getting a child to eat!!

[LittleLamb]

Hi everyone - I'm sure some of you must have some experience of minded children not eating a variety of foods?? A 4 year old girl I mind will only eat wafer thin ham sandwhiches/fishfingers/crisps or spag bol. Any ideas how I can get her to try new food??? She wont even try for me or her Mum!!! Thanks v much xxxx

[angeldelight]

Not sure what everyone else would do but I had the same problems with my own daughter and son for many years

I do know that the more you push them or stress about it the less they will try new foods

I always in the end gave them what they wanted my doctor told me that at least if they were eating even if it was the same every day they would come to no harm and would one day eat the same as others

He was right

I used to put out a variety of foods and they do in the end want to try for themselves

Funny because I was having this conversation with my sons the other day and telling them things that they used to hate when they were kids and now loved

My view is do not make a big deal of it

Angel xx

[deeb66]

Unfortunately you cannot make a child eat.

I also have one that won't try different foods and I just keep trying. I offer her different foods in the hope that she will try it one day.

Another way is to try and involve he in the making process....she may be more likely to try it then as she has made it herself.

Also try and make it fun.......e.g. try and make a funny face out of food or something along those lines

[Spangles]

What about a reward sticker chart? My 2 year old son will do anything to get stickers at the mo! I've made him a chart and when he fills all the boxes with stickers we've told him we'll go to the zoo!

Also maybe get her to help preparing the food?

Make it into a game with a blindfold and food testing miniscule little pieces of food - she could feel them and smell them and then taste them?

Watch Big Cook Little Cook and see if she's interested in anything they cook?

Go through a children's recipe book with her and talk about what she thinks might be nice and why she thinks that?

Really get extremely overexcited any time she eats something different! Ha ha!

I don't know really just coming up with random ideas!

[angeldelight]

Yes also good advice from Lorri

Angel xx

[littlesprogs]

As a kid i was very fussy about what i would and would not eat. I still dont eat any fruit or veg!!

My mum mentioned thisto my consultant that i was seeing for different reasons and he said as logn as i was eating and had a normal weight that it was fine to let me eat what i wanted. I used to eat chocolate mousse for breakfast coz i wouldnt eat toast or cereal.

Eventually i did start to eat better but my mum never forced me or made a big deal out of it.which was probably why i started to eat better.

[sarah707]

My dd is 14 now and still a very fussy eater. She is picky and will only eat a limited repertoire of food. She is getting slowly better, but only very slowly.

I do not ever push her, just give her the same as everyone else and unlimited fruit (the ones she will eat). She is very healthy, normal height and weight and doing well at school, so it's not affecting her at the moment.

I do worry she won't have strong enough bones as she doesn't eat green veg, but I encourage her to drink plenty of milk and I am concerned about her vitamin intake so give her a vitamin pill every day.

Hope this helps reassure you :D

[fionamal]

I used to have a 3 year old girl who was fussy. What i did was at lunchtime made up a hot buffet of differnt things, baked potatoes, sausages, potatoes, fish fingers etc and just let all the kids pick what they wanted.

After 1 year she will eat almost anything thats put down in front of her. her mum cant beleive the difference in her, she says its a pleasure now at mealtimes as shes not having to watch her just eat a sandwich and yoghurt.

[LittleMissSparkles]

my mum said that my brother wouldnt eat anything other than weetabix for ages and she didnt force him to eat anything else as at least he was eating, he's still a picky eater ( wont do veg at all ) at the age of 46 !!!

xxx

[Angela234]

My Grandsons the same eats cottage pie, sausages, mash, beans, fish pie Jam sandwiches, Weetabix, tomato soup thats about it oh and bananas.

I do disguise veg mashed in his potato which he eats and put a bit of veg on his plate which he leaves i try to encourage him but i don't make a issue of it, his brother was the same started school now eats most things.

Angela

[Mollymop]

My son Timmy is very very fussy. Tonight we had pork chops, veg, etc and he was very disappointed when he go to the table.

He is so bad that it is worrying. He will east fruit now and again, but won't eat any fresh veggies, fresh meat. All he is happy with are what I like to call kiddie food, Sausages, fish fingers, smiley face, etc.

I once succeeded in getting him to eat a cottage pie, by telling him that is what dinosaurs liked to eat. He soon gobbled it all up.:laughing:

But Caitlin is the opposite if you gave her a choice it would be veg, meat, gravey any day over chips and chicken nuggets.

[louise]

My son is the same. He just want nuggets and waffles at mo. Or ham sandwich. He use to be great when i weaned him. He did go through a phase of hating mince(which when you love making spag bol is not good) Now that is back and also pasta which he loved seems to be hated. Every sun he helps me cook. Makes no difference. Also he wont eat veg. He got really good when i had a mindee the same age he would at least 'try' new fruit. Apples strawberries and Banana is the only fruit he use to love grapes but lately wont touch them.
Hubbie is getting really frustrated with it.

[Sarsar3NCH]

I have a 4yr old mindee who is a really fussy eater (no fruit or veg at all), yet his little sister and other full timer are fab eaters. It gets really hard at meal times though as I give them all the same but little one are starting to notice that T is leaving all his veg and most of his dinner really and they are starting to want to leave theirs too. I praise them all so much if they do eat but to no avail the two little girls are starting to follow his lead.

Through praise I amanged to get T to start eating little bananas a couple of weeks ago but he has since told mum that he doesn't like them and they make him feel sick so mum no longer gives him any fruit in his lunch/snack box, whereas little sis gets loads which she is starting to turn her nose up at as T gets cereal bars or school bars or 'slurpers' instead


Sarah