So what do the kids eat...?

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  • Lyerin
    Lyerin Posts: 818 Member
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    I agree with the folks talking about kids' nutritional needs. I have a 9 year old DD who is a competitive cheerleader, meaning she does a ton of gymnastics, dance, etc. She needs to eat a variety of healthy foods. I may limit my cheese, but I'm not going to tell her she can't have a snack involving cheese, as long as it's good cheese. Same for my 4 year old son who is consistently at the bottom of the growth chart for weight. Last night he wanted yogurt as a side with dinner. Okay by me. He had cheese as a snack afterwards. Okay. Then an apple. Okay too.
  • pkinblue
    pkinblue Posts: 140 Member
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    While I do buy things I won't eat for the kids (Goldfish, chips, juice, frozen waffles) in general the kids are expected to eat what I make--only I don't worry too much about their portions--except for the chips. We only have ice cream on a special occasion and if they are jonesing for sweets I make cake in a cup so there is none for me to eat. Or they eat a banana with choc. syrup on it. We talk a lot about how to eat balanced meals--and how to eat to prepare for a long day of sports and they help me make their lunches so we talk about balance there too. As they are both lean and growing (10 and 12) if they are still hungry I help them find healthy, filling snacks between meals. If there ever is a meal they just hate they can make a meat & Cheese sandwich as an alternative so they don't do a midnight raid on the potato chips.
  • laele75
    laele75 Posts: 283 Member
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    i have never understood the "my kid will only eat __insert bad food here__". you are the parent. you make the rules. when i was growing up you ate what was served or you didn't eat. my mom very rarely cooked but a couple of times a year she would make bean soup. i hated it! hated! we ate it for a week. that means for a solid week i ate cornbread because there was cornbread to go with the bean soup. that said, i would kill for a bowl of my mom's bean soup now! not to mention, why would you let you child eat things that you deem unhealthy for you to eat.

    also, i would wager the children of south america probably would disagree that children won't eat quinoa ;-)

    For most children, this is true. For mine, it is not. My son will refuse to eat period if I try to force him to eat anything. For days. His appetite is abnormal and has been all of his life. While he is an exception, you are being extremely harsh and judgmental of others. I can tell you from experience most children will react the way you did, which is very hard for a parent. When you're child will not eat, refuses to eat, it is extremely hard on a parent. You feel terrible, especially when the behavior persists when you know the child is hungry.

    Children's palate is different than adults. It hasn't matured yet. That means you have to make things towards their palate as the child who will eat anything is pretty rare. (In my family, out of five grandkids, only one will eat everything you put in front of her). Calling people who have decided to not push food on their children bad parents is unfair and wrong. Pushing food on your children is the fastest way to make them not eat. It is much better for everyone to introduce new food slowly. That is responsible parenting. Not "You will eat this or go hungry." That's just setting up your child to be a poor eater in the future, because now they have total control when you never gave them any input. The way your parents did things was not always right.
  • samcat2000
    samcat2000 Posts: 106 Member
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    i have never understood the "my kid will only eat __insert bad food here__". you are the parent. you make the rules. when i was growing up you ate what was served or you didn't eat. my mom very rarely cooked but a couple of times a year she would make bean soup. i hated it! hated! we ate it for a week. that means for a solid week i ate cornbread because there was cornbread to go with the bean soup. that said, i would kill for a bowl of my mom's bean soup now! not to mention, why would you let you child eat things that you deem unhealthy for you to eat.

    also, i would wager the children of south america probably would disagree that children won't eat quinoa ;-)

    For most children, this is true. For mine, it is not. My son will refuse to eat period if I try to force him to eat anything. For days. His appetite is abnormal and has been all of his life. While he is an exception, you are being extremely harsh and judgmental of others. I can tell you from experience most children will react the way you did, which is very hard for a parent. When you're child will not eat, refuses to eat, it is extremely hard on a parent. You feel terrible, especially when the behavior persists when you know the child is hungry.

    Children's palate is different than adults. It hasn't matured yet. That means you have to make things towards their palate as the child who will eat anything is pretty rare. (In my family, out of five grandkids, only one will eat everything you put in front of her). Calling people who have decided to not push food on their children bad parents is unfair and wrong. Pushing food on your children is the fastest way to make them not eat. It is much better for everyone to introduce new food slowly. That is responsible parenting. Not "You will eat this or go hungry." That's just setting up your child to be a poor eater in the future, because now they have total control when you never gave them any input. The way your parents did things was not always right.

    TOTALLY AGREE!! Thank you!

    And speaking to other posters comments about portion size for kids, I don't control that at all. I let him eat how much he wants to eat (as long as there is some left and if there's not we find something else)...the kid is sprouting like a bean and I would not put any limitation on his portion sizes.
  • ktully93
    ktully93 Posts: 160 Member
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    Bump to follow.
  • aeg176
    aeg176 Posts: 171 Member
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    I have been stuggling with this. I have a picky 2yr old and for awhile I was making an alternative to what I ate so he would eat. This child hasn't cooperatively eaten a vegatable for me since he started feeding himself. I have stopped with the variations and if he doesn't like what cook for dinner the most he will get is a cup of milk so his stomach isn't empty. Still experimenting with hiding the veggies and I have been a little more successful but I am very happy for vitamins and pediasure sidekicks otherwise I don't know where my son would be nutritionally. Sidenote: a few weeks back I made turkey meatballs and spaghetti(veggie pasta) and he ate it up like it was going to be taken away from him so I am trying to be patient and hope he will be out if this phase sooner than later.
  • MommaChocoLatte
    MommaChocoLatte Posts: 389 Member
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    My kids will pretty much eat anything I make. I don't make separate meals. We do ask that they at least try something a few times before they decide they dont like it and if after that they still dont like it, then we dont push.

    I also have a child with Aspergers and the medication he takes promotes weight gain (its an anti-depressant) and the other night he told us he wanted to eat healthier because he was tired of being fat. He's nine. So I do try to monitor his intake as much as I can when he eats at home.
  • suzieqsmart
    suzieqsmart Posts: 47
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    My daughter is almost 2 and she eats everything I eat. So does my husband. They both love quinoa and all the veggies and fruits. One of her favorite snacks is chunks of avocado.

    I don't prepare seperate meals, however, sometimes if there is leftovers, I will let them eat that and I'll opt for a salad or something light. I do still buy the snacks but I've noticed that they disappear a LOT slower now that the snacking isn't a "family ritual".
  • run_way
    run_way Posts: 220
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    If your making the decision to eat for your health, why would you not feed your children healthy as well??? My kids eat what I eat if I eat salad so do they, they may have some snacks that I dont eat but as for their main meals we all eat the same. Why make myself a healthy meal and then make them a meal thats less healthy???

    x2

    I make my morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack at the same time I'm preparing my daughter's and she basically gets a mini version of what I am eating with some exceptions such as whole milk instead of 1% or almond milk, classic yogurt instead of nonfat greek, etc.

    ETA: I don't feed her "diet" food, I feed her things that are nutritionally dense. Also, since I tend to lean toward a higher protein/lower carb diet I usually add extra things to hers to add more carbs and supplement what she needs that my meal might be missing.
  • manda1978
    manda1978 Posts: 525 Member
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    I have a very fussy 3yo so I might make some minor adjustments. Sure I serve her salad etc but I know she will not eat it. A typical meal would be steak and salad, she'll eat the steak. Grilled chicken and veg is another one, I will crumb her chicken so its like nuggets and oven bake them. I'll sometimes add a small roll or slice of bread to her meal.

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