Parents---I need advice on a picky eater (milk, baby, weight)
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Please save all the speech about how he wouldn't be a picky eater if I didn't let him...
My son is 7 and a half and has always had issues with being underweight since he was about a year old. When he was born he was at 50% and has remained on his weight line ever since but that leaves him well underweight. He weighs 41 pounds right now.
He has been a picky eater since he left baby food. It got worse when he realized that he had the power to control if that food went in his mouth or not. I have pictures to prove that he used to eat eggs but he won't touch them now.
He will eat: macaroni and cheese, spaghetti (with butter only), nuts, popcorn (plain hot air popped), grilled cheese, milk, juice (depending on flavor), cheese, chicken (about 1-2 ounces is all), applesauce, mandarin oranges, oven fries, hash browns, cereal, yogurt, granola bars (chewy only) and a selection of sweets (1-2 pieces a day is my limit).
The list of foods he won't eat grows by the day. He refuses to try new foods or flavors. Even when you point out that he loves the flavor he won't eat the real thing. For instance he loves strawberry yogurt but refuses to try a strawberry. He loves applesauce but not apples. Don't even get me started on meats. His definition of "eating chicken" is about 3 bites.
The doctor says he should see the nutritionist, the nutritionist says he should see a therapist, the therapist said he should see the doctor. The doctor said "he'll grow out of it". But in the meantime he is still so thin.
Any advice on how to "cure" picky eating or put on weight?
And just to get this out now...anyone who says "eat or starve" is just mean. I have to think about this from his perspective and say as long as their is food in the house that he'll eat he should get it. I don't always fix separate meals but I will make him try what is on his plate or go without. Then before bed he will get an instant breakfast and a bowl of cereal.
My honest advice, after going through this with one of my twins and taking him to every specialist I could find ... is to back off.
Really, the list of foods you described is a lot longer and more varied than many picky eaters we have known. Make the foods he'll eat, and always incorporate one into the meals you make.
This is what I have learned about parenting a picky eater. YOU are describing the diet as picky and framing it in the negative light, therefore causing yourself a LOT of emotional pain about eating, which is supposed to be about survival. No cajoling, negotiating, or ANY comments about what he eats or doesn't eat. The standoff is the problem, not the diet.
My kid ate FOUR things from age 2 until about the 3rd grade. His habits sound exactly like he ones you describe, including the cereal before bed. It made school lunches very difficult. It was a nightmare for social occasions like birthday parties, where EVERY kid seemed thrilled to have pizza but yours. Taking the family to a Mexican restaurant is a pain.
You kid was born "underweight" (thin) and is still "underweight." Perhaps that is just his build. Is he having health problems associated with malnutrition? If not, I think you are making this a LOT more emotional than it needs to be.
But it is VERY difficult to get through. I can say this now with confidence because my formerly picky eater is 15, 6'2", a high-school athlete (running, not football!) and eats sushi, which I can't abide. I guess I am here to say that this stuff does sometimes work itself out.
Feed him what he will eat and give him a multivitamin. TRY to release yourself from the emotions that you are associating with his diet.
Please save all the speech about how he wouldn't be a picky eater if I didn't let him...
And just to get this out now...anyone who says "eat or starve" is just mean. I have to think about this from his perspective and say as long as their is food in the house that he'll eat he should get it. I don't always fix separate meals but I will make him try what is on his plate or go without. Then before bed he will get an instant breakfast and a bowl of cereal.
Hmm, seems you have been given advice, but don't like what you are hearing. I'm not sure exactly what you'd like us to say that is going to be accpetable to you. There is no magic advice for a child that has reached 7 and has these issues. Either you continue on, or make some radical changes that he won't like.
Does he have food aversions, texture aversions? Add yogurt to his cereal, make sure the grilled cheese and pasta is whole grain, and add in fruit and veggies wherever you can, such as make zucchini loaf, banana bread, home made granola bars, etc. Smoothies with yogurt, fruit and added protein. Is he taking multivitamins? Add a good one if not.
Our son went through a picky stage, i realize this has gone on for quite some time and the dr is probably correct that he will at some point grow out of it. Not that being said, my son was about 5-8 lbs underweight, which when you only weigh 30 lbs, its a lot. He was getting bruised and had big circles under his eyes. Our dr told us to give him instant breakfast with whole milk in the morning, add some yogurt to make it more milkshake like if he likes that. Also gave us a rx for a multivitamin, which if he wont, by some from the health food store. By him mas granola bars for snack. They come in cool flavors like chocolate chip and pn butter. They are chewy but are also like 200-250 calories each. Does he eat lunch at school? If he doesnt take his lunch you can affect what he eats at school but if he packs his lunch, pack as much calories in it as you can while still offering healthy choices and try and give him different things that he still likes. For example he likes mac and cheese. Take cauliflower and put it in a food processor and mix it in. Its white so it turns the color of cheese and is hard to see. If you are making spaghetti make sure you are using full fat butter and add some fresh parm cheese. Try and "hide" chicken in things he will eat. Make mac and cheese casseroles with chicken. Or will he eat rice? Make cheesy chicken and rice. Try and be creative. I dont think you can really cure picky but you can try and appeal to what he will eat as well as packing him full of calories.
Is your kid otherwise healthy (labs are OK, energy level, etc)? If so, I wouldn't worry about it much, but still keep trying for healthier options and vegetables! I have a cousin that back in the 70s when he was a child he would only eat spaguetti, oatmeal and Hawaiian Punch. He's now a endourologist and very healthy swimmer. He does eat more things :0)
Try to see if you can engage your child in grocery shopping, and perhaps cooking some foods with you. Maybe you can find a healthier way to cook some of his favorites and maybe he would be curious to learn different techniques and perhaps try some other foods!
A more aggresive approach would be to require him to eat small tastes of other foods if he wants to eat some of the regular foods he's used to. You can try carrots and/or lettuce with light ranch dressing and say something like...if you want your mac & cheese you have to eat your salad first. It may take some time, but it should work. Otherwise you can let them go hungry. If you really mean it he will know he will have to do as you say and eat the other foods in order to get some of his favorites (usual) foods.
He is normal. That is about the same food my daughter ate at that age. Just continue to let him eat those foods, and give him several small meals a day if you can, like breakfast, lunch, snack when he comes home from school, dinner, snack before bed.
I would not be worrying at this point, just let him eat those foods. He will change, it is a developmental issue, he is not ready for new foods. Try to introduce one new food a week, like chicken, chicken fingers...or french fries...when you go out to dinner.
He might just always be on the thin side, I have a son like that..he is also a picky eater. He is now 26.
Totally normal. I have a 7yr old who will eat anything and a 5yr old who won't touch a thing. Until I had a picky eater I always blamed the parents...stupid me, sometimes you get a kid who just won't eat.
Just do what you can, I haven't heard of any 7yr olds starving themselves lately. BTW both of my kids are underweight, the eater more than the non-eater so it may just be genetics at play here.
Please save all the speech about how he wouldn't be a picky eater if I didn't let him...
My son is 7 and a half and has always had issues with being underweight since he was about a year old. When he was born he was at 50% and has remained on his weight line ever since but that leaves him well underweight. He weighs 41 pounds right now.
He has been a picky eater since he left baby food. It got worse when he realized that he had the power to control if that food went in his mouth or not. I have pictures to prove that he used to eat eggs but he won't touch them now.
He will eat: macaroni and cheese, spaghetti (with butter only), nuts, popcorn (plain hot air popped), grilled cheese, milk, juice (depending on flavor), cheese, chicken (about 1-2 ounces is all), applesauce, mandarin oranges, oven fries, hash browns, cereal, yogurt, granola bars (chewy only) and a selection of sweets (1-2 pieces a day is my limit).
The list of foods he won't eat grows by the day. He refuses to try new foods or flavors. Even when you point out that he loves the flavor he won't eat the real thing. For instance he loves strawberry yogurt but refuses to try a strawberry. He loves applesauce but not apples. Don't even get me started on meats. His definition of "eating chicken" is about 3 bites.
The doctor says he should see the nutritionist, the nutritionist says he should see a therapist, the therapist said he should see the doctor. The doctor said "he'll grow out of it". But in the meantime he is still so thin.
Any advice on how to "cure" picky eating or put on weight?
You don't. For now, if that is what he eats, that is what he eats. LESS is more. Say nothing. You have probably added a bit of unintentional drama with fretting over what he is eating. Back off. All the way off. The less added stress there is around eating and what he eats, the more likely he will be able to grow into more food choices.
He will eat: macaroni and cheese, spaghetti (with butter only), nuts, popcorn (plain hot air popped), grilled cheese, milk, juice (depending on flavor), cheese, chicken (about 1-2 ounces is all), applesauce, mandarin oranges, oven fries, hash browns, cereal, yogurt, granola bars (chewy only) and a selection of sweets (1-2 pieces a day is my limit).
Wow. That's a picky eater?
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