Fed Up With Picky Kids

SazzleDazzle1

JackieO wrote: »

I was brought up with my no-nonsence Mum during and after the war when food was in short supply anyway and rationing meant you really did eat what was put in front of you regardless of whether you liked it or not.As children in those days its wasn't even a choice of it goes in you or the dog ,you were expected to eat what was on your plate.I can still here now my tiny feisty Scots Mum saying
" Good men died to put food on your plate, eat it and remember them"I had visions of them returning to haunt me so I ate everything :):)
My children after being weaned were given smaller portions of what my husband and I ate mushed up in the Moulie-grater until they were old enough to eat the same as us.They both at around 2-4 tried the 'I don't like it' to which I said 'OK go without', and they did.(but not for long as small tummy soon start to rumble)
Children will 'try it on' if they think they can get away with it often not because they genuinely dislike something but just to see how much they can exert their will.So be firm and don't force feed them ,but what they have been offered they must eat or go without.

Last weekend I was away at a spa weekend with my youngest DD and when drying off after a swim on the Sunday morning in a cubicle I could hear a couple of yummy Mummy's drying their little ones off in the changing rooms.
Mum 'Please sweetheart will you let Mummy wash your hair ? '

Child 'I DON'T WANT MY HAIR WASHED' shouted at full volume

Mum 'Please darling its all matted from your swim and Mummy want you to look nice, like a little princess ?'

Child repeated 'I DON'T WANT MY HAIR WASHED' at an even louder yell
Mum again pleaded with said child several more times and the little one totally refused all entreaties, her yells getting louder every time.
Mum then said
'OK sweetheart you've made Mummy sad but if you don't want to do it then ok'
This child was around 2-3 and ruled her Mum totally.Mum just gave in and let this noisy little animal rule her life, God know how she would get on feeding it.

I told my DD when I came out and she is the Mum of five children and she just looked at me very old-fashionedly and said 'It would never have happened to me with the children, or when I was little would it Mum' and I said' No dear' as we had a rule in our house the children were children and I and my OH were the adults and what we said went.

My two grew up eating anything I put in front of them.The only thing my eldest doesn't eat is strawberries as she has an allergy to them and the youngest prefers shellfish or battered but not keen on fish pie ,although would eat it if she had to.Her family being a large one have their meals at the table and she always puts three veg in seperate dishes and they have to eat at least 1 or 2 of them.One of the boys only likes carrots at the moment, but will eat a sprig of brocolli, but like his brothers before him will eventually eat all of them.
Her eldest boy will eat a bit of everything dished up,yet when he was 3 he would try to only each the yorkshire puds and nothing else.When finding that there was no pudding or a choice of anything else to eat he soon learned to eat what was served up.It really is persistance .Children are tiny animals, and as such have to be trained at times You toilet train them, so eating is just another training skill.as another poster suggested try making your own 'frozen stuff' to look like ready meals
Stick to your guns though and don't give in to a small child.YOU are the grown up

Yowser, the child is a toddler asserting his / her authority not a 'noisy little animal' or an 'it' - yes the parent may be a little soft but it is not the child's fault. How would you feel if someone referred to your child or grandchild in this way?

Noctu

Someone I know simply refused to eat fruit and veg when he was very young. His mum took him to the GP who advised her to persist with it. Unhappy with that advice, she declared that she would just let him eat what he wants, as long as he was happy.

30 years later he has a very restricted diet, with no fruit whatsoever and very little veg (he even picks any veg off pizzas). He'd never been encouraged to eat veg which essentially made him afraid of eating food he didn't know.

He has an awful pallor, skinny legs and arms but with a belly and man-boobs - clearly from his very poor diet.

So please do persist! Not all picky kids grow out of it of their own accord.

pigpen

SazzleDazzle1 wrote: »

Yowser, the child is a toddler asserting his / her authority not a 'noisy little animal' or an 'it' - yes the parent may be a little soft but it is not the child's fault. How would you feel if someone referred to your child or grandchild in this way?

All children are noisy little animals... lol.. It is a parents job to tame and civilise and make them into sensible responsible big animals (I'm a noisy responsible big animal ) . I call my grandbeasts, the grandbeasts. I think the only people who would find it insulting are the ones similarly ruled by tiny terrorists! Often it is the parents who need a backbone inserting, they don't have to be mean, just firm and lead their child to an acceptable way of behaving, allowing a child to not wash isn't really a good example, we all need to wash, though maybe the child was going to be chucked in the bath a couple of hours later so that battle was not worth the fight.. that particular incident could be taken many ways but wheedling parents are hideous.

I am trying to tame a whingy winnie, a Meddlesome minx and a bitey bertha at the moment, I feel like a lion tamer or a ring master or a zookeeper 90% of the time.. the others are quite sensible now, though my 23 year old sometimes needs reminding.

moments_of_sanity

pigpen wrote: »

All children are noisy little animals... lol.. It is a parents job to tame and civilise and make them into sensible responsible big animals (I'm a noisy responsible big animal ) . I call my grandbeasts, the grandbeasts. I think the only people who would find it insulting are the ones similarly ruled by tiny terrorists! Often it is the parents who need a backbone inserting, they don't have to be mean, just firm and lead their child to an acceptable way of behaving, allowing a child to not wash isn't really a good example, we all need to wash, though maybe the child was going to be chucked in the bath a couple of hours later so that battle was not worth the fight.. that particular incident could be taken many ways but wheedling parents are hideous.

I am trying to tame a whingy winnie, a Meddlesome minx and a bitey bertha at the moment, I feel like a lion tamer or a ring master or a zookeeper 90% of the time.. the others are quite sensible now, though my 23 year old sometimes needs reminding.

Lol, this made me laugh Pigpen. Your 23 yr old is not much older than my eldest so I am sure you will remember a programme called 'The Rugrats'? Mine were called that for a long time and still remember it will affection, if ever they were misbehaving I use to call them Angelica (luckily, or unluckily depending on your view, I have 2 girls).

Most children are like little animals until we tame them, how many times have we been bitten, hair pulled, climbed all over, jumped on whilst playing etc, with some training they soon learn what is and isn't acceptable.

notanewuser

moments_of_sanity wrote: »

Most children are like little animals until we tame them, how many times have we been bitten, hair pulled, climbed all over, jumped on whilst playing etc, with some training they soon learn what is and isn't acceptable.

Alternatively you can think of them as exploratory beings and model the behaviour you wish them to follow.

pigpen

notanewuser wrote: »

Alternatively you can think of them as exploratory beings and model the behaviour you wish them to follow.

Like monkeys? and puppies? and cats???


Are we not animals?
Are animals (other than humans) not beings??


Every living thing is a 'being' in my mind..

notanewuser

pigpen wrote: »

Like monkeys? and puppies? and cats???


Are we not animals?
Are animals (other than humans) not beings??


Every living thing is a 'being' in my mind..

Of course we're animals.

I don't think children are much like cats, no, but I also think they learn better through experience than training.

pigpen

I have cats and children, there are many similarities...


you try to do something, they are under-foot
you try to eat something, they want it
you want to sleep, they don't
you open a drawer or cupboard, they get in it.
you clean, they mess
They wee where you don't want them to and play in the place they are meant to wee
they bring home other creatures.. alive and dead
they have no road sense
they are prone to parasites
they are attracted by dirt and repelled by water..

I think I gave birth to kittens!!!!

jlhmd666

button_box wrote: »

Because we all ate the same thing at meal times I introduced a "new thing night" as much to increase their experience of food as to save my DH and I getting sick of eating the same stuff all the time.

I quite like this idea, thanks Yes, I think it would be good to introduce this into the jlhmd household as we often tend to eat the same thing all the time. I just need to get my head round the meal planning and take it from there

chocgirl_2

It is good to see that others have the same problem!! My OH's two would happily live on pepperoni pizza and burger & chips if given half the chance. They like something one week, so we cook it again identically a couple of weeks later, and then they say they don't like it. Ready meals are a saviour, heaven forbid we should try to recreate them as they spot it from a mile off. They recently ate chicken pie at their mum's - and when I said they wouldn't eat it when we tried to give it to them, they said "oh but we only like Marks & Spencer chicken pie" !! No. Sorry. Not going down that road.

I can remember having a conversation with a work colleague where she was talking about taking her kids (aged between 5 and 15) on a really good holiday before her eldest girl got too old to want to go. She was on about taking them to Thailand - I said I'd love to do that but I would have no idea what my OH's two would eat. She said they will eat all sorts of Thai food no problem, veggies and all, and I was absolutely astounded.