You let your kids eat what??

NoAdditives

My older kids are 3 1/2 and almost 2. They eat what I make or they don't eat. They may not always eat everything on their plates and I'm fine if they pick out what they like. If they only eat the carrots out of the chicken gumbo, that's ok. Carrots are healthy and they get introduced to the other flavors and spices, which makes it more likely that they'll eat the whole dish the next time I make it. The only time I make my kids a special meal is when the "big" meal is too spicy for them (meaning it contains green chile, hot andouille sausage, etc, not because it contains lots of regular spices).

BAMFMeredith

Our kids eat what we eat...and if they don't want to, they don't eat. If we KNOW we're making something they won't eat (typically fish), we'll make them something they will. That's very unusual though.

That's how it goes in our house with fish. My son will not touch it (after I have made him try it several times) and since we typically have about an hour to get dinner eaten, bath time, and bedtime done (I work full time, plus the gym or his t-ball practice/games in the evenings), I'd rather have a back up plan like some chicken breast tenders (not breaded) I can pop in the microwave for him so we can all eat dinner in timely fashion. When we do enforce the "you eat what's on your plate or you can just not eat" rule, he typically sits at the dinner table for about an hour and a half slowly picking at whatever it is he doesn't want to eat. I wouldn't like it if somebody forced something I don't like down my throat (so help me if you try to make me eat anything involving peanut butter, I would rather starve), so I'm not going to do it to my son.

Sarahmeridith

My kids (2 and 1) eat some foods the same and some different. Fir breakfast they usually eat something like pancakes or toast I eat cereal. Lunch we eat at different times usually they like grilled sandwhiches, pasta, mac and cheese ect.. I usually eat a sandwhich. Dinner we eat the same and snacks are usuually the same (fruit, yogurt, crackers ect)

My kids eat a lot more offten then I do and the have days where they only want a certain thing. But they eat fruit and veggies and whole grains and are healthy and active so I dont worry.

Cindym82

my boyfriend and I eat different sides with our meats every night......you can make homemade chicken nuggets and stuff and at least than you know whats in them. skinnytaste.com is great for recipes

hudnharsmom

i have 5 and 7 yr old boys. if they dont like what i make then they stare untill the next meal. saying that i try and make things i know the whole family likes. they are pretty healthy eaters. (but i dont make them eat their dinner for breakfast )

jeepwidow01

I'll do the occassional boxed mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, etc at lunch time. Being a SAH mom, I try to keep those meals more "relaxed"; however, fruit & veggies are always served. At dinner time, my family eats what I do. I'm not going to make a separate meal for them. If they are hesitant on something, our rule is they must eat the number of bites their age is. Of course, if it is something I can tell they REALLY don't like, I don't push it, BUT they are not allowed to spit ANY food out. One night I made roasted asparagus (something I LOVE but my family not so much) plus I made another veggie that my kids like. They each had to have just one stalk of asparagus. If they don't keep trying things, they won't learn to like them. I have also told my kids they get new taste buds every few weeks so if they didn't like something last time, these new taste buds may like it so they should again. There have been several times when my oldest ( 5 yo) has told me "These taste buds like this!!"

As another poster also stated - Moderation and balance. That is the key for all of us!

stellcorb

I have an interesting food/ eating debacle in my house as well. My husband is not nearly as picky as he used to be, but is not a very good cook and has to cook dinner for myself and my 2 year old during the week, so options are limited. My son is hitting the picky/ finicky stage so some nights he doesn't eat anything except for fruit and string cheese as much as we try to get him to eat more. He likes things randomly... like he LOVEs quinoa but only likes spaghetti once and a while... yesterday, he kept on asking for more "leaves" (raw spinach I was packing for my lunch) but if I put them on his plate, there's no interest... he just wants fruit leathers...
The weekend is another ball game b/c most weekends we have my 7 year old stepson who doesn't like ANYTHING... except fried chicken (preferred in nugget or finger form). Getting him to eat what's in front of him is a trial of time, frustration and is typically unsuccessful in the end. His mom feeds him only canned spaghetti, so our spaghetti "tastes funny" and he only like Little Ceasars or Dominos pizza not Papa John's. There's only so much accomidating you can do for one family member. This is how my husband was when he was his age also b/c he grew up on McDonalds and pre-packaged meals.
Basically, I try to have everyone eat one meal and if not, the other option is something like PB&J (w/ wheat bread, reduced sugar jam and natural peaunut butter) but I can't say it's as successful as I'd like it to be.

oldmanstauf

My son is almost 5 and he basically eats whatever we are eating. On those days where it might be a "find whatever you want" days, he might have boxed mac and cheese, regular or grilled chicken nuggets, PB and J. Maybe some leftovers from the previous day. He's big into fruits too, so sometimes it's a snacky type lunch with fruit and a little of something else.

tephey

Since i am not a short order cook, nor do i buy the other stuff, yep, they eat what i eat and they like it.

Same here. But then, I don't cook a lot of food they don't like. If they want something on the unhealthly side for dinner, I cook it, but watch my portion size. However, I need to get their snacking under control.

lalarox

I am a single mom and it would be crazy if I made 2 different meals for me and my son. He has been exposed to alot of different foods since he was a baby and isn't really afraid to try something new because he has always been exposed to a wide array of different ethnic foods which he seems to love (thai and indian are his favorite). But there are always those days where he says he doesn't like something or he thinks he hates vegetables. So when we go to the market I let him pick out what veggies we will have with our meals, or he can pick if we're having chicken or tilapia. He then is more excited and seems to like it more because we are eating what he picked out. Try and make it fun and then maybe they can appreciate what they think is icky. Oh and I do stick to the "if you don't eat your dinner you don't get dessert" rule. That seems to work for him too

twisted88

We ate my parent's meals or we had the option of making our own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We could then clean up after ourselves. This option was generally way less appealling then whatever my parent's made.

^This

My mom would let me make a pb & j if I didn't want to eat what she made, or else I had to wait until the next meal. After making my own pb & j a few times, I stopped being so picky and ate what she made. She also insisted on me eating a "no thank you helping" of foods I didn't like.

We didn't eat healthy foods all the time, and it wasn't a matter of cost most of the time, my mom just knew better than to make 3 different meals for the family. (My dad is and was a vegetarian, while my mother and I weren't so she already had to substitute some things for him on occasion. And yes I have quite a few favorite vegetarian dishes that I grew up with and that I would take over certain meat items given my mood, etc.)

Once I got older, if I wanted something else I had to make it myself and clean up after cooking. In return I do the same back to them since I'm cooking for my parents most of the time now-a-days. They grumble with my food choices at times, but since I contribute to groceries for my dishes (and at times theirs) and because they don't have to cook they don't complain as much now.

Now I'm not a picky eater (in my mind at least). I try new things often and there are very few things I dislike enough to pick out and/or request (at a restuarant) not to be included in my meal.

*Edit: I'm not a parent either, just adding my two cent because I do cook for other people often and can relate.

**Edit 2: Because of the pb & j sandwich rule I won't eat them for 6 or 7 years. I only got back into it about 5 years ago when I needed to make a quick lunch. (I still liked the peanut butter and bread, just not together with/ or without jelly/jam.)

JanSmelly

You can take it or leave it, but I am no making something different for each person in the family. I have a set of newly turned 4 year-old twins and a 20 month old and they have always eaten what I have made starting at 6 months.

VanillaBone

Eat it or leave it, those are the choices.
Plus I think it's hilarious to see my kids order menudo, or lengua, or squid salad when we go out, so I serve wierd stuff like that at home. I make everybody's plates, restaraunt-style, and the rule is if you want seconds of anything, you have to clean the plate to prove you're actually hungry for it, and not just wanting to munch. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes it's not.

It's worked well so far; I have five stringy kids who know what they like, and know how much they have to eat to last until breakfast.I don't force them to eat anything unless they start whining about how gross it is; If that happens they have to eat one bite...But now that I think about it, it's been years since any of them has said anything rude about my cooking,

modernmom70

I am not a short order cook and I do have one picky eater. Dinner is take it or leave it in my house. And I don't eat processed foods, so I don't feed it to my kids. I want them to grow up with good eating habits, which means fresh real food. Treats every once in awhile is fine. But I also don't believe that a kid needs a treat in their lunch box...a nice piece of fruit is the treat.
I make homemade baked chicken fingers/nuggets and such which the kids love!

Shanna_Inc86

wowsers....was in a work meeting and just got back...bout to read all the responses!

jennifer52484

I feel like i just got a ton of parenting advice lol. I don't have kids but someday would like to and now I am ready to tackle the food situation when or if it occurs lol. Thanks!!

carolann_22

My one son will eat anything and my other son eats like five foods total. And you can't make him eat it, he'd rather starve. It's a mental block for him, he starts sweating, heart pounds, anxiety, if he even THINKS he has to try a new food. And not just healthy food, he won't try new "junk" or yummy food, either. He threw up a piece of cinnamon roll that I made him try. He never eats dinner, because I don't cook him special meals anymore (did until 5, after 5 I told him he was a big boy and had to eat what was ont he table), but I usually have fruit with dinner so he will eat that and he's not going to bed with a totally empty stomach.

But if there was no fruit, he still wouldn't eat - no amount of threats, bribes or consequences will move him to eat. Eventually he will get over the mental aspect of it, I think - hoping when he has friends who try things or eat things and there's no pressure, he'll be willing to try it.

Im_NotPerfect

Don't get to upset at 5 they are learning finally to try new things and decide if they like something or not I love spinich & beets my hubby dose not he likes spicy food and radishes I don't there is nothing wrong with people not liking somehting. As for my kids I am happy if I can get them to eat anything. another example my 4 year old son hates green beans I mean he will try them chew them and gag trying to swallow them I do not think this is healty so I don't force the issue. good luck

My son is the same way with other foods. We always make him try a bite. If he truly can not eat it (i.e. gags on it) we don't make him eat it, obviously. We can tell the difference though if it's something he likes but just doesn't want to eat it or something he truly can not tolerate. A lot of the time he convinces himself that he doesn't like it before even trying it and brings on the gag.

erogers85

I cook all of our meals and I always have so my kids don't really know to beg for processed stuff. They have sweets on occasion but almost all the sweets are home baked treats. My four year old's favorite food is marinated roasted tofu, my 2.5 year old will pick a clementine over any other snack available and my 14 month old cries bitter tears if I don't spoon feed him at least 1/5 of my kale smoothie in the morning! I've also realized that they are way more likely to eat well seasoned foods like roasted cauliflower with paprika and sea salt instead of steamed plain cauliflower- I think kids actually love good flavor and the salt in processed food mimics what they don't always find in "health food"

Now if they go to a birthday party and there are cheetoes and kool-aid there do they turn their noses up at them? No way! But they also never ask me for chips or anything other than milk or water because they know we don't keep that kind of stuff in the house.

Shanna_Inc86

I appreciate everyone's opinions, stories, suggestions and comments.

Lemme just add that I'm a single mom and it's just me and my daughter I buy for...so groceries aren't much anyways. I've been switching more of her food over but when I moved home for a few months it all went to heck b/c my Mom has so much junk food and lets my daughter eat whatever. I don't buy junk food usually.

Breakfast is usually eggs & toast OR Life Cereal

Lunch is eaten at daycare/preschool

Dinner: We're working on it lol

And to add....I'm a recovering junk food addict lol
She will go to town on a veggie and fruit platter and will pick those over junk food thankfully
Her dad feeds her crap though which I have to hear about but she isn't allowed soda at my house, except when she had a belly ache. Usually I only have whole wheat noodles in the house. And she does like boca burgers and fish. I'm working on the tofu still lol