What can i feed the fussiest eater in the world?

moggins

Thanks all, some of the things mentioned we have tried and some we haven't so we'll be experimenting from now on, especially with her helping outside the kitchen.

Penelope_Penguin

Moggins, hi. The other thing that we have discovered recently is HM fruit smooties. Blend ripe banana (high in calories) with full fat yoghurt, and fruit of your choice. We're using pear, nectarine, strawberry, raspberry, kiwi at the moment. We use tinned fruit in the winter.

I've wondered if we can increase the calorie content by adding a bland veg oil. It's in Sunny Delight, to improve "mouth feel" apparently. Sounds disguising to me (which is why my children won't touch the stuff!!) but might be worth a try.

Penny. x

Churchmouse

As a former faddy eater until adulthood, the only thing I'd say is encourage, don't nag ( I'm sure you don't moggins, well not out loud anyway!:D )

As a child I was terribly thin, in fact our GP used to say if he didn't know better he'd think I was a neglected child!

My mother tried everything to get me to eat but I didn't like much food, and couldn't really be bothered with it. Of course I was a child roughly when Noah was letting the animals off the Ark, so no junk food to tempt me!:rotfl:

Seriously I hated most meat, with the exception of poultry which was the most expensive meat back then. Didn't think much of vegetables except potatoes and peas. Many, many meals for me consisted of potatoes peas and a fried egg!! It was all I'd eat and my mother was deperate for me to have something.

I can't pinpoint when the change started, but gradually I started to eat more and more variedly ( would have been 14 or so ). Now I'll give most things a try. I eat from cuisines from around the world, love meat and most veggies. Love fruit and now have the problem of liking TOO much food, LOL.

My DS4 was his mother's child, but when he was about 4 or 5 I just stopped worrying thinking he'd get better like I did. It took until he was 20 and he only now at 24 eats really widely from choice!!! But the point is he does!

I suppose this is a long-winded way of saying try not to worry, I've seen it from both sides. I'm sure your DD will eat more in time. You obviously give her a varied choice of foods so she is getting plenty of exposure. When she does eat well give her praise, but not too much, she won't want too much attention drawing to it! Good Luck;)

Mercenary

My DD was deemed underweight when she was very young. She was a lazy eater and couldn't be bothered to chew much. My health visitor said that as long as she drank a lot of full-fat milk and ate whatever real food she actually liked in small regular portions, then she would thrive.
She advised me to make little bowls of things DD would eat like raisins, dry Cheerios cereal, banana slices, apple slices, cheese cubes, breadsticks (very successful!), cold sausage slices, pasta etc for her to pick at as and when she felt like it. This actually worked ....and we relaxed.
For a long time, my parents couldn't get to grips with the idea that we didn't try to persuade/nag/bribe her to eat everything, but that would have turned meals into battlegrounds which would have made her worse.

Now she's 16, slim and beautiful and still fairly adamant about what she will and will not eat. She will eat rice and pasta but not potatoes (unless chips or crisps); she will eat sprouts and spinach (esp with garlic butter!), broccoli, sweetcorn and cauliflower (cheese), but not peas, carrots, mushrooms, parsnips...the list goes on. Meat and bread/biscuits are also ok now....but not much pastry.

If they are not pressured, most kids will actually eat what they want to, when they are actually hungry. Not at adult-designated times.

moggins

This is where DH and I have real problems agreeing, I know that she eats more in the morning but he insists on her sitting down to three proper meals and thinks it's me letting her graze that is causing the problem. Last night I cringed because he was virtually bullying her into eating every spoonful, shouting at her loudly when she didn't keep her attention on her meal. All it achieved was he frightened her out of her skin and she burst out crying.

Trouble is we never agree on parenting methods and he always thinks he is right regardless of the fact that I have been a mother for 21 years and he's only been parenting for 5

Churchmouse

moggins wrote:

Trouble is we never agree on parenting methods and he always thinks he is right regardless of the fact that I have been a mother for 21 years and he's only been parenting for 5

This is probably part of the problem, he needs to assert himself because you have more experience!

It's going to be hard but you need to convince him that grazing is only a problem for overweight children who need to learn appetite and eating control.
For poor and/or slow eaters like your daughter it is a necessity! It's not as if she grazes on junk food and then refuses wholesome food at the table!!

She can still be encouraged to sit at table with the rest of the family, and maybe nibble a little, but mostly be there for the chat and family time. It won't matter if she actually ate 20 minutes earlier. Gradually you may find her appetite will be stimulated. Also it's normal for young children to eat more earlier in the day.

He also needs to realise she is not doing it to be naughty despite what my father thought! A calm accepting attitude will reap far better results. What I can guarantee won't work is shouting, entreating, bullying or coercing. Turning mealtimes into battles helps nobody.

Your DH must be familiar with "baby steps" applied to housework, can he be persuaded to apply baby steps to your daughter?

Horasio

He eats with us twice a week and he doesn't like pasta, fish, pulses, HM soup or stews. He likes roasts and BBQs but it can be expensive and I feel very limited by this.

I am trying to be OS with food etc but I feel my efforts are sneered at.

Does anyone have any ideas what nutritious, yet cheap food to give him? I thought I was fussy. I don't want to do greasy food, as I feel he eats that the rest of the week and we don't really like it very often either.

Thankfully my husband is fine the rest of the time with what I cook and is very supportive of my OS food.

squeaky

While they may not provide full answers for you the threads in the links below from the MEGA Index should give a starting point and some ideas to work with...

Fussy Eaters:
- easy meat recipes to beef up underweight teen
- Hiding vegetables
- Meal ideas for picky kids
- What can I feed the fussiest eater in the world?

Addiscomber

Have a few hugs. I have a 21 year old version, but he lives with us full time. At times things get so fraught between us that I have offered, and even threatened, a separate kitchen in the utility room. Funnily enough he "doesn't want the stress" whilst he is at Uni. :mad: :mad:

I spend more time looking through recipe books than actually cooking, as so many recipes are non-starters due to the long list of dislikes. I try to introduce new things gradually, even ones that were rejected very loudly several years earlier, and sometimes they are not only accepted now, but asked for again. The shock of that gives me the strength to carry on struggling. Well, that and a stiff G&T before each dinner is served :rotfl: :rotfl:

Home-made pizza any good? Cottage pie? Mine likes home-made fairly meaty quiche, but not bought ones.

elona

Mine all like my home made pizza and huge home made quiche - home made burgers with turkey mince - stuffed pancakes?

Large lasagne?