Staple foods/meals for a fussy 3 year old

MrsSippi

My daughter’s nursery have mentioned in their recentnewsletter that “they want to ensure that parents provide a variety of foodsfor their child, to ensure they have a varied and healthy diet”. I completely agree with this sentiment and Isuspect that this is something to do with the quality of food that some parents areproviding, which even I have been a bit surprised at (though I must admit Ihave been guilty of sending my daughter with spaghetti hoops and sausages oncewhen time was short) however I have avery fussy 3 year old so I would really appreciate some suggestions of things Icould do for her for a hot lunch (inc any batch cooking ideas that I canfreeze) and any suggestions for a cold tea (which parents have toprovide). A typical cold tea would be asandwich and fruit. She hates potatoesbut will eat most other veg, pasta etc - one of the big problems I have is thatshe will frequently say she doesn’t like/want something before she’s even triedit. She is also very stubborn and doesn't have a big appetite so will often refuse to eat if she doesn't like what she's given (even if 5 mins beforehand she says she does like it :wall:) Any suggestions would be massively appreciated.

Linda32

Okay so if she does not like potatoes thats fair enough. I am sure various vegetables will please the school. Does she eat meat? You could do once big casserole with lots of root veg. You could then freeze this in portions. What about bolognaise without the spagetti?

The cold tea is as you said sandwich and fruit.

I am willing to bet that when she sits with her friends and sees them eating she will join in

meritaten

instead of a boring sandwich, try her with a 'wrap' - my grandgirls love to load their own! they like savoury fillings like chicken tikka or bbq chicken or pork and like salady things but only if they don't resemble normal salad! cucumber or carrot cut into little matchsticks for example. and the tomato skinned and deseeded before being chopped. they also love drained, rinsed canned sweetcorn to sprinkle in it. sometimes they will also include cooked beetroot. they will even use scissors to cut chives or parsley into it!

home made meatballs in gravy or sauce with a portion of pasta shapes (the really small ones are nice).
the grandgirls will eat Prawn pasta salad too - providing its with seafood (marie rose) sauce they will eat it hot or cold.

WantAnOrange

To be honest, at 3 years old I think you can talk to her quite directly about this. If she won't try something, pull her up on it!

"DD, you don't know if you like it yet because you haven't tried it. If you try it and don't like it, then you don't have to eat it but you need to taste it with your tongue before you know".

Taste is quite a complex sense and very closely linked to vision, smell and emotions and little children aren't able to separate these out so when a child says "I don't like it" they might mean; "I haven't seen this before", "I don't like the smell", or "I am worried I won't like this". I am a child minder and approach this by talking about my own feelings and experiences when eating, talking about how we taste and having a few rules. They have to taste it with their tongue before they tell be they don't like it, however, they never have to eat anything they don't like and they are allowed to spit food out (which I think alleviates some of the anxiety that they may put something in their mouth which is horrid).

All that said, I would keep attention on her to a minimum if she is being a bit of a pickle at meal times. Keep what you say short and sweet, and try to keep the pressure off. How do feel about letting her feel hungry if she chooses not to eat what you have made? I think it is very important for children to be allowed to experience the consequences of their choices. The list you give of what she eats actually sounds pretty good and I have seen FAR worse than tinned spaghetti and sausages!

Packed lunch suggestions

sandwiches, wraps, pitta pockets, pizza slices, bread sticks, rice cakes, crackers

piece of fruit, carrot sticks, sliced cucumber, mange tout, cherry tomatoes, berries

cheese cubes, cheese string, tube yoghurt, carton of milk

home-made muffins, banana cake, flap jack, short bread

chicken drumsticks, cocktail sausages, hard boiled egg.

Hope that helps a bit.

MrsSippi

WantAnOrange wrote: »

To be honest, at 3 years old I think you can talk to her quite directly about this. If she won't try something, pull her up on it!

"DD, you don't know if you like it yet because you haven't tried it. If you try it and don't like it, then you don't have to eat it but you need to taste it with your tongue before you know".

Taste is quite a complex sense and very closely linked to vision, smell and emotions and little children aren't able to separate these out so when a child says "I don't like it" they might mean; "I haven't seen this before", "I don't like the smell", or "I am worried I won't like this". I am a child minder and approach this by talking about my own feelings and experiences when eating, talking about how we taste and having a few rules. They have to taste it with their tongue before they tell be they don't like it, however, they never have to eat anything they don't like and they are allowed to spit food out (which I think alleviates some of the anxiety that they may put something in their mouth which is horrid).

All that said, I would keep attention on her to a minimum if she is being a bit of a pickle at meal times. Keep what you say short and sweet, and try to keep the pressure off. How do feel about letting her feel hungry if she chooses not to eat what you have made? I think it is very important for children to be allowed to experience the consequences of their choices. The list you give of what she eats actually sounds pretty good and I have seen FAR worse than tinned spaghetti and sausages!

Packed lunch suggestions

sandwiches, wraps, pitta pockets, pizza slices, bread sticks, rice cakes, crackers

piece of fruit, carrot sticks, sliced cucumber, mange tout, cherry tomatoes, berries

cheese cubes, cheese string, tube yoghurt, carton of milk

home-made muffins, banana cake, flap jack, short bread

chicken drumsticks, cocktail sausages, hard boiled egg.

Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks for the reply. The trouble I have with her is she is so stubborn about this. I have never forced or threatened her if she doesn't eat and if she still hasn't eaten anything by the time we've had our dinner then I ask her once more if she is going to eat and if she refuses I just take the food away. I don't offer her alternatives because I think it's just making a rod for my own back and I dh has done this - asked what ahe wants, she tells him, he prepares it, then she still won't eat it. It doesn't help that she has got a tiny appetite so she won't eventually eat - she went for 4 weeks once without having a dinner or tea (though she did eat breakfast and lunch).

I have also tried getting her involved in the cooking of some basic meals and doing dinners that are more 'fun' for her (ie fajitas, so she can put it together herself. She loved the prep but then didn't want to eat it afterwards).

I know it's not the end of the world and she is happy, healthy and there are no problems with her weight, I'm just keen to get this sorted, esp as she starts school next year and, unlike nursery where they tell me what's she's eaten during the day, they obviously can't do this at school so I won't have a clue what she's eaten.

Thabks for all the packed lunch suggestions, I will give them all a try.

Dark_Star

Would she eat butternut squash curry? "a girl called Jack" has a fab recipe for this. You can make tons of it & I haven't yet found anyone of any age that won't eat it

I can't find the link but it's out there...

ziggy2004

trying to imagine talking to my nearly 4 year old in a reasonable manner about her needing to try a new food :rotfl:

For me sticking to mainly stuff I know she likes and having new things on the table or on her plate with no pressure helps. We offer a choice of what is on the table or plain bread as well as a variety of snacks throughout the day and she is slowly eating more and more.

She is a grazer and does really well with a variety of foods so that if she does not like one thing she has other stuff to choose from. And she loves it when I do her lunch box in Bento style when she has a lunch box( http://www.parenting.com/gallery/bento-lunch-boxes) I do not quite go as fancy as those but at 3 she appreciates simple things

She also loves to help me cook and is often more inclined to try something that she has had a hand in preparing ( not always though )

oldtractor

baked beans

Pooky

My eldest was incredibly fussy with food from a very early age and stuff she'd eat for lunch one day was spurned the next as "yuck" so I feel your pain here.

I think I'd be inclined to make some "building blocks" type foods that you can freeze and mix and match, so for example cook some pasta and freeze is plain in portion sizes, do the same with sauces and different sorts of veg and meat and you can vary it on a daily basis. What about a pastie or sausage roll type meal too, make your own and freeze them, the pastry eliminates the need for another carb like potatoes or rice. You could mix all manner of veg in with sausage meat, use left over chicken, ham, veggies, make a white sauce/cheese sauce or just a gravy to bind it all. I have some mini pastie crimpers that are fab for making bite size pies (you can pick them up on e bay etc for a few pounds).

The same with the cold tea, make up a batch of sandwiches/wraps and then cut into small wedges and freeze, that way you can give her a bit of a ham sandwhich with a slice of chicken wrap....it keeps it varied and surprising.