Fussy eaters

Think you have to be tough, and consistent
If it was me, there would be no more junk of any kind (crisps, waffles, hotdogs etc), until they were consistently eating a good diet.
Give them easy access to fruit /veg for snacks, but nothing else outside their meals.
They won't let themselves starve

Agree. No snacks between meals unless its a piece of fruit. Lots of excercise.

No child will starve themselves..... Like the kids in 3rd world countries... Bet they're not picky...  greatful for anything!


[emoji214]

It’s not easy changing fussy eating habits, and it wouldn’t be fair to just remove your kids favourite foods and impose a new, strict regime. The thing to do is to put other things on their plates alongside familiar food and to reward them for trying ANYTHING new. Mine wouldn’t eat cooked veg, but they’d eat raw carrot, cold sweetcorn, cucumber, even raw spinach leaves. If they’ll eat bolognese, blitz lots of different veg so it is not distinguishable and “hide” it in the meat sauce (and then give them a lot less sauce than you would want). You could try a very bland, smooth soup and let them sprinkle with grated cheese and eat with nachos. If they’ll eat chips, try sweet potato fries. If they have to slather new food in ketchup, let them - it won’t kill them and it doesn’t last forever! Experiment with smoothies - “bits” were often an issue, but I could get my fruit refusing son to eat things whizzed up into a smoothie as long as there weren’t too many seeds left in. Let them make ice lollies from fresh fruit juice. Food they can eat with their fingers like kebabs, pizza, burgers, or chicken legs are easier to eat than piles of hard to chew meat. Lots of things to try. Mine are both great eaters now, but the eldest basically only ate beige food for a long time. Good luck.

My boy is 8 and he is fussy. The only fruit he eats are sultanas. Veggies are peas and sweetcorn. But I am good at hiding F&V. I make banana pancakes. He loves pasta bake, veggie chilli, so I batch cook at least one of these meals each week. Hubby and I eat it once but I pot off 2 extra pots for him. The secret is chopping the veg small enough and hiding in sauce and cheese.
I also do a slow cook casserole or fish pie sometimes. All good for hiding veg.

Whatever they dont eat for dinner, give to them the next day for breakfast. If they dont eat it, offer it again at lunch... and so on. At some point they will get alittle bit peckish. Oh, and no desserts if they dont eat it.

Don’t do this OP. This is just awful.

Don't do this, ever. This is dreadful and you will cause more issues by forcing this upon them. Whilst this may have worked (which I doubt) back in the 70s it is not appropriate to force this upon your children and it will only upset you as well in my opinion.

My youngest son every night asks for chicken nuggets, of course, he doesn't get them every night but we make a deal that if he has this dinner tonight he can have them tomorrow but then not for a few more days. My eldest is autistic and had the same meals a week consisting of pasta with chicken, burgers and hot dogs with corn on the cob as the veg, curry, sunday lunch and wraps. Recently he has become more interested in what we are having and I put everything in serving bowls on the table for him to take what he wants when he wants and if he doesn't like it he can just put it on a small plate I put out but I reward him for trying new foods even if he finds he doesn't like them and doesn't eat it all.

This is cruel. When I was little I went to a childminder who gave me rice pudding which I didn’t like, she made me sit at the table until I had eaten it, I was so sick after. Can not touch the stuff even now and anything that resembles the texture.

It’s so important for children to have a varied diet but you do have to tread carefully.

Michelle hmmm. There's being firm then there being mean lol

Kids don't eat meals if their snacking. They don't build an appetite.

You need to give foods they like with new foods for them to try. And I don't mean they want crisps for breakfast, so you give them toast and crisps lol!

Hiding veg is a great way! In spaghetti I put celery, mushrooms, carrots, onion, etc and I tell them after what they've eaten! They can't believe it lol

Give them options that are your choice. If a child doesn't like something it's cruel to MAKE THEM EAT IT, it won't make them like it eventually.
when they get older I encourage them to try new foods and say if they find it nice or not. It's good to try. It's OK not to like something. Give it a few months and try again, if not wait and again.

But kids won't eat if they know a hour later they'll be stuffed up on biscuits, and crap. They're not stupid they'll survive on that and wait for the good stuff [emoji849] But it will rot their innerds! [emoji1]

Also if you harp on you stress everyone out. Just chill, provide and wait,chat about your day, anything but food. and take it away after a certain time if they don't eat it (just do a tiny tiny portion so your not wasting it & they don't feel overwhelmed).
Give fruit for afters.
Or if they tried it or did well... A treat because.... You ate/tried a,b or c



[emoji214]

Can i just point out i wasnt being serious and definitely DO NOT do this with my kids. Perhaps i should have put an emoji on the end. In hindsight my comment was distasteful [emoji85]

I do find that not making too much of a fuss over food and meals helps, i.e. not nagging to eat something on their plate. Rewarding for trying new things. I also agree with above, if they have had too many snacks and arent particularly hungry then they wont be as inclined to try much.

I do however not give a dessert or yoghurt if not much effort has put in to finishing whats on their plate. They atleast have to have attempted most things and given a good effort.

Sometimes underlying sensitivities - being a supertaster, autism, or other sensory issues are the root causes. And these can only be worked around, rather than solved.

Anxiety over food is a big factor - so avoiding any kind of anxiety or pressure, including rewards can help. Don't ban things, but make other things more available.

Worth keeping mind that the idea that children won't starve won't apply to many neurodiverse children or those with other kinds of anxiety over food - as they simply stop being hungry when anxious. And may be very sensitive to taste, smell and texture.

Small portions sizes, lots of variety on the table, and low pressure to try things. We found having small amounts of the foods we would rather reduce enabled a child to eat more of other things - as it takes the edge off the hunger and reduces anxiety.

Model trying new foods, and eating lots of the foods you would like them to eat.

Involve them in shopping, and preparing and cooking food. Watch cookery programmes together.

Also be aware that food intolerances might be involved. A food may cause abdominal discomfort without showing any other major signs - and they may be avoiding foods as a result. This one reason why for some children hiding vegetables will have the opposite effect than desired.

Find ways to reduce your anxiety over food - as they pick up on that. Think about the food over a whole day- rather than a specific meal. Think in terms of over all nutrition rather than the details .

Try changing meal times or where you eat (if they have become anxious over food that can break the association between food and stress. Also hunger goes in waves and it may be that the timing of a meal is just at the point where hunger dissipates, so try having foods available for when they are hungry - rather than at set times to see if that helps.

Make sure your expectations are realistic - they may need much less food than you assume, or higher levels of fats and proteins.

My son eats with his eyes only. So if he can see it or thinks he doesnt like it then he will be stubborn enough.
I have a fussy cat too and i feel that the whole house is testing me sometimes how long i can hold out or give in.
I have tried allsorts of tricks to get my son to try fruit as i am convinced he might like a grape or bluebbery. As he is 8 i tried to reason with him last time. I said if he tried banana i would eat something i didnt like too. I suggested raw onion but he said a spoonful of catfood. I agreed 😱. My mistake. He bit the banana chewed it and then it was my turn. I ate the cat food and swallowed it, as soon as i had done that he spat the banana out.
I will not be trying this again.

Omg lol atleast you know now why the cat doesn't like the food [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

[emoji214]

Iv made my son eat some foods as he was fussy an still is but not as much as before , he likes some of the foods I made him eat now, so I think theres no rule about what works with things as kids are changeable an it could work,  He didnt like/want to eat eggs but we made him have it sometimes an now he likes it, and same with fish and also prunes for his constipation problem , he hated them but now he will eat it fine as he knows its good for him I guess , but i dont force him to eat sprout as he hates them an there is other veg he will eat but if someone wouldnt eat any type veg it good in my mind to try very hard to make them even though my son cried alot about some food it was just potato an fish which I felt was nothing hard to eat an he should eat it so sorry son I said you have to an you will get used to it it doesnt even have much taste an you can use ketchup on it but he refused to use ketchup but he likes potatoes now