I love to cook and it used to be fun for me, until my son started being picky about what he would eat! It all began when my father who is a vegetarian, started talking to my son at the age of around six about eating fried chicken. He spoke about how bad it was for him to eat because of all the fat. Ever since then, he prefers not to eat meat. Ugh!
It used to be so easy to make meals. Veggie…check. Starch…check. Meat….check. Now unless its seafood or fish there is going to be an issue. Meat…..he usually left it on his plate, even when he was starving. Recently he told me I always cook the same thing. It was like a small punch in the gut to my thoughts of being a good mom. I hadn’t realized that he was probably right. I have challenged myself to pull out all my cookbooks or hop online to find some things he would enjoy.
My second child is also a picky eater. He’s two years old and his diet consists of macaroni and cheese, fruit and green beans. No protein! Not that he is having any problems growing and thriving. I just think everyone needs protein right? I feel like such a bad parent feeding him some version of pasta every single day. White, yellow, broth-based….which one will it be today? My attempts at sneaking in meat with rice were laughable. He just ate the rice and left the crumbled turkey on his plate.
I was a picky eater myself, so maybe it’s karma. While my parents and siblings enjoyed hot and/or heavily seasoned food, I preferred blander things. My Mom would make a separate pot of food for me and maybe today that is why I don’t usually eat leftovers. I never had them when I was young. It’s funny because today I have a love of all things food.
So my eldest son is a big boy and not having much meat isn’t hurting him for sure, but my youngest…I still have concern about his diet. If you have a picky eater, you know it can be very very frustrating.
After researching the subject online, I found out a few things that might interest some of you as well.
Experts from the Mayo Clinic have the following tips.
- Respect your child’s appetite — or lack of one
If your child isn’t hungry, don’t force a meal or snack. Likewise, don’t bribe or force your child to eat certain foods or clean his or her plate. This might only ignite — or reinforce — a power struggle over food. In addition, your child might come to associate mealtime with anxiety and frustration or become less sensitive to his or her own hunger and fullness cues.
Serve small portions to avoid overwhelming your child and give him or her the opportunity to independently ask for more.
- Stick to the routine
Serve meals and snacks at about the same times every day. You can provide milk or 100 percent juice with the food, but offer water between meals and snacks. Allowing your child to fill up on juice, milk or snacks throughout the day might decrease his or her appetite for meals.
- Be patient with new foods
Young children often touch or smell new foods, and might even put tiny bits in their mouths and then take them back out again. Your child might need repeated exposure to a new food before he or she takes the first bite.
Encourage your child by talking about a food’s color, shape, aroma and texture — not whether it tastes good. Serve new foods along with your child’s favorite foods.
- Make it fun
Serve broccoli and other veggies with a favorite dip or sauce. Cut foods into various shapes with cookie cutters. Offer breakfast foods for dinner. Serve a variety of brightly colored foods.
To see the rest of these tips visit here.
I am inspired, these tips are great! I plan on doing some of these things for dinner tonight. Maybe then I will have less mom-guilt about my picky eaters.
By Eva