Children and food

Let them cook with you, if they help make it they are more inclined to eat it. Tell them actual facts about the healthy foods they are eating and how it can benefit them (more than just "you'll grow big and strong") When I told my 4 yr old that eating asparagus can make his pee green he suddenly couldn't get enough of it lol

We all are served the same food (unless mom and dad are having something my son is allergic to, obviously).

Everything goes on the plate. It might go on in a different format - if we have salads topped with chicken and soft-boiled egg, my son's salad will be small on the side and his chicken and egg will be separate. Or I will chop up stir fried veggies very small and mix them in with rice or soba noodles for my kid.

Eat or don't eat, I don't care, but what's on the plate is all there is. Sometimes he eats the veggies, sometimes he doesn't, but I'm not going to battle over it. My goal is not so much to get him to eat the vegetables today, it's to instill familiarity and habits for the future.

Codilee87 wrote: »

Let them cook with you, if they help make it they are more inclined to eat it. Tell them actual facts about the healthy foods they are eating and how it can benefit them (more than just "you'll grow big and strong") When I told my 4 yr old that eating asparagus can make his pee green he suddenly couldn't get enough of it lol

^^love this!

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

Perhaps give them a choice. Have some of veggie A or some of veggie B. If they feel they have some control, it can help. And when it comes to new foods - encourage them to try it, but perhaps don't overwhelm them with too many new foods at once.

this is what my wife and I do. And also keep in mind that substantial changes can be overwhelming for adults...imagine being a little kid.

I don't believe in sending a kid to bed hungry. I will put something on my 6 year old's plate that I know he will eat. Whether it is yogurt or apple sauce or another cut up fruit. Then I add stuff that is new or he's only had a couple of times. Just keep introducing a food and eventually it will be familiar to them. I just feel like life is too short to have a meltdown at dinner every night.

Also, maybe learn how they like their veggies. I recently discovered my 3 year old will eat almost any veggie raw, but only certain ones if they are cooked. My 2 year old won't eat anything unless it "looks" appetizing, or she sees my 3 year old eating it with gusto.
I don't punish them for not eating because they also go through phases where they eat everything at lunch but only pick at dinner, vis versa, or they are getting sick and off of food, or they hit a growth spurt and no food is safe, etc. I just go with the flow. I don't want them to be a member of the clean plate club like I am. I want them to learn to stop when they are full. But your right, I won't make them a separate meal but I do offer a healthy snack after dinner, especially for my younger one, if she didn't eat much. And I try to encourage my older one to take a bite of everything on her plate, but don't force her or argue about it.

Do not fight, making food a battle is a sure way to create food and weight issues.


I always told my kids, "this is a kitchen, NOT a restaurant. You don't like dinner? There's the kitchen, you may make a PBJ sandwich. That is all."

Children will eat vegetables in the presence of some sauce or dip of their choosing. You can choose how much of this sauce or dip ends up on the plate.

Just like when they were babies, don't add more than one new food in a week. Children don't deal well with change.

Know this, children will not choose to starve in the presence of food. Eventually they will try something new.

Do not let them make negative remarks at the table about any new foods, the other children listen and tend to take on the negative remark(s) as their own belief.

if i was a kid, i would TOTALLY skip veggies and new foods for fruit!

There's a difference between kids who have grown up to always eat what is served, and kids who are accustomed to mom or dad letting them be picky suddenly be told, okay, new rules, new regime. Especially if they were used to eating McDonald's or lots of snack or junk food, and suddenly they're being told that bacon's out, broccoli's in.

Kids don't handle drastic change well. They're going to be scared, confused and try to test their limits for a while. It's normal.

Also remember, just because you have certain weight loss goals doesn't mean that they share them. It's healthy to teach them to eat a balanced diet with lots of fruits, veggies and whole grains. It's not healthy to teach them to obsess over calories at such a young age. Be very aware of the messages that you're communicating.

Slow changes. Gradual shift. And make sure they're getting lots of the stuff you might avoid yourself, like full-fat dairy for their growing bones.

oh crap yes, let her eat what she wants for now! those meds, while they are killing cancer cells, kill a lot of other cells and make eating so incredibly difficult. please give her a pass until this whole ordeal is over and she is completely cancer free.

She pretty much gets anything she will eat at this point. Thanks for the thoughts. She is in remission and hopefully finishing treatment soon.

I've worked many years in childcare and babysitting, and have also worked with children who are fussy eaters due to sensory issues or other factors. Some tips:

- It can take some kids 12-20 tries of a new food to get used to it. Keep putting it on their plate, they may need to get used to the appearance, colour, smell, texture of the food before getting used to the taste.
- Introduce one new food at a time along with two familiar foods.
- Eat together as a family to model eating for your kids.
- keep it low pressure. If it turns into a fight they'll associate those foods with negativity.
- you can use some behaviour management techniques here. Reward good behaviour (lots of praise, a treat if they finish all or an agreed amount of dinner) rather than punishing bad behaviour.
- Cultivate a healthy attitude towards food putside of mealtimes. Take your kids grocery shopping and have them help you pick out veggies for dinner. Pick some easy meals like homemade pizzas they can help you cook. Get a bunch of grocery store catalogues and cooking magazines and make collages of different healthy foods. Comment on they healthy foods eaten by characters in tv or picture books.
- Don't force them to eat everything on the plate as it is important for kids to learn the difference between hunger and just wanting to eat a certain food. Sometimes the kids I look after will say they're not hungry but then ask for a treat - I say that if they're not hungry then they don't need a treat, if still hungry they can eat some more dinner then have a treat

This site has lots of good info about this topic. Essentially, it's the parents' responsibility to say when and what food is served. It is the child's responsibility to decide how much of that food they will choose to eat. Lots of good tips on here for dealing with picky eaters, too. For example, they suggest serving something like bread with every meal so that if the child chooses not to eat what has been prepared they still have something neutral to eat so they aren't starving. It helps avoid the drama until they get used to your new, healthier lifestyle.

http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/dor/divisionofresponsibilityinfeeding.php
http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/htf/howtofeed.php

i dont do food battles. period. my teens eat whatever they can find (literally!), my younger one refuses to eat beef in ANY form. okay. you dont like it. no biggie. eat something else those nights. he also doesn't care for most veggies, but will devour copious amounts of fresh fruit. i eat asparagus, he eats an apple. whatever.

he is very slowly adding more foods as he gets older. I'm good with that.

life is too short to spend it fighting. as long as they are eating a decently balanced diet, that's all that matters.

just my two cents