Fussy Eaters (merged)

debtfreein4years

I was a fussy eater as a child and still am. My parents say I used to eat anything and everything and then gradually stopped. It was a battle of wills at dinner with me refusing to eat anything I thought I didnt like. Parents gave in and sometimes ended up cooking 3 different meals or 3 variations of one meal. i.e spag bol. 1 would be plain pasta and mince. 2. would be pasta mince and everything but mushrooms. 3. would be everything plus mushrooms.

Dont give in, I think Im fussy as an adult as I wont try much other than what I know and although I will try things occasionaly, most of the time it ends with me throwing up cause of the texture of the food so i dont bother. I like things to have a bit of a bite to them and I wont eat most fruits because they are soft. Veg I wont eat cause people cook them differently and they go soft and I hate them like that.

Seriously dont give in. as people have said he will be getting all he needs so maybe cut down on a snack and although this is mean, he eats his dinner or he doesnt get anything else to eat for breakfast or lunch till it has been eaten. have you tried a reward chart. for each new piece of food that he trys he gets a star and when he has x stars he gets to do something special with you as a family.

good luck and dont give in.

isica1903

Thank you everyone, I don't think it's a health issue, he used to eat really well until my even fussier 11 yo stepson came to live with us. I made the mistake to cook seperate for him and DS picked up on that pretty quick. NOw SS is gone back to mums and I'm left with a fussy DS.:rolleyes:

He likes helping a lot but when it comes to eating it he won't even consider it.
He is starting reception in September and I am considering trying him on school dinners, he already goes to the nursery of the same school and we always get the menu in the school newsletter and in theory, most things on the menu should be things he can eat, so I might give it a go and see what happens.

I suppose I just have to keep to it and hope he will gradually change, what do I do on days we have things I know he won't eat though?
For example, DD really likes rice and I want it to stay that way so I try to do something with rice once or twice a week. Now DS won't touch rice and usually any of the things we have with it so should I just do rice and curry or whatever and just say eat it or leave it? I really don't want to give him something else as DD notices and then won't eat her dinner either.
I suppose he isn't really that bad compared to some other children, but it can be really frustrating sometimes.

pinkshoes

My parents had the "clean plate or no pudding" rule, which always worked!

I would just cook whatever you want to cook, give him a child size portion of what everyone is eating, and just ignore him at the meal table if he's picky. We did this with my 4 year old twin cousins, and the twin that was eating everything got attention. All of a sudden, the other twin started eating carrots as she didn't like being ignored!

belfastgirl23

Supernanny tackled EXACTLY this issue in one episode which is on the web at the minute. See here http://www.channel4.com/programmes/supernanny/episode-guide/series-2/episode-11

Well worth a watch.

Queenriderbrekke

Probably no help, but maybe you could like have a small plate with 3 or 4 different things on it that he won't try, say 1 carrot stick(either raw or cooked), 1 grape for example and ask him to choose 1 thing to try each day. That way hopefully you will get him to try something new and he will still feel in control.

Also if you are having Spag Bol, a multitude of veg can be liquidised and slipped into the sauce for it without the kids even noticing, lol!

As others have said, if he is getting something from each food group his diet isn't as bad as you think, just inconvenient.

System

Ok odd question perhaps, but will he eat mashed potato? I was a very very fussy eater as a kid but mum got away with some things by mashing them into my tattys!

If he likes spag bol could you get away with adding some extra beg or something?

claireac

I have a fussy eater too - my dd aged 3.

She has a couple of mouthfuls of dry cereal for breakfast, a few mouthfuls of dinner but her best meal of the day is lunch at my childminders of which she eats everything. I think it's a peer pressure thing, as she sees her friends eating.

I also post on a mums & baby board, and we have several fussy eaters to varying degrees. A couple of people have reported sucess with having the tv on whilst eating. I know this isn't to everyone's taste (mine included!), but apparently the distraction of the tv helps and you can shovel a few spoonfuls in! I have to say that if I let dd eat in front of the tv she does eat more, but we save this for a treat and not the norm.

I do the no pudding thing, but if she eats a certain number of spoonfuls then she can have pudding. It's generally yogurt so I'm happy for her to have that!

At the end of the day, your child won't starve intentionally, so I think the best thing is not to fret too much. They soon pick up on it and play on it! Dd is my 3rd, and after two boys with healthy appetites it's all a bit of a shock to the system :rotfl:

JBD

I had this problem with my middle son when he was little. I was advised by my health visitor to give him the things that he did eat and not to make a fuss. When he was six or seven he started to learn about healthy eating at school and since then he has eaten a wider variety of food although not as many as some children.

Felicity

This must be very difficult for you.

I can only echo 2 bits of advice from above:-

1. Do not stress about it, he will pick up on it, extra attention etc. and this just makes everything worse and it will continue for longer. My 21 month old will eat literally anything (oh, hope this lasts) but if there is too much attention he will throw it, ignore it etc. Keep it toned down and relaxed (probably easier said than done I know).

2. Peer pressure, well more like copying, the few things my son will not eat (sandwiches and pizza) at home, he will eat at nursery because he is copying the other children.

I wish you all the very best of luck, do you have a health visitor attached to your GPs surgery that you can turn to? My original health visitor was poor in skills and advice but through friends in nearby villages I have found a gem of a lady that has given me fantastic advice with behavioural issues in the past. It's all very well reading books but having somebody in your home with you, helping you can be very helpful.

ClareEmily

Haven't time to read all replies so hope I haven't duplicated:

A suggestion would be to get a camcorder and set it up at mealtimes, then review the tape back. You will probably find that because you are so worried about him not eating enough that mealtimes are stressful and not an enjoyable experience for him.

Another trick is to let him help you bake some cakes for example, and to play with different fruits and vegetables.