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My girlfriend's son is a very picky eater. He is seven years old and only likes to eat chicken nuggets, Takis, Cheez-Its, and Ramen (that I know of); these are obviously not very healthy. I love to cook good, home cooked meals, but getting him to even taste the food I make is beyond my limits. My last meal I made was spinach pasta with shrimp and cheese sauce. This may not be an ideal meal for a seven-year-old, while it was good, he responded with, "It tastes like garbage!".
Just a side note: he had issues with his dad and abuse, so I am very cautious about how I approach him and what I say. He can be running around and laughing for a few minutes and then crying the next, but then back to laughing within an instant.
My girlfriend has asked me to help her get to eat more healthier meals but I feel it should be her that enforces it, and not let him default to the aforementioned food that he will only eat.
Any ideas? I have already asked what he likes to eat, other then the usual, most he will just shake is head no. However, he did eat my home made chicken nuggets.
Adults choose what food available in the house. Children choose whether to eat it or not.
Remove the abundance of unhealthy food options so they are unavailable. Prepare age appropriate food. Spinach pasta with shrimp and cheese sauce may not be it. Shrimp is weird for a lot of 7-year-olds so they're going to reject it many times. Make a more normal pasta. Kids are more honest than adults. It tasted like garbage to him which just means it didn't taste like either chicken nuggets or ramen which are the two things he eats and was therefore garbage. No biggie. Adults choose what food is available in the house. Children choose whether to eat it or not.
You can have some basic standby like a piece of toast with butter or some leftover rice with some butter if it's ever really necessary. After the kid sits through dinner and won't touch the garbage spinach pasta with shrimp and cheese sauce, he can have a piece of toast with butter. Sometimes they'll choose to go hungry which in most cases fine. Some extremely picky eaters will choose to starve which that really isn't
so you have to make some more concessions to their peculiarities. Most kids though will eat when they are hungry and realize that the snack two hours after lunch is apple slices and cheese and not Cheez-Itz. If they know they can get Cheez-Itz they're perfectly happy to be hungry for an hour to hold out for them.
Offer two or three options. Do you want salmon with rice and broccoli or chicken alfredo pasta. It'll be dramatic at first. I want Takis! Since that doesn't answer the question, make whichever one you feel like and the kid can choose to eat it or not. They can have toast with some butter after dinner if it's garbage.
And yes, primarily it's the girlfriend who has to take the lead since its her kid. You're both going to have to deal with the temper tantrums.
My girlfriend's son is a very picky eater. He is seven years old and only likes to eat chicken nuggets, Takis, Cheez-Its, and Ramen (that I know of); these are obviously not very healthy. I love to cook good, home cooked meals, but getting him to even taste the food I make is beyond my limits. My last meal I made was spinach pasta with shrimp and cheese sauce. This may not be an ideal meal for a seven-year-old, while it was good, he responded with, "It tastes like garbage!".
Just a side note: he had issues with his dad and abuse, so I am very cautious about how I approach him and what I say. He can be running around and laughing for a few minutes and then crying the next, but then back to laughing within an instant.
My girlfriend has asked me to help her get to eat more healthier meals but I feel it should be her that enforces it, and not let him default to the aforementioned food that he will only eat.
Any ideas? I have already asked what he likes to eat, other then the usual, most he will just shake is head no. However, he did eat my home made chicken nuggets.
You've already gotten some good advice (and some not so good) so I'll just say this...please do NOT assign moral value to food. Do not label any food as "bad" or "junk" or "good." Obviously as adults we know that some foods are better and healthier for us but labeling food and categorizing it can backfire big time. He needs to be taught to balance a variety of foods, not that certain food is good or bad. Trust me on this.
There are lots of possible reasons for his eating habits...most likely is just common kid pickiness, which he may or may not outgrow. I'd encourage you and his mom to help him to try new foods and offer them frequently. Maybe do a bite for bite...one bite of a new food for a bite of a preferred food.
How is his weight? Is he staying on his growth curve? This is very important to monitor with reluctant eaters. Ignore his BMI...it's meaningless garbage.
I hate the "he'll eat eventually...he won't starve..." That's true for most kids but not all. It makes me cringe because I used to be that ignorant too.
My best advice is to try different approaches to get him to try new and different things and hopefully you'll find a way to comfortably expose him to a variety of foods that he'll begin to accept. If it's not working after a while and you're still concerned, consult with a dietician who can help.
Have you ever forced a kid to eat something they didn't want to eat?
Nope, they can choose to eat what is available to them or starve. And depravity is a great tool wish parents could do so more than allowing kids to pick from abundance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rokuremote
huh? are you a parent?
I have 3 kids and my 2 sons are much better than my daughter who is too cuddled by the mother. Depravity is the best tool to teach kids who live with too much choice and confusion.
Nope, they can choose to eat what is available to them or starve. And depravity is a great tool wish parents could do so more than allowing kids to pick from abundance.
I have 3 kids and my 2 sons are much better than my daughter who is too cuddled by the mother. Depravity is the best tool to teach kids who live with too much choice and confusion.
Ummm,
You may want to consult a dictionary on the meaning of "depravity"...
There are many places in the world where all eating is at mealtimes and children are expected to show up hungry and not spoil their appetites. Depriving a child of between-meal snacks is only first-world deprivation, hardly starvation, and it might behoove a hungry child to eat what is available at mealtimes if that is the only time that food is available.
You may want to consult a dictionary on the meaning of "depravity"...
You're a parent so you should be mature enough to understand it's a spelling error.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lhpartridge
There are many places in the world where all eating is at mealtimes and children are expected to show up hungry and not spoil their appetites. Depriving a child of between-meal snacks is only first-world deprivation, hardly starvation, and it might behoove a hungry child to eat what is available at mealtimes if that is the only time that food is available.
Food tastes better when you're really hungry.
None of my kids are over weight and they all pretty fit even though none of them exercise. I'm pushing to get them to do more yard work instead of hiring others to do it. That's another problem I see with many homes nearby that landscapers are doing all of the yard cleaning and grass cutting. Get the kids to do it and learn how to be responsible with home maintenance.
For my house, absolutely no snacking or candies. My oldest son doesn't like candies at all except for dark chocolates that I encourage him to eat for good health. I make sure they don't snack so that when meals are made I will provide 3-4 dishes and those are your choices. Either some or or all. None of that I prefer nuggets or a sandwich. All meals must be appreciated that it's provided by the parents and not ordered. Occasionally we go out that's when they get to be selective.
When my kids were little, I would take them to stores that offered food samples. We would walk around the stores and try all of the samples. There might be candy, cheese, dip, protein drink or whatever. I never made them try anything if they didn't want to. If they tasted something and didn't like it, they didn't have to swallow it, but they couldn't make a big scene of spitting it out either. My kids were willing to try just about everything.
We'd go to nicer sit down restaurants and try some new things along with foods we already knew we liked. The kids had to behave. They were proud of themselves for not being picky eaters.
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