Picky eaters

force feed, Guantanamo style.

If you know foods that they like, rotate them, and keep trying to introduce new foods as much as you can.

I just point to the food and say "Eat it or starve." I don't believe in coddling children.

i was a picky eater (still am) and my parents did this. i survived.

My parents employed this trick on me and my four siblings. We'll eat just about anything now. My husband was coddled as a child to the point that meals were brought to his room if requested. There are MAYBE ten meals he will eat now and only one involves vegetables of any kind (excluding potatoes). Otherwise he flat out refuses.

/shrug

Everyone's different.

My sister let's them know that THIS is what we are having for dinner. If they pick at it and don't eat it, it gets put in the fridge for later. When they want a snack because they're hungry, they can eat that. It only took a couple of months before they realized that her kitchen is not a restaurant.

Buuut.... if you think that's mean.... you can always google some pictures of recipes with them and have them pick some out and help with the cooking. Kids are typically proud of the things they make and I'm sure they'd be more likely to eat if you did that.

Also, how young are they? I used to babysit a 3 year old girl and her dad told me not to worry if she doesn't eat her broccoli, she never eats anything green but he gives it to her anyway. She loved Disney princesses so I told her that it wasn't broccoli, it was princess trees. She didn't even ask what princess trees were... she just ate it up.

I've been a picky eater my whole life. I suggest serving food plain and let the child add what they want. For example, I eat my potatoes plain with some pepper or cheese. I eat plain peanut butter sandwiches, hotdogs, etc. I don't like butter or sour cream , mustard, ketchup, mayo. I hate salad dressing and eat salads plain with a little cheese sprinkled on top. Barbeque sauce is nasty, but dry rubs and marinades are good. One of my favorites is grilled chicken breast marinated in a mesquite and zesty herb marinade. Yum! If they won't eat vegetables on something like burgers or tacos, give them the option of a side salad. Instead of a pile of vegetables at every dinner, try them mixed into the dish. Chili is good, or stew. Cheesy chicken and rice casserole with vegetables in it. I use Garden Delight spaghetti noodles for spaghetti. My grandmother used to make a crockpot roast and serve it with green beans she'd cook with a little bacon fat. I loved it and used to beg her to make her "stringy beef" when I went to visit. The green beans weren't my favorite, but they were good and a non-negotiable part of the meal.

I believe in letting kids choose what to eat and how much. I control their choices but they still get the choice and I make the interaction as drama free as possible.

I was raised in a strict disciplinarian environment regarding food and eating my veggies. I was actually beaten over it. A lot. It messed me up in a lot of ways. I dreaded meal times and so would eat between meals to avoid them them without hunger. Developed a lot of bad habits and attitudes.

More importantly, I discovered after 48 years of misery (eating veggies I learned to love but suffering for it) that I have a disease called hyperoxaluria that actually makes veggies/fruits/beans/whole grains/nuts (all those things I eventually trained myself to love because they were so "good" for me) ... bad for me after all. Cause a lot of problems for me. Very high risk of serious illness/death if I eat them the way I was "trained" to eat them.

I have to severely limit them for my health. My body was trying to tell me from a very young age what my body needed and didn't need. I wasn't allowed to listen to it and I suffered a lot of health consequences as a result.

Not everything is about control and discipline.

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." (Stacia Tauscher)

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." (Stacia Tauscher)

I love this quote. I also like to remind myself that children are a work in progress and thus do not resemble the adult that they will be. Lots of childhood issues will simply be outgrown at the end of it.

I don't make separate meals, but I make sure there is at least one thing my kid likes in the meal. They have to at least try the "yucky" stuff at each meal, just a few bites, then they can say "no thank you." Either they will develop a taste for it over time, or they will not, but at least they are willing to try new things. I don't want them feeling like they have to eat every bit of food put in front of them or that they don't have control over what they put in their own bodies. They do pretty well when it comes to the variety of foods they will eat. I was raised in a "you're not leaving the table until you eat _______" house, and it was not pleasant. Nor did it solve the issue; I still hate lima beans.

Yea .. this works. My parents didn't run a restaurant either ... we ate what was on our plates. Or we sat there til we ate it .. my sister sat there for hours sometimes. Kids are just kids and sometimes they are just being stupid for the sake of being difficult. I personally don't agree with sucking up to kids .. and later in life they will be better eaters cause of it.

most of us are here, because we are 'good' eaters. In reality, population statistics show that most adults could do with being a bit more picky and not finishing their plate of whatever they are given.

I just point to the food and say "Eat it or starve." I don't believe in coddling children.

i was a picky eater (still am) and my parents did this. i survived.

I have a friend who's parents did this. She is still recovering from the eating disorder it triggered.