Picky eaters

[ibkiss]

Does anyone have any tricks for dealing with picky kids? He is 10 years old and wants to live on hot dogs and Nutella. Anyone tried any successful techniques for curbing pickiness?

 

[caseydog]

When I was a kid, I ate what was put in front of me, or I didn't eat. I'm not a fan of making kids eat something they genuinely don't like, but you can't let them dictate the menu.

A lot of it is in their heads, too. Kids will often say they don't like something that they have never even tried.

CD

 

[Dawgluver]

Take him shopping with you, and let him pick some stuff out. Steer him past the hot dog and Nutella aisles. Then let him help prepare it.

No worries. Kids are not going to starve. My brother ate nothing but carrots dipped in ketchup along with a few other things for years, and he's 6'8”.

 

[rodentraiser]

All I know is I wouldn't force him. I was the pickiest eater bar none when I was younger and I was forced to eat so many foods I didn't like. And when I left home, I still didn't eat those foods.

There's still a lot of foods I don't eat, but I now eat Chinese, Italian, and Mexican food (something my mother won't do) and since I've been cooking, I've found a whole bunch more food that I like. I don't eat things like sauerkraut or liver or spinach or cooked carrots, but on my last visit home, I realized I ate more different foods than my mother (and she's the one who always called me a picky eater).

There might be a couple things to encourage his eating some different things. I don't know if they'd work. One thing is see if he's open to growing a small garden. Fruits and vegetables from grocery stores are bland and tasteless, nothing compared to what they taste like when they're fresh picked. I personally won't eat any strawberries, blueberries (except frozen), corn, or any other vegetable unless I get it at the Farmer's Market. It's like the difference between eating something delicious and eating cardboard. Maybe he could be encouraged to take care of a "grazer's" garden.

Another thing that might help is getting him really, really hungry - say a lot of activity and a very late dinner. When you're really hungry, your mind starts to see possible eats in every kind of food, even something you may not have previously considered eating. It's why people lost in the woods can eat things like raw rabbits and rattlesnakes.

Maybe take him for a long 6 hour drive somewhere and let him eat at about 10pm, and only offer the stuff he hasn't eaten before. It might work.

See if he's interested in helping you make anything for dinner. Let him actually look at the recipes (with big pictures) and maybe he'll be interested enough to help you cook something and having cooked it, might eat it.

Does he have any friends who eat different foods? Because maybe seeing them eat different foods might make him want to try something different as well. Peer pressure is a wondrous thing sometimes.

Also, he might be a super taster. To people who are super tasters (I am one), bitter things taste more bitter (vegetables and coffee, for example) and sweet things taste too sweet (he might prefer potato chips over chocolate). That might be something to take into account when expecting him to eat certain things.

Anyway, good luck and let us know how he fares.

 

[medtran49]

Not going to help you, but my daughter has pretty much given up on the 10 year old GD. She'll only eat things like chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese, chip type things (though will eat some of the veggie chips), little bagel bite type frozen thingys and the mini quiches. A little more varied than yours, but not by much. She absolutely refuses to eat beef (not even a burger), pork (other than bacon and pepperoni occasionally) or shrimp. Eats very little chicken, other than nuggets. A family friend gets her to try different foods by being firm that when she eats a meal with them she has to try 1 bite of at least 1 new thing each time, but that only works at their house because good manners have been instilled in her. My daughter tried, if you don't eat what's on your plate, you won't eat. Didn't work. She just didn't eat at all those nights, didn't whine about it either, just went about her business like normal after dinner. Course she ate a huge breakfast the next mornings.

The other GD, 14, went through that when she was little but thankfully grew out of it quickly and now is willing to try just about anything. When she comes to stay with us, we always take her out to different restaurants. Took her to a Korean place we had been wanting to try 1 of the last times she was with us and she tried every single 1 of the banchan, even liked a couple that I didn't.

Their dad is a picky eater too. Won't eat cheese in or on anything, or anything with a cream/milk-based sauce. And by cheese, I mean real cheese. He'll eat cheeze whiz, cheetos and those smoky over processed cheese ball things you can buy. He will eat pizza and ice cream though.

 

[Addie]

My youngest daughter hated everything. So for her birthday, I bought her a cookbook for kids. She was so excited. She wanted to cook every dish in it. There was one rule. Whatever she cooked, she had to eat. Or I would take the book away from her. I even ended up buying small utensils that fit in her hand. A lot of it didn't require cooking. Some of them called for just canned goods. Like mixing two different Campbell soups together. She never did learn to like peas. But she learned to love Split Pea Soup. (Thanks to Campbell Soup.) When she ran out of foods and dishes in that book, she wanted another one. Off to the bookstore we headed. By now she was old enough to handle a small knife that would fit in her hand safely.

By the time she had a home of her own, she was a fantastic cook. She was often the cook for family holiday meals. The whole family misses her cooking.

 

[ibkiss]

My youngest daughter hated everything. So for her birthday, I bought her a cookbook for kids. She was so excited. She wanted to cook every dish in it. There was one rule. Whatever she cooked, she had to eat. Or I would take the book away from her. I even ended up buying small utensils that fit in her hand. A lot of it didn't require cooking. Some of them called for just canned goods. Like mixing two different Campbell soups together. She never did learn to like peas. But she learned to love Split Pea Soup. (Thanks to Campbell Soup.) When she ran out of foods and dishes in that book, she wanted another one. Off to the bookstore we headed. By now she was old enough to handle a small knife that would fit in her hand safely.



By the time she had a home of her own, she was a fantastic cook. She was often the cook for family holiday meals. The whole family misses her cooking.

Thanks so much for all the replies. I definitely am going to try some of those. He does deal with hyper sensitivity so that could be part of it as well. Hopefully one day he will grow out of it! Thanks gain!!!

 

[blissful]

Sorry for being late to the party.

I met two middle aged women where I worked, both had dark circles under their eyes, I'm guessing from lack of nutrition. Both professed they hated all vegetables and never ate any. The reasons for not eating them were similar. Their parent forced them to eat things they hated as a child and the trauma of bad feelings about that 'forcing', made them think of it every time the decision came up about whether to eat or not eat vegetables. So forcing kids to eat things they don't want can't be good for their long term best interest.

I had three kids, and we gardened together and when the vegetables were ripe, they picked them and ate them right there, peas, carrots, tomatoes. My young son 'invented fruit juice' one day picking berries smushing them, into a glass, with some sugar. "Look mom, I invented fruit juice." Another son loved the chives, the chives come back every year and they taste like a mild onion. So 2 of the 3 had the gardening bug and still do now as adults.

Cooking with kids gives them ownership in the product, so if you can involve them in cooking, they'll be eating those things. Kabobs of meat, vegetables, pineapple chunks, was always fun. One child became a baker of the house as he went into his 20's and now is a deli manager for a large grocery store. One child took a course at the college level in making sandwiches and won a trophy for it. The third child has jumped in with both feet now as an adult using the crock pot for full meal stews.

I accepted that my kids may or may not want to eat something, I mean, it's a personal decision what you put in your mouth. Children need to know they have control and responsibility over what anyone puts in their mouths, right? It's just a preference they are testing or showing. Don't make it into something that gets too much attention. It's acceptable.

Sometimes we used reverse psychology and didn't offer those smoked oysters to youngsters, it was 'adult food'. Well, then they HAD to have it. All three are truly adventurous eaters now. If worse comes to worse, taking vitamins to fill in the gaps is something you might try.

Just a few long winded thoughts on it.

 

[CakePoet]

With hyper sensitive, you need out to find out the WHY, and then from there build on. Like some dont like mushy or wet vegitables, so no tomatoes but carrots are okey.

You can also do a star chart, where he gets a star for everything new he tried, 1 bite is enough and when he gotten 10 stars he gets a reward, bigger one at 20 and so on. A friend is taking her son to Disney land if he manage 200 new things and finds 20 likes ( She lives in Sweden so it going to be a big trip).

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Just a thought on the hyper-sensitivity issue and it's relation to food:
Many foods that my mother made, I truly did not care for, but it wasn't the food item itself but how it was prepared.
Now as an adult making food for myself, I've re-tried most of those foods and find that I like them made this way or that.
HATED Brussel sprouts until I tried cooking them a different way, in fact at our Easter Feast with Mr & Mrs Dear Friend's, Missus made Brussel Sprouts another way and they were delicious!!
I'd also like to add that as kids we were made to take one bite of everything on our plate, but it didn't seem to affect any of us as adults.
Still don't like any offal
Dad had a garden one year and had planted WAY too much tomatoes and eggplant, we ate that every way imaginable... OVERLOAD

 

[GotGarlic]

Just a thought on the hyper-sensitivity issue and it's relation to food:
Many foods that my mother made, I truly did not care for, but it wasn't the food item itself but how it was prepared.
Now as an adult making food for myself, I've re-tried most of those foods and find that I like them made this way or that.
HATED Brussel sprouts until I tried cooking them a different way, in fact at our Easter Feast with Mr & Mrs Dear Friend's, Missus made Brussel Sprouts another way and they were delicious!!
I'd also like to add that as kids we were made to take one bite of everything on our plate, but it didn't seem to affect any of us as adults.

This is a great point. DH thought he didn't like asparagus, till he had it sautéed instead of boiled. And he didn't like Brussels sprouts, till I roasted them. Dry cooking methods (sautéing, roasting) bring out the sweetness in vegetables; children often like that. So trying a different preparation might help.

My former neighbor grew veggies with her kids, too, blissful. They loved the pizza garden - onions, garlic, tomatoes and peppers. And sweet peas straight from the vine!

 

[GotGarlic]

Fruits and vegetables from grocery stores are bland and tasteless, nothing compared to what they taste like when they're fresh picked. I personally won't eat any strawberries, blueberries (except frozen), corn, or any other vegetable unless I get it at the Farmer's Market. It's like the difference between eating something delicious and eating cardboard. Maybe he could be encouraged to take care of a "grazer's" garden.

I suppose it depends on the quality of the vegetables available in your grocery store. Mine is pretty good, although I like the farmers market goods, too. But I don't stop eating vegetables when the farmers market isn't available. You might be surprised how much flavor you can get out of grocery store veggies by roasting them.

 

[GotGarlic]

My parents always insisted that we try everything on our plates. If we really didn't like it, we could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and eat it with a glass of milk.

 

[Andy M.]

We struggle with this with our 10 year-old grandson. He is unwilling to try new things and just states he doesn't like it before he even tries it. He's a "chicken nuggets and hot dogs" guy (and bacon, of course).

But have faith. Easter Sunday he had pork kebabs marinated in hoisin and five spice powder and announced he loved it and that it was the best meal he'd ever eaten!!! We all were floored.

 

[Just Cooking]

Just a thought on the hyper-sensitivity issue and it's relation to food:
Many foods that my mother made, I truly did not care for, but it wasn't the food item itself but how it was prepared.

That sums it up for me... My mom was my hero (my father had died when I was 3) but that sweet, wonderful lady could NOT cook.. I ate everything she put on the table but, it wasn't until I was on my own that I became enamored of food...

Ross

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

This is a great point. DH thought he didn't like asparagus, till he had it sautéed instead of boiled. And he didn't like Brussels sprouts, till I roasted them. Dry cooking methods (sautéing, roasting) bring out the sweetness in vegetables; children often like that. So trying a different preparation might help.

+1 GG
DH also disliked asparagus until I made it for him. He said there was only a handful of vegetables that I would eat pre-married life.
Now he really likes grilled veggies.
I usually toss whatever I'm making as veg in a bowl with some Olive oil, granulated garlic S&P ... or oven roasted with the same prep.
My Mother BOILED everything to death, ACK!
Sauteed is good as well as lightly steamed.
I serve just about all of our veg crisp-tender (or in some cases raw), don't care for soft anything.

We struggle with this with our 10 year-old grandson. He is unwilling to try new things and just states he doesn't like it before he even tries it. He's a "chicken nuggets and hot dogs" guy (and bacon, of course).

But have faith. Easter Sunday he had pork kebabs marinated in hoisin and five spice powder and announced he loved it and that it was the best meal he'd ever eaten!!! We all were floored.

YAHOO!!!
I think that most kids eventually grow past this stag of nuggets and dogs.
I too say, have faith. 2 of our nieces were the same way until they hit college... hot dogs and mac-n-cheese (blue box only please) and nuggets, that was it.

That sums it up for me... My mom was my hero (my father had died when I was 3) but that sweet, wonderful lady could NOT cook.. I ate everything she put on the table but, it wasn't until I was on my own that I became enamored of food...

Ross

Ditto! My mom still can't cook (neither could either of my Grandmother's ), that's what I think PUSHED me to teach myself how to cook/bake/grill; once I took the reins in the kitchen, we ate well all pre-Internet, so I was at the library all the time.

 

[Katie H]

I grew up with a mother who was a good basic cook but quit cooking when she realized I could reach the stove and could do the cooking for our family.

However, some of what I DO remember from her cooking time was that she could turn a lovely piece of beef into a hockey puck. That she cooked the beejeepers out of Brussels sprouts (grey when served) and turned asparagus into a camouflage-colored goo. As a result, I despised both Brussels sprouts and asparagus. I liked steak but never realized one could have it cooked in a manner that it could be cut with a knife

It wasn't until many years into my adulthood that I discovered Brussels sprouts were green and asparagus was also green and bendy when served. As for beef (steak), I like mine with the "moo" slapped out.

I still have food preferences but I wouldn't call myself picky. Thankfully, my children ate (and still do) everything. I wouldn't know how to handle a choosy eater.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I grew up with a mother who was a good basic cook but quit cooking when she realized I could reach the stove and could do the cooking for our family.

However, some of what I DO remember from her cooking time was that she could turn a lovely piece of beef into a hockey puck. That she cooked the beejeepers out of Brussels sprouts (grey when served) and turned asparagus into a camouflage-colored goo. As a result, I despised both Brussels sprouts and asparagus. I liked steak but never realized one could have it cooked in a manner that it could be cut with a knife

It wasn't until many years into my adulthood that I discovered Brussels sprouts were green and asparagus was also green and bendy when served. As for beef (steak), I like mine with the "moo" slapped out.

I still have food preferences but I wouldn't call myself picky. Thankfully, my children ate (and still do) everything. I wouldn't know how to handle a choosy eater.

When I first met DH, his preference for steak was the same, only he'd then drown the poor thing in A1 sauce...I'd didn't get the point, all you tasted was the A1
Now he's at mid/medium rare and naked

 

[Dawgluver]

As a kid, I wouldn't eat anything on my plate if it touched anything else on my plate. My mom would also cook meat into hockey pucks and vegetables into mush.

I've trained DH. He now loves cucumbers and celery. He also likes Brussels sprouts and liver though, which are not food items.

 

[CakePoet]

My mum got voted out of the kitchen after she made bread that not even goats would eat.
Yeah, my father is the cook but he used to work away. So we kid cooked dinner most days.

But the star chart could work for picky eaters and dont try to hid veggies.