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finicky eaters??

tonya

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Do any of you other parents have a finicky eater? My daughter is healthy and a good eater..I guess what I mean by finicky eater is she gets stuck on ONE thing and that is ALL she wants...for the moment it is chicken nuggets and eggs..I know..I know..those are not bad things to be stuck on to eat. Although she does LOVE potato chips and ketchup. Anyways, anybody else got a child like this? BTW...she is 2.
 

andiesmama

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I have a 2 year old as well, she'd eat chicken nuggets & fries all day long if I let her!!^_^ She just goes in phases, some days all she'll eat is fruit & cheese, or maybe one day it'll be raisin bread & a banana, sometimes spaghetti-os....I just keep healthy snacks available & out for her during the day like raisins (now she's eating the yogurt-covered ones), goldfish crackers, etc. If there's a day when she really doesn't eat much of anything, I keep Pediasure on hand, she likes the strawberry flavor & thinks it's a treat!!
 
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lucypevensie

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My daughter is 6 and is pretty picky. When she was getting used to finger-foods she would not eat any pieces that were broken or misshapen in any way. It's kind of hard when they are just 2 years old. But eventually they'll get to the stage where they should eat what you've prepared. Don't make something you know they hate eating, but do prepare normal foods. You can do your best to prepare foods they like as long as it is not junky. Place the food in front of them and they have a choice to eat or not eat. If they choose to eat, great! If not, then no big deal, the food goes into the fridge for later. No treats or snacks though. And they will be hungry! And they will cry and while, and it will be so tempting to just give in and give them what they want. It's really not in their - or our - best interest though to be their short-order cook.

They do not necessarily learn their lesson overnight. Our 5 year old still has days when he refuses to eat what's been prepared and has to go to bed without having eaten something. But...he knows that it is HIS choice to be hungry or not. (no, I don't try to make him eat weird food)
 
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alaskamolly

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Well, I am many things, but one of them is NOT a short-order chef.

Maybe if I had only one child, I'd be more tempted to revolve our meal patters around their tastes, but I don't think that would be a good prep for the real world, or a good lesson ("Yes, all of the world revolves around you and your impulses--just say the word and Mommy will drop everything and fix whatever you want, little sweetpea!")...

All of us have a few dislikes, and I respect that, but when one of my children decides they want to be extremely finicky, I give them the full right to be... it's just that they'll be a little hungry, too... :)

If the family is having (mild) chili, corn bread, and steamed broccoli (w/ cheese) for dinner, then so are the children...unless they choose to abstain, of course, in which case they are perfectly welcome to eat later... at the next family meal.


You know, it's really quite amazing how you never hear of children in 3rd world countries being finicky eaters. It's my opinion that it is only our extreme luxery of lifestyle that provides us with this particular issue. Which is another thing I've noticed, in myself as well as my children--it's amazing how delicious that 'hated food' becomes when you actually get hungry. :)

That is why my children are fed well, with healthy nutritious meals, and then if they choose to 'fast' for a particular meal, they are certainly welcome to do so (we don't make a big deal out of it at all--no emotional hysterics, "oh my gosh, but they'll STARVE to death if they skip lunch!!!)...but I'm not going to fix them something special--I've got plenty of other work to do besides play short-order cook for every child's whim!

I know, I know, it sounds cruel, but I rather think it's nice. It's nice on the whole family, especially nice on mom, and it's good training for the children, who quickly learn that they are certainly welcome to have their own individual tastes, and yet also learn that the rest of the group does not have to stop everything in order to fulfill the one child's demands. There certainly is a time for "special things," but when it gets to be an everyday thing, I think the wrong message is being sent to the children.


Of course, it may just be that I have four children, ages 6, 4, 3, and 1, (and 12 wks pregnant with a new addition, too) and so am a little busier than a mom of one might be, and have to have this policy in order to survive with peace and happiness in the home!~ ^_^


My 2 Cents!
Love,
Molly
 
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andiesmama

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Thanks for your 2 cents Molly...it's good to hear advice from you "seasoned" moms!!;) I don't believe in being a short-order cook, either...Andie does have helpings of whatever we're having for dinner, (to expand her tastebuds), but I also put things I know she'll like on her plate as well...

I think one of the reasons I get so I guess you'd say paranoid about her eating alot is because she was a preemie and weighed less than 5 pounds when she was born...we had a little trouble with her gaining weight in the beginning...she's still in the 10th percentile of her weight class!!:eek: (*but here's hoping she didn't inherit her mommy's tendency towards gaining weight just by thinking about food!! lol)....plus being a first time mom I guess doesn't help with the paranoia....but I think 2 is a bit too young to just let her go hungry, don't you think so? I mean, what do you think? Well, I won't ramble on & on...I know kids won't starve themselves, but it still kills me when I know she's gone all day & hasn't had enough to fill a bird!!

Bleah!! I'm done!! Thanks for listening & reading all this nonsense!!:p
 
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tonya

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Well, Macy is at daycare during the day and I know she gets 2 good meals...and the ladies that keep her say she eats well...maybe it is b/c she is with the other children and they eat so she does?? Who knows! At home for supper sometimes she does not eat as well...some nights it is cereal and some nights toast and eggs with milk or juice...I know those are not junky things for her to eat BUT sometimes I get concerned that she did not have veggies..Lots of nights I just sit her food out and she will zoom by for a bite. I also leave bananas, cut up apples, and vanilla wafers out..A favorite of hers is chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. My Dad always said that if she is hungry she will eat!!!
 
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BeanMak

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I suggest getting rid of the potato chips in the house. They have no nutritional value and if they aren't there, then no one can munch on them instead of nurtritious food. No 2 year-old who is offered healthy meals will starve to death, no matter if they refuse to eat a meal or 2. I always have yogurt in the fridge, and anyone not eating what is prepared can have a cup of that.
 
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bliz

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Well hold on to you hats.... Molly and I agree!!!

As BeanMark suggests, keep the junk out of the house, prepare tasty, healthy, meals and if they eat them, great, and if they don't, well, no child has ever been known to starve themselves to death, or even do any harm to themelves by skipping a meal or even two.

Becasue my birth family diningroom table had been a major battleground for all sorts of isses, including food, our dinner table has been a place of laughs, conversation, discussion - but never force feedings or eating under duress. By limiting choices, our kids ate a wide variety of foods - some they lked and some they didn't.

Today, in their early 20s and late teens, our kids will try anything, (I've been trying to think of something they wouldn't take a taste of, but, including sushi, they've been game to try it all), eat foods from a wide variety of cultures and like to cook.
 
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