me every month so if they really don't like something then I will give an alternative I know they love and try them again on it the next time I make it.

I don't want hungry kids BUT if I had a house of junk food treat food eaters then I wouldn't be making the alternatives for them. I would only offer this to kids that have shown me they like healthy food but just not THIS healthy food.

I don't do picky kids. If they are picky they are almost always eating a junk food diet at home. I don't work for parents who do junk food meals. Everyone I work for does slow whole food so the kids know how to eat healthy from scratch food. They don't get anything else except for special special.

I was talking to my Dad, my Auntie, my Uncle a few months back about their generation and how food was such a central part of their lives. They are all in their early seventies. I asked them if they had heard of or knew of the idea of a child being a picky eater. They all collectively went ::::::
It's a pretty new concept in the scheme of our history. How blessed we are to have such a huge abundance of food that a human baby could pick and choose. A picky eater is the one who gets to pick.

[momma2girls]

I have a little 6 yr. old, good thing I only have him for before school. The other day there was a delay, and I gave the children a snack. It was fruit rollups, and right away when he got to the table, he said"I hate this!!" I took it away and didn't say a word". He was also here for dinner once, on a day he had off school, and we had our large Thanksgiving feast. He wouldn't touch anything, but wanted his pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Ha!! I told him, he will not receive dessert til he finishes his meal. In 20 min., of just sitting there, he finally took a bite of everything. Then he again, didn't eat the snack in the pm that day.

[countrymom]

I don't do picky eaters, first its not like I serve foods the children are not familiar with. If they don't eat, oh well too bad, I'm not a short order cook ask my own children. I think this is a big problem with kids now a days, its easier to feed nuggets and junk food than feed them vegetables and cooked food. I have a child who ONLY eats finger foods and processed foods (he's 5) its a treat to have hot dogs and chicken nuggests. I also find that food has alot to do with their attitudes and behaviors.

[MyAngels]

If they say "eww" or "yuk" I tell them that if they don't like what is on their plate they should keep that to themselves because you might hurt the person who made the meal's feelings....it's poor manners. I just keep giving them whatever everyone else is eating......a protein, fruit, vegetable and bread......and they should find something they like. The kids here eat very well and I don't even serve chicken nuggets, hot dogs or boxed macaroni and cheese. By giving them something else to eat is only reinforcing the behavior. I also don't make them eat.....if they are hungry enough they will eat.....maybe not at that meal, but at the next....that will probably be the junk food they get at home though!

This is the way I do it, too.

[SilverSabre25]

Mine are all very young (mostly under 2, with one very non verbal 2.5 yo and my 3 yo), so when they don't want to eat something, I just ignore them, leave it in front of them, discuss how yummy it is with the ones who are eating it, and only when everyone/mostly everyone is finished, is the non-eater allowed down from the table. Usually after several (many) exposures to something, the child will at least deign to try it. The 2.5 yo has a rule in place that he has to try everything to get more of anything, and has to take a bite of veggie in order to get down from the table.

I have found that the kids who have been with me the longest and from the youngest age will eat the most stuff. The ones who came to me older (18+ months) are VERY picky. While I'm not as awesome with food as Nannyde is () I do try to make a healthy variety of foods and we avoid HFCS, artificial colors/flavors, highly processed foods, etc. My kiddos get exposed to a larger variety of grains than most Americans as I cannot have gluten and do not always feel like preparing a separate meal for myself, so I'll use GF ingredients for everyone.

[Cat Herder]

I have four generations of women under my roof every other Sunday, Nan, and the conversations go about the same way. ::

My Grandma spit out her teeth laughing and almost choked when I told her I was expected to give a 2 year old child, who threw his meal in the floor because he did not like carrots, another plate AFTER I asked him why he did it AND asked him to apologize......

She said "Do what?? He ain't sorry and I don't care why. He is telling you he ain't hungry and wants to go to bed."

My Grandma is the coolest, she can hit you with a bedroom slipper from across the house....well, it's not like she could ever catch us :::: She had polio as a child. She cracks me up!!!! Man, I love that woman...

[Zoe]

My rule is you need to take at least one bite of everything if you want the afternoon snack. My dck's do pretty well and pretty much eat the food I give them anyway, but my own DS who's 3 is pretty picky and will sometimes refuse. I give him a choice: take a bite or no afternoon snack. If he chooses to have no afternoon snack then I let him be excused with him having the knowledge of the consequence. It gives him some responsibility of making choices and living with them.

Now if this is their choice, it's not like I just don't feed them in the afternoon. What happens is that they get Saltine crackers instead of the vanilla wafers or graham cracker or occasional cookie. This way they still can get something in their tummies, it's just not as special as the kids who are rewarded for trying everything on their plate.

As they get older, I expect them to eat a little bit more of everything when I know they're capable of it.

[dEHmom]

I grew up a picky eater. My parents always put things aside when they were cooking before they added onions, sauces, etc etc. I didn't grow up on junk food, I just really hated tomatoes, onions, peppers (green/red) etc etc.

I am 25 yrs old, and trying to instill in my children that they get what they get. I am just learning to like other foods now, not sure if that's me maturing, or just getting bored of the same meals. My daughter recently decided she doesn't like spaghetti sauce (just an example) anymore. My solution is she gets a little on her plate with her whole wheat spaghetti, once it's gone, if she wants another helping with no sauce then fine! But she has to eat the first little bit first.

There is no 2nds on something if they haven't had a little of everything on the plate. If they don't like something truly, then fine, but it's still going on their plate everytime, and they still have to eat a little.

[nannyde]

I have four generations of women under my roof every other Sunday, Nan, and the conversations go about the same way. ::

My Grandma spit out her teeth laughing and almost choked when I told her I was expected to give a 2 year old child, who threw his meal in the floor because he did not like carrots, another plate AFTER I asked him why he did it AND asked him to apologize......

She said "Do what?? He ain't sorry and I don't care why. He is telling you he ain't hungry and wants to go to bed."

My Grandma is the coolest, she can hit you with a bedroom slipper from across the house....well, it's not like she could ever catch us :::: She had polio as a child. She cracks me up!!!! Man, I love that woman...

I want to come and eat at your house on Sunday. I want to stay at your house and eat your food for a week ... at least. I'll even take some of your hubby's special beans and grilled ______ (insert anything with a beating heart).

Granny and I got some talkin to do.

[Zoe]

[/QUOTE]There is no 2nds on something if they haven't had a little of everything on the plate. If they don't like something truly, then fine, but it's still going on their plate everytime, and they still have to eat a little.[/QUOTE]

I do that too with 2nds. You have to have your "firsts" before you have "seconds". Of course only my 4-5 year olds really know what that means, but the younger ones get the idea (just not the saying )

As for my rude little DD who says from the beginning of lunch "I don't like that" in a whiny voice, I use the "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" :: I heard that from a former student of mine and I loved it so much I use with my daycare. I see others here use it too. Too cute!