meat phobic 4 year old - ideas please

sammy_kaye18

Hi All

Right heres my situation

one child, 4 years old. When he was a baby I was so adamant I wanted him to eat his fruit and veg that I homemade all his baby food but hardly ever gave him meat as i wanted him to get the nutrients form his fruit and veg and learn to like them.

Now he will eat a fair few different veg

carrot
peas
sweetcorn
potato
swede
sprouts
mushrooms
onion
green beans
cucumber
lettuce (not ovally keen)
radish (again not lots)
and is pretty good with trying new things

and fruit he is good with
strawberries (he has been known to eat a punnet by himself)
grapes (again will devour a bag if left)
bananas
apples (although not pureed)
oranges
lemons (these two hes not a massive fan of but will have them)
apricots
pineapple
raisins/sultanas
pears

but my only problem is I cant get him to eat meat
he will eat fish fingers and sausages (but only from the local chippy) and lately i have managed to get him to eat a chickenburger by lying and sayign it was a round fish finger

mince, roast chicken, infact any roast of noticable bit of meat he wont touch or even if he can see that its meat. he took one bite of a hotdog sausage yesterday and turned his nose up.

Im worrying a bit as he is due to start school soon and I want him to have lunch boxes but like the idea that he will be able to have a school lunch if its cold but they all have meat in them in some form (there is a vegetarian option) but i dont know what he'd chose.Also if he ate meat it would make lunchboxes easier with more options

Does anyone have any ideas how i can get him eating meat - i dont mind being sneaky to have to do it but he wont eat even 'regular' kids food - ie chicken nuggets, sausages, hamburgers etc so im at a loss at the minute.

any ideas?
thanks in advance

Sarahsaver

I would only want my kids to have a school dinner if I were entitled to free schooll meals, don't know if this is your situation though? Packed lunch is a lot cheaper;)
Try having 'pick and mix' meald like tortillas or burgers where you can present the meat as a filling along with all the great things your littlun will eat anyway! Well done because I am sure most of us would like tour kids to love their fruit and veg so much;)
Also I have found that even my fussy DD will eat 'meat on a stick' (f i called it a kebab it would not work!) with homemade kebabs they are also easy to eat as it is ok to eat with your hands:)
Also have you tried prawns? Or mixing a little shredded meat in with noodles.
Most other cultures do not use as much meat as ours anyway, think of Chinese or Indian food (real I mean not takeaway) There's usually more veg than meat.

Pitlanepiglet

Sammy, do I remember you saying a little while ago that you also have "issues" about eating meat? Is little one picking up on this?

As Sarah said I'd go for "fun" food to some extent, little burgers, meatballs etc., as you already cook with him, how about making burgers and meatballs together? Ditto chicken nuggerts? There was a recipe floating round recently for nice chicken nuggets?

Will he eat meat when you eat together as a family?

Good luck!

sammyjig

I think it's a boy thing. My DS had meat issues and MIL said that DH had meat issues when he was young.

I can't offer any advice really but I just kept on offering the same meals as we had and it just eventually got better. I think, if I remember, DS first started eating minced meat when he helped me make shepherds pie. We added lots of veg to the meat which I think helped.

DS is 10 now and eats more but is still fussy about certain meat.

On the other hand DD ate everything that was offered until she hit 7 this year and suddenly she has started turning her nose up at everything :mad:


Can't win!

ceridwen

On the other hand - I dont understand why its a problem if a child isnt eating meat - they've chosen to be halfway to vegetarian....I dont follow why thats a problem....

sammy_kaye18

thanks all

pitlanepiglet

I have a food phobia but its more like i dont like the unknowing of whats in food rather than not eating or being allergic to things which is why i make so many things as i know whats in them.

I have no problems with meat as there is only really one ingredient but things like getting a takeaway is really awkward - id rather make my own version.

Ceridwen - I have no problem if he is/wants to/ends up vegetarian but id like to give him the option as he has never really started eating meat because i never fed it to him - for all i know he could love meat but he hasnt found one he likes yet. Whatever his choices end up being ill be supportive but I would at least like him to try them before he decides as it is i can get him to try it at all

redmel1621

How about making a home-made pizza. put mainly the veg on that he like but maybe add a little bit of chicken of finely chopped up ham.

If you get him to help you make it he will see exactly what is going on it too. I did this with both my boys as I couldn't get them to eat any salad type veg, ie peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms....since doing this a couple of times they don't seem as bothered by them now. And because they are all spread out every mouthful get a mixture of the foods, so it not like just trying to get him to eat a piece of chicken on it's own

Might be best not to make it into a big deal, it will only make him resist more. OR you could do what my dh does when he is giving the kids dinner....Tells them they are going to eat whether they like it or not, they never mess him around.

Mel x

CoD_2

does he eat things in sauces? stuffed pasta? really runny bolognese sauce? soup? casseroles? you could whizz up chicken and sweetcorn and then mix into little patties? then fry in a teeny bit of OO.

does he eat fish? as long as he's getting protein then i wouldn't really worry.

CoD_2

also he might be more tempted when he sees his friends at school eating stuff, i saw a very interesting programme on this where veg was made "cool" through their peers. i'd probably just serve up food and if he asks just say it's nice and eat the same yourself. if he's eating sausages he's not completely meat phobic.

CRANKY40

My ds is 3 3/4 and doesn't eat meat. I also made all his baby meals myself. Mine doesn't like fruit or veg much either though, despite my efforts.

Mine eats baked beans, and quorn, or vegetarian sausages and meatballs. I'm not bothered about him not eating meat. I put cheese in his mashed potatoes, and he has plenty of milk. I also puree his veg and hide it in his dinners as I have always been determined that there won't be any food fights in our house (I was a non-eater as a child, and I still remember some of the meal times from then).

I'd say with the things that your ds eats he should be ok with the vegetarian option. Ring the school and ask for more details of the vegetarian options to check if he will eat them. It may just be a texture thing. My ds spits beef or lamb mince out, but eats quorn mince without a fuss. It all looks the same once it's in a chilli etc, so the quorn must be easier to eat.

meanmarie

Sammy,

As CoD said, provided he is getting protein it is not important what it comes from...cheese, eggs, beans and lentils of all kinds have considerable amounts of protein, we in the West eat much more protein than we need anyway.

Don't make an issue of it with him, he is far too young yet to make choices about whether to be vegetarian or not, so just feed him what you eat yourselves, giving him very small amounts of meat to try...my DD2 has a three and a half year old and she insists that she tries things before she refuses to eat them....seems to work well and the tiniest bit will do. Try not to offer him chippy food IMHO there is very little food value of any kind in most of it. You have done a wonderful job by having him eating so many varieties of fruit and veg, so I can see no way that he is missing out.

Good luck

Marie