Grrrrrrrr! My child is a Nutella Monster!
Charlie003
Posts: 1,333 Member
in Recipes
My two year old refuses to eat anything but Nutella. Forced him to sit at the table for an hour until he ate his supper. Did not budge. Do anyone know of meals that all kids like.
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My daughter bleeds nutella!0
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I'm a Nutella Monster too!
But macaroni & cheese with fish sticks and pizza still win out.0 -
Your son has great taste! Bodes well for later in life
My mom fed me buttered biscuits and peanut butter pancakes... tho that didn't lead to healthy things for me lol0 -
And that stuff aint cheap!0
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2 yr. olds are tough, but the good thing is they can't go to the store. If you don't bring it into the house he'll forget about it and when he's hungry he'll eat. Just give him healthier options.
http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/0 -
My son has always loved anything with cheese (broccoli and cheese, mac n cheese, etc) and things with dip (chicken breast with bbq sauce, cucumbers with salad dressing, etc). What about those things? Also, try making things in fun shapes--like a heart or circle. Good Luck, stay consistent and they will be fine. Worse case, perhaps you can use bribery : If you eat your dinner you can have nutella with pretzel sticks for dessert. 0
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Nutella is definitely awesome :-) (my kids favorite breakfast is nutella-stuffed pancakes). However, beware too much of this sinfully delicious awesomeness- check out the first listed ingredient...... SUGAR!0
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Try compromise...tell him if he eates 5 bites of dinner, he can have two bites of Nutella..and if when he finishes more..he can have more nutella. It worked with my kids when all they wanted was yogurt for dinner! I would let them have it at the table as a "side" dish.. don't get caught up in the "kid food" either..it will be another hard habit to break. If he eates what you eat now..he always will and he won't be filled with all that processed junk that they promote for kids! Good Luck!0
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The clean up is a pain too. Espicially if he is wearing shorts. Somtimes it looks like he bathed in it.0
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my kids were extremely fussy as toddlers - and it can become a very emotional battle as you desperately want them to eat healthy, and they are bound and determined to show you they are the boss.
Have put that long behind, as my kids are now teenagers, so here is the wisdom I can share:
No child has ever starved to death if there is a wide variety of delicious, healthy food available for them to eat.
It might seem like they will try to starve - but hunger will absolutely bring them to eat. Put out whole grain toast with peanut butter, a variety of fruit and yogurt, scrambled eggs, cheese and milk. If the child refuses to eat, don't make a scene, just clear the table, and re-offer the same healthy choices a few hours later.
Trust me - you will win this one - and the sooner you do, the sooner you launch your children on a path of healthy eating choices - so they don't end up on MFP with a weight problem when they are adults! :laugh:0 -
You should at least switch to a healthier brand of hazelnut spread, like Jason's. Nutella is mostly sugar.0
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A toddler will not starve rather than get the food they want. They don't yet have the metal capacity to stage a hunger strike. This child is playing a control game and nothing else. He may complain loudly, but ultimately he will eat what is provided. If you want him to stop eating so much Nutella. Stop providing so much Nutella.0
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"Candy-lope" (canteloupe), chicken breast or nuggets, mac & cheese, pea pods, Gorton's tilapia won over my friend's picky eater this weekend.
Basically, continue to eat yummy things in front of him, and he'll get curious about this or that. If eating or not eating becomes a punishable offense, it may lead to other issues later on.
He'll eat when he's hungry--just keep offering things every once in a while and something will "take". "Sorry, Sweetie, we don't have any more Nutella--how about peanut butter apples?"
Good luck--my friends with picky eaters share your frustration.0 -
MY son is still at the run into walls and fall down stairs phase. Complete Id complex. No negoiations. Plus, he will force himself to throw up if I let him cry. Little Bastered has me by the short hairs.0
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That's why my 2-year-old has never tasted Nutella. They can't refuse to eat everything else if they don't know what they're missing out on in the first place.0
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Bump0
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You can take a hard line approach. No more nutella...
Offer your child his meals...any food is kid friendly! When he is hungry, he will eat, if he isn't hungry, he won't eat. Kids are simple like that. Just keep simple rules, food at table, no juice or milk in between meals, offer water, and offer nutritious snacks through the day.
I wouldn't force him to stay at table though until he eats, that is going to cause you more issues.
Two years old can survive on only a 1/2 a sandwhich a day, so each meal only a few bites is going to be enough food, so don't force the issue. They also tend to want and eat the same food every day, that is normal. By introducing different foods, slowly with the foods he likes, that is the way to expand his palate. Don't make an issue over any foods whether he likes it or not, keep it low key and casual. That way food and eating doesn't' become a power issue between the 2 of you.0 -
Hunger is a wonderful motivator. And, to be honest, your kitchen shouldn't be a cafeteria.
Set a reasonable am't of time on a timer, and if the meal you've prepared for your child isn't eaten by the time it's buzzing,
remove the plate and that's the last opportunity he/she has to eat till breakfast. No snacks, not making something different,
especially not serving treats.
I can pretty much GUARANTEE he/she will be eating just about anything you serve for breakfast.0 -
MY son is still at the run into walls and fall down stairs phase. Complete Id complex. No negoiations. Plus, he will force himself to throw up if I let him cry. Little Bastered has me by the short hairs.
He is 2 years old, you are the parent...so what if he cries and throws up. If you calmly ignore it, and just clean him up he will get over it. It takes about 3 days to break a habit in a young one ...so you have 3 days of hell and then it will be over. But you are the one in charge, not him.
I would cut out all nutella right now and go on from there.0 -
my 3 yr old grandson eats what the adults eat... just toned down. ANd he loves spicy foods, and dips!!!
He loves nutella too, but thats his dessert or sweet treat.. not his meal.
He loves salad, broccolli, cauliflower, anything green..
and he loves his spaghettis too!!!!
He has a texture issue though so he won't eat certain things like jello, or puddings... anything congealed.... lol!!!
and he won't eat peaches... cuz of fuzz!!! But I would not call that finicky...
You have a chance to take control here, or let the child control it.
Dont make food a battle ground either.
Its your way or be hungry..
They will figure out who is boss soon enough...and you determine if it is you or the child.0 -
If the nutella isn't there in a few days he will have forgotten about it. He'll cry and kick off at first, that's the part you gotta grit your teeth for, but after that it's broken record technique "oh honey we don't have any nutella but you can have this/that/the other".0
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All kids like not being forced to sit at the table to eat something that someone else has told them to eat.
It's ALL about independence and boundary pushing at this age. Your son is two. Don't give him nutella.
Offer a range of healthy foods. We keep a fruit bowl available all the time so they can graze on what they want. Offer a range of 'picky' things for some meals - chopped up cucumber / carrot / pepper / celery; halved cherry tomatoes, breadsticks, cubes of cheese, hummus or something else to dip into. Make a range of interesting textures.
Put things on a central plate and let your child help themselves to their own size portion.
We all have days where we feel hungry & days when we just don't want to eat as much. Having someone else pick your portion size can be overwhelming. I've even gone as far as making it a game, only putting a single piece of pasta on a plate and told them they can have some more if hungry.
Try letting your child eat what he wants for a week (disclaimer, you choose the foods to provide) I find lots of children self regulate with normal food, only processed food really needs to be controlled. Some days, or even weeks, they can be all about the carbs, some weeks all about protein. It's hard but a lot of it can be trying to get a reaction. Don't react. No cajoling, no "well done" no food games. Provide food and remove what isn't eaten.0 -
You should at least switch to a healthier brand of hazelnut spread, like Jason's. Nutella is mostly sugar.
I completely agree with this. Nutella seems awesome, but we only allowed it as a rare snack, not an everyday thing. My children went through that attempt at being picky eaters. I say attempt because I squashed that ASAP. If they didn't eat, they didn't eat, but I let them know that what they were served was what we were having. No way I would be a short order cook in my own house cooking a different meal for everyone. It's the same way for us. If they don't like something.... I ask them to try it. If they can eat a good portion of it, then great... if they refuse to eat, then they can sit quietly until everyone is done. We don't play around with the rules in my house and I won't bend my rules to any child. I'm the parent and I act accordingly. Now, I have great eaters! They help me shop and beg for asparagus and brussel sprouts and homemade chicken nuggets over McDonalds or Chik-fil-A.... they just needed the guidance to understand that the pretty packaging or what might seem like the best tasting stuff isn't the ONLY good stuff out there. I've heard you have to introduce a new food to a small child 15-20 different times before they get accustomed to it and can discern whether they actually like it or not.0 -
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He is 2 years old, you are the parent...so what if he cries and throws up. If you calmly ignore it, and just clean him up he will get over it. It takes about 3 days to break a habit in a young one ...so you have 3 days of hell and then it will be over. But you are the one in charge, not him.
I would cut out all nutella right now and go on from there.
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Love this I may try this with my son who is a sugar junkie0 -
My son has always loved anything with cheese (broccoli and cheese, mac n cheese, etc) and things with dip (chicken breast with bbq sauce, cucumbers with salad dressing, etc). What about those things? Also, try making things in fun shapes--like a heart or circle. Good Luck, stay consistent and they will be fine. Worse case, perhaps you can use bribery : If you eat your dinner you can have nutella with pretzel sticks for dessert.
I used to have to make shapes/letters (anything) out of the food to encourage my eldest to eat some things.
But I also find bribery works for me! My youngest (3) will clear his plate with a promise of ice cream - doesn't matter what ice cream either so I have stared buying frozen yoghurt ones with less fat & sugar and he loves them!0 -
Try chocolate milk; tastes great and has calcium, protein, calories, and fat.0
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That's all my 12 year old son wants from the grocery store is Nutella!0
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I'm not a mum, so I guess it's easy to give this advice when I've never experienced living with a fussy kid but I was a fussy kid myself and soooo wish my mum had taken the hard line approach with me.
I, like most kids, liked junk food, crisps, chips, fish fingers, baked beans, chocolate, processed rubbish and because I would be awkward and moan if my mum tried to give me anything else, she took the route of mostly giving in to me and letting me have the processed rubbish. Roll on a whole childhood of being chubby and then being a fat adult which I'm not trying to fight! I still don't like a lot of vegetables and I'm sure if my mum had forced me to eat them as a kid, I'd have acquired a taste for them by now. Instead I find myself having to try to train myself to acquire these tastes as an adult while recording calories here trying to get my weight in check.
I can imagine it will be tough saying no to your kid, who you love and want to be happy but in the long wrong you'll be doing him a huge favour. Just get rid of the Nutella, provide him with healthy food and make it plain that that is all there is. Don't break one day and give him some Nutella just 'cause you can't be bothered with the fight that day or whatever because if he knows that you've broken once, he'll know there's a chance that he can break you again and he'll just continue with the fussy behaviour. Stick to your guns and he'll thank you for it when he's older. Good luck!0 -
Try chocolate milk; tastes great and has calcium, protein, calories, and fat.
um....and about as much sugar as Nutella!0 -
Try compromise...tell him if he eates 5 bites of dinner, he can have two bites of Nutella..and if when he finishes more..he can have more nutella. It worked with my kids when all they wanted was yogurt for dinner! I would let them have it at the table as a "side" dish.. don't get caught up in the "kid food" either..it will be another hard habit to break. If he eates what you eat now..he always will and he won't be filled with all that processed junk that they promote for kids! Good Luck!
This! But also, I read somewhere ages ago that kids need to be introduced to new foods up to ten times before they will accept it (and it doesn't always mean they have to eat it). I couldn't possibly cite this (I read it so long ago and had no reason to keep it), but basically it said put a very small portion of a new item on your kids plate. Answer questions about it if they ask, but otherwise don't make a big deal about it being there. If they don't eat it, they don't eat it. Put it on their plate another time. By the third or fourth time, because they see you eating it, but you're not making a big deal about them eating it or not, most kids will try it. If they don't like it, it may just be because it's a new taste. Continue to put a small amount on their plate for a while. Eventually, they will either dismiss it altogether or try it again until they adapt. I've actually found this has even worked for me as an adult (trying just a bite of something I don't care for every time I encounter it). I am not eating lots of new foods I never ate as a child, teen or young adult.0
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