Kids and Meals

fromfattytohealthy

To the parents on MFP, do you find yourself making different meals for your kids or do you have them eat what you eat?

I have an incredibly picky 4 year old, so that's a lost cause for now (I've tried every trick in the book, believe me!), but the 2 year old will eat anything so she eats what I eat, and, if she doesn't, she still eats incredibly healthy.

Are your kids picky? Stubborn? Wanting crappy food all the time? Share stories, tips, and tricks with everyone!

ShannonMpls

He eats what we eat within reason. If we're eating something he's allergic to (peanuts, chickpeas, some other legumes), it's an almond butter sandwich night for him.

We did have a long run of severe pickiness, so we cut out snacks. He eats as much as he'd like during meals. Now that he's actually hungry for dinner, he EATS. If he refuses dinner, no problem - but no alternatives either. I make sure his plate always has at least a small serving of something he does like (applesauce, cheese, etc).

This is a great blog on feeding kids:
http://itsnotaboutnutrition.squarespace.com/

This is an entry you might find particularly helpful for your 4yo:
http://itsnotaboutnutrition.squarespace.com/home/2009/9/30/how-cottage-cheese-changed-my-life.html

momtokgo

I cook one meal a night, but sometimes in a few differnt ways. I have celiac disease, as well as an intolerance to meat and dairy (I end up almost immedialty sick if I eat either of them), and I'm allergic to tree nuts. My oldest can't have dairy and wants to be a vegetarian and eats very little meat, my middle daughter can't have dairy or peanuts and won't even poke a vegetable, and my son can't have nuts, dairy or soy. My husband will eat anything.

Soooo....I cook one meal, in more the one way to make it edible and safe for everyone.

But I REFUSE to cook "kid meals" like boxed mac and cheese (not that anyone could eat it lol) or chicken nuggets, hotdogs, etc. They have the choice of eating what I make, even if its just the parts that they like, or they can go hungry until the next meal. I do always make sure there is something on their plate that they like. I won't make a meal that I know they all hate and insist they eat it, but I also won't cook an entire differnt meal just because they don't feel like chicken that night.

*and its not that they never get hotdogs/chicken nuggets, we have them once or twice a month. Just not all the time.

DisneyAddictRW

My kids are picky eaters. I don't make separate meals for them. They get offered what I make. If they choose to eat good if not that's their choice. I know my kids are not big fans of some veggies so I try to stick with e ones they like. They'd rather eat frozen chicken nuggets and apples every day but I won't do it. I don't buy or keep junk in the house. That way when they complain about what I made all they have are good choices to pick from. As a kid I was offer junk and whatever I wanted. I'm trying to teach my kids the difference between junk and good choices. Explaining to them their bodies need the things I make in order to be healthy. (my kids are 5,7, and 12 so it's a little easier for me since they are passed the toddler stage) find fun ways to cook meals. My daycare kids love when I make their veggies into a face or a shape. Google fun kids recipes.

trophywife24

I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old and I stay at home with them. They generally eat a different breakfast/lunch than I do because they eat before I'm hungry in the mornings and I eat lunch when the baby naps so I can actually eat and enjoy it..but we all eat the same dinner. I will make them something different if it's something positively not kid-friendly though.. like pot roast. They both hate it. They can have a waffle or something.

My older child is picky but he is gotten way, way better in the last 6 months or so. He will at least try things now. The kid lived off of snacky carbs and yogurt for 4 years. The baby isn't as picky, he only has a few things that he doesn't like so he's easy to please. I've never made a big deal about food or eating with the big one.. If he is hungry, he will eat. If he's not, no big deal. He's over 4ft tall and 51lbs at almost 6, he's clearly growing very well.

barbara4599

I have an 8 year old VERY picky eater. Several years back she had a lactose intolerance problem and lost quite a bit of weight, so I was very worried and made special treats and meals for her to get her weight healthy again. Now I am trying to correct the problem and it is hard!

One thing I keep in mind - when we were seeing the pediatric GI specialist he was very specific in that he had NEVER seen a child starve themselves to death when there was food available, so I must decide what to serve and when to serve it and she could choose to eat or not.

That being said, I will make slight modifications in the menu to accomodate the picky eater. Such as, set plain pasta aside for her before I put on the spices and such for everyone else. Cook a plain piece of chicken when everyone else is having parmagiana. Also, if she just really hates what's on the table she can help herself to a piece of cheese or fruit or yogurt. It's not always smooth, but it's better!

Plus, I do the grocery shopping and I have stopped buying most of the crap food. If it's not in the house, it's not even an option.

Good luck!

ahmommy

My 3 year old eats what we eat. If she doesn't want it, fine, but she's not getting anything else. She has yet to starve! But she's a grazer, and would eat all day long and never sit down to a meal if we'd let her eat that way. I've also had to limit snacks in order to get her to sit and eat a meal.

We have an unusual problem in that my LO would eat nothing but fruits and vegetables if we'd let her. She had a tummy bug once and all she would eat for a week or two was fruit. I gave her all she wanted because obviously she wasn't feeling well, fruit is healthy, and it helped keep her hydrated. But her system was shocked when she finally started eating food with fat in it again, and I realized that a diet built on only one or two types of foods is not healthy.

jcjsjones

When I was younger, my brother was an extremely picky eater. I always said when I had kids I wouldn't make two seperate meals. Now I have an 11 yo boy who is a picky eater (payback..lol). We have a rule in our house that you must at least have a little of everything that is fixed. It was really hard at first (he was probably 3-4, and fought me at every meal), but now he is really easy to deal with MOST OF THE TIME. We still have our hard days, and probably always will. I am really big on teaching my kids to be healthy eaters (there is hardly any junk food in my house, that's what Grandma's house if for..lol).

My son is now running for the middle school cross country team, so I am really pushing him to eat lots of veggies and lean protein. It's starting to backfire..lol! We go through 2 gallons of organic milk (can we say pricey?), and a tub of peanut butter a week!

Meg_78

I generally cook family meals, and unless I'm making something too spicy then we all eat the same, however, we are all pretty skinny so its ok for my family to be eating "my" type of meals which are healthy, but never intentionally low cal (I'm a gainer), so if I was eating a low cal diet then I would probably be doing things slightly different or at least adding extras to my kids meals to be sure they were getting the calories they need to be healthy.

My kids can be fussy, all I can do is keep giving them the same healthy choices (and not give in to whining, if you let them win once then its over!), some days they wont touch it though we have a rule that they have to at least taste everything on their plate, and some days they may go to be hungry cause they simply don't like that meal, but when given the opportunity to eat, a child will not stave....my kids don't crave crappy food cause I don't give it to them, We do have treats sometimes, but no, my kids don't seem to care all that much about it.