I need ideas on how to get my picky eaters to eat healthy. My friends and sisters all seem to have children that will eat what is put in front of them. Why won't mine? Cooking is definitely not my forte`, but I have to find a way to get my boys to eat better. The 4 yr old will eat meats and sometimes eggs, but will hardly eat vegetables. The 3 yr old will eat fruit and some vegetables but hardly any meat or eggs! My littlest guy thinks PB&J is a valid food group. While on baby food they both ate anything that was put in front of them. So at first I thought texture was the issue, or too spicy, too bland, but now I'm just not so sure. I offer foods over and over again to no avail. Getting them to try anything new is next to impossible. And "hiding" good food like broccoli or cauliflower, etc in something they will eat has not been effective.
I did go through this with my oldest kiddo, and followed the advice of Dr.s and Moms that said he will get what he needs and eat when he is hungry. I'm happy to say he eats better at 21 yrs old then when he did at 4 or 5, but he is still oh so very picky.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Wow!! Thank you to everyone for all the great advice. Some of the suggestions I have already tried, and others are so simple I feel like a dunce for not having thought of them myself. I will use all of the suggestions til I find the ones that work best for my little "monsters"..oops I meant ANGELS!! Also if anyone has a used copy of "How To Get Kids to Eat Great and Love It!" by Christine Wood, M.D., or the "Deceptively Delicious" or "The Sneaky Chef" that you would like to sell please drop me a line.
Thanks again for all your help!!
You can make funny faces out of their food. You really need to start cooking though. Go and get the book "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. It's all about healthy cooking and sneaking veggies. It's really great. She also has little bits of advice through the book on how to teach table manners and get them to eat what you want them to.
You'll Love it
I don't know how many responses you have gotten to your "picky eater" problem, but here is what I chose to do about mine. I breastfed both of my boys and when I couldn't do that anymore I switched them to the toddler formula. I realize that your boys are past that point now and so are mine. My mother-in-law wanted me to keep the nutrition up after the formula stopped so she suggested that I give them OVALTINE. They drink two 8 oz. servings a day (for breakfast and lunch) which keeps me from having to wonder did they get all of their nutrients in for the day. We have also discovered that the V8 V-FUSION fruit/vegetable juice goes over very well with the boys as well. They get one 8 oz. serving a day (for dinner). All the rest of their liquid intake for the rest of the day is water. Between the two of them and the drinks I have the peace of mind knowing they may be getting optimal nutrition and all that they take in through their food is just a bonus (and surprisingly enough they do actually eat REAL food more often than not). It works for us and might work for you!?!
Best thing I did for my 'picky' eaters was to fix foods that were healthy, even if they only ate a few foods. One and 1/2 tablespoons of peanut butter is considered a protein. Get jelly that doesn't have all the sugar. If they fill up on bread, chips, drinks before they eat the 'healthy' food that they are picky about, then leave those for last, or at least for midway thru meal...or in small amounts. Make french toast w/ eggs...make zuchinni bread with that squash; make raw carrots fun to eat with a little dip and by calling them 'nature's toothbrush', use pizzas for cheese, meet and veggie 'hiding'. Don't push, put a little bit of everything on a plate. Keep offering though...foods they don't want, but don't push it on them. No snacks too close to meals, but good choices when they do snack. Let them help prepare foods. Realize that we do not all like some foods. My grown son would not eat a salad till college. So then it was his choice and he made a good one!
Hi P. G
I just got a great cookbook written by Jerry Sienfled's wife Jessica. It's titled Deceptively Delicious ISBN 978-0-06-125134-4. My eight yr old daughter got it for me as a birthday present. It has great reciepes and uses purees to hide the veggies. Hope this helps!!!!!
M.
hey girl, i think we all have this problem at one time or another. but we can't force our kids to do anything or eat anything. what i do with my two little ones, who only eat hotdogs and mac and cheese, is i offer, offer, offer it. we usually have something that they will eat like mac and cheese, or beans, or something that i know they like. but we also have other things that my husband and i like. they eat it or they don't but they have to try it atleast. my daughter has started eating other things like rice, potatoes (that aren't fried) and green beans, only because i kept introducing it over and over.
i wish you luck, i know it is a battle. but it is true. they will eat when they are hungry!!!
have a wonderful day!!
D. Mattern-Muck
The MOM Team
Raise your income and your rugrats at the same time!
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I too have this problem with my little ones but thought I couldn't do anything about it because I'm just as picky as they are! However, I ordered the Deceptively Delicious cookbook and The Sneaky Chef one - because I'm desperate myself! I just got the books in last night and looked through the Deceptively Delicious one first - because it came with more pictures. I like to see what the recipe is going to look like because, being picky myself, if it don't look good - I ain't eating it! LOL - But I have to say that I'm really surpised at how many recipes were in there that actually looked good and judging by the amount of vegetable puree involved and the combination of other ingredients - they just might work! We'll never know the difference! I only scanned the index of the other one because it was so late. There are a few of the same foods in each book but there are enough different ones to make it worth having both books. I can't wait to try them out!
I got my girls their own apron and chef's hat and they help prepare a healthy meal with me. They are much more inclined to eat what they have helped prepare. They help me snap the green beans, dip the chicken into the breadcrubs, turn on the oven light, put the vegetables into the wok for a stir-fry, etc. We make it fun and they in turn enjoy cooking and eating healthy food.
Prepare their meal, if they don't eat then no snacks. If they won't eat a glass of milk and bed - they will be hungry for breakfast. I went through this with our eldest daughter, I turned into a short order cook until an older friend stepped in and basically said "what are you doing?!". I followed her advice and I have to say our daughter only went hungry one time and now all 4 of them are great eaters - they eat whatever you put in front of them regardless if they like it or not. The older one trained the other ones really. They may say after the meal "that was not my favorite" or "I did not prefer that dish" but they are not allowed to say "I don't like that" "that tasted bad" or make any ugly faces. We require respect of the cook around here. If they are ugly, they know a glass of milk and early bed time is their reward for being nasty tempered. All are well, healthy and most of the time very respectful about meal time. Good luck. A little tough love is what we needed. It may or may not work for you. PS: Remove all food groups that you do not consider to be healthy and only give options that you do. But....homemade wheat bread made with your own fresh ground organic wheat, with organic peanut butter and jam made with fruit juice instead of sugar...is a healthy meal, just add some al dente carrot sticks or peas to the mix and you will have a well rounded dish!
try smoothies!
You can sweeten them with fruit and add veggies in there, it works for me!
Dear P.,
You might want to consider getting a recipe book called... Deceptively Delicious (it written by Jerry Seinfeld's wife). She had made different items, brownie, chicken fingers, etc (you get the idea) and while cooking it, puts in cooked carrots, brocoli, etc (she steams it and purees it).
She was on Oprah and Oprah tried several items and couldn't take the whatever (ok, she did notice a hint of something) but all was delicious.
Hope this helps.
S.
The best way is to model what you want, which means you eat healthy too. They see you eating exactly what they are eating. Now having said that, my husband & I tend to eat lots of salads. I can't really see a 2&3 year old digging in to one, so I tend to give them the matchstick carrots like i put in our salad on their plate and I give a small drop of ranch dressing for them to dip it in. I give fresh cut tomatoes, cucumbers, brocoli etc. the same way, but my kids always want what is off my plate, so I just started saying things like, " you wouln't like this. No you don't want this, it is grown up food." Well, it took like 4-5 minutes and he was begging me for salad. I gave him a bite all the while saying he wasn't going to like it and even said he was going to spit it out becasue he was too young to like it. Well, he just had to prove me wrong that he was a big boy and now he eats salad like a rabbit! My husband can't even believe it. He eats my salad that has olives, pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, 4 kinds of lettuce (iceburg, romaine, sweet butter, & spinich) & croutins with a small amount of cheese & ranch dressing. My daughter some him swallowing it up and came to try it and now she is hooked as well. I know see lots more veggies disappear from their plates. I do tend to chop it all up small so that a bite isn't a mouthful for them and it seems to help. I don't offer or give my kids fries or candy or junk at home. They kow that is stuff you get when you are out and about and it makes it that much more special to go out. So, when they go to granny's house they get all the junk and love every minute of it. I let them have treats as rewards outside of the home, but I don't bring it in the home. I don't eat junk at home either. No soda for me No cake or dessert either. Moderation is the key. Good luck hope this helps.
