Picky Eater

[k8who]

Dcg is so so picky I just don't know what to do. I cook all their lunches and it's always things my kids love. Dcg doesn't even TOUCH it and cries and walks away from the table and I can't even get her to sit back down. It's so disruptive and it's making lunch time a bit of a nightmare. She does ok with snack (which always consists of fruit, veggies, protein, and a carb) she will eat the fruit and maybe pick at some other bits. I know a hungry child will never starve with food in front of them but it's the disruption that is a challenge and now the other kids are starting to follow suit. We always have nap time right after lunch and because lunch is becoming such a nightmare nap time is pretty chaotic too now... What to do :/

[kassiemom]

I feel your pain but in my case it was my own daughter.....so stressful. i would suggest giving her just a small portion of what you're serving. like literally 1 pea, 1 carrot etc. too much on the plate can make the child feel overwhelmed and stressed. I would also talk to the parents and let them know that you're offering healthy balanced meals and you encourage her to eat but cannot force her.
I have in the past implemented a "no thank you bite" if they want more bread then they need to have at least a lick of all other foods. best of luck!!!

[torontokids]

Don't know how old DCG is but my rule is they eat what is served and they don't get anything else. They also need to stay at the table until all their friends are done. I have seat belts on chairs for the little ones that have a hard time getting that rule in the beginning and older kids are redirected to sit down. We do stories and milk after lunch so I pick the stories of kids that listened well (they each pick a book they'd like me to read). The kids that need to continually be redirected don't get their story picked.

[Rachael]

I do exactly what torontokids does. I don't ever serve bread and butter or a filler food. Lunch is a protein, veg and a starch, eat it or don't eat it, but that's what lunch is.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I was and still am a picky eater. It can be stressful when you go to someone's home for a meal and there isn't much offered that you like. As an adult, I am obviously capable of managing to swallow some stuff down so I don't offend the host/hostess but there are times I will just pretend I'm not that hungry if it something I REALLY don't like lol. Imagine being a child though and having this issue.

I think sometimes kids get labelled "picky" when in reality they have just learned that mom or dad will cave in and give them what they like but I do believe in some situations, the child really doesn't like or can't eat the food. I have texture issues myself so I try to be aware and understanding of that when it comes to children.

I never want meal time to be stressful as I don't want to be the one responsible for creating a food issue with a child. This doesn't mean that I'm a restaurant though!! I cook one meal and that is what is served. However, if I see or know a child really, really doesn't or can't eat a specific food, I will make sure that there are things served with it that I know they like. I would never want to go to bed hungry and I don't want that for the children in my care either. Dessert at lunch is always a fruit and thankfully I have never had a child not like fruit so at least they would get something in their tummy before bedtime. I'm also not overly strict with my menu...if I'm serving raspberries for dessert today but I know xxx doesn't like them, I will give xxx apples. I have never had an issue with a child noticing this and asking for apples. Even if they did, I would explain that they like raspberries but xxx prefers apples. Not the end of the world in my books to do this or to explain it to the children.

[Secondtimearound]

I try to serve a menu that everyone likes as well 5 lm ! I do not cater but I do not think it makes for a great day if I have hungry , cranky kids !!
I have 2 dcks that hate fruit and I just omit it from their plate . I will try different fruits and yogurt dip and try them every once in a while but I do not force any child to eat .
All my dcp do not insist their child finish their plate and do I don't either .
I try to make my menus tasty and nutritious and let them decide if they are done , once they are done we wash hands and they are allowed to go play . I do not make everyone sit and wait until everyone is done , for my group this works as the first finished gets the first pick of toys !!
We have our dayhome all on one level so I can feed them , clean up and let them play without having to run upstairs .

[5 Little Monkeys]

We sound alike second!! I also let them go off after they're finished but it's supposed to be books only. The odd little one will grab a toy sometimes. They read books until I've done the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. It works the best for us.

I also don't make them finish their plate anymore. I now realize how important it is for them to know when their tummy is full and to know when to stop eating. I was made to finish my food and I think it's one of the reasons I have weight issues. I didn't get a chance to learn how to stop eating once I wAs full because I had to keep eating until my plate was empty.

Ugh!!!! No wonder so many have food issues! Lol. There's just so many different approaches to dealing with it

[momofnerds]

I have this girl. Picky eating is when you eat most things and don't like some. The girl I have is a junk food eater. I would serve and she would just sit there. It got bad because she was disruptive. I even removed her from the table. This is what she eats
Anything junk, loves fruit snacks, strawberries, applesauce, fries from mcdonalds, and anything junk. But it's her parents. My girls said that they have nothing healthy in their house (they are very well off too) so money isn't a issue. She sets nothing for breakfast unless I make a chocochip waffle. I've complained, nothing. They don't care. The worst is that dcg is pale, hair is thin, and mouth full of cavities. I get the excuse" I was a picky child" it's not picky it's called unhealthy eating. Dcg is in jk.

[Secondtimearound]

My mom struggled with her weight abit when I was young so she was pretty strict with my sisters and I . I was a size 2 when I got married and I was preggers non stop after that lol !! I had 3 in 2.5 years and I loved eating !!! So I gained weight then , I'm not heavy now but I work on it so I'm careful with my dd in a different way !! 80/20 clean eating , when she was younger I was very strict with her diet and then realized she has to have a balance !!
Mom of nerds I had a dcg who ate the same way !! Processed junk food only !! She hated my lunches !! Her mom would send her a lunch and I would cringe !! She would have so many empty carbs !!! Ugh I tried to broach the subject of healthy eating and the mom just didn't understand .
Other differences emerged and I termed .

[momofnerds]

What makes me mad is that I get her eating and then it's like the parents sabotage it. This summer Dcg was eating watermelon and peaches and then it stopped, again parents didn't want to deal with it because it's messy. Instead of making breaks now, the parents tell me that she doesn't eat breaks, which is weird because at my house I make cereal, waffles, muffins and she will eat it.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Momofnerds, that is horrible. Lazy parenting IMO. Are they not healthy eaters themselves? If not, than it's likely they are just misinformed.....whic h, in this day and age, is hard to believe!

I totally understand not eating healthy 100% of the time as an adult but I just don't understand why parents give such crappy food to young children. That's a really limited menu for jk and soooo not healthy! Poor kid!!

[momofnerds]

They are not healthy eaters. Actually I would call it lazy. There is so many things that can be made quickly and healthy but you know "everyone wants me time"

[Secondtimearound]

Because it's easier to open a box , tear something open and keep the child quiet !! I am so suprised sometimes how children are "raised" .
I'm not trying to be a jerk because life gets difficult and sometimes you have to cut corners ! But seeing so many parents think being a good parent is making their child eat all their happy meal !!!
I take my dd to play at McDonald on really cold days , her older brother is a manager . Dd will eat a ceasear salad and chicken , yogurt ect , we had just sat down and she went off to play and apparently that offended a table of moms who's children were being made to eat before play . So very loudly she says , " you know better , your job is to eat your meal so you will be healthy and then you may play ," the table of moms were in agreement and I'm thinking firstly , parenting loudly annoys me , who cares what your rules are ! So I turned and answered ," playing is way more healthier than eating this junk food !" I can't stand a group of women with one being a spokes person !!

[5 Little Monkeys]

lol, good for you secondtimearound!!

[mickyc]

Well I will be the first to admit that my diet isn't perfect and I often feed the kids "kid approved" foods (frozen pizza, chicken nuggets/fries, KD, hot dogs). It is all in moderation though. We eat fruit and vegies often. I don't serve much milk but we eat dairy products regularly. Afternoon snack is almost always a store bought treat as I don't bake much. I find my families pretty much feed the same items to their children as I do at daycare. I don't judge to harshly because I know I am not the greatest eater.

I did one time have a child (3 years old) who I had a terrible time getting to eat vegies. I asked mom what he ate at home and she said peas/carrots. I said anything else (we eat a lot of raw vegies here). He had never ever had raw vegies before! I was like WTF!! LOL

My husband had some guys over helping with our basement renos one day. I thought I would make an awesome lunch for them. I went to the grocery store got croissants, deli meat/cheese, different deli salads, expensive salad mix, donuts, etc. spent around $80 for lunch. The guys barely touched any of it. They were that picky. All afternoon they ate chips and drank pop/iced tea. For supper I ended up buying KFC and they gobbled it up. Sigh.... lol

[Secondtimearound]

I'm not judging believe me !! I serve a lot of soups and raw veggies , and fruit . I feel limited sometimes with what I will feed my dayhome because it has to be food we will eat as well . I did cave in and serve kd Mac and cheese instead of whole grain macaroni with 3 cheese sauce ! My dh only eats rye bread and so I serve grilled cheese on rye with tomato soup for a Friday lunch (it's a fav with that crowd ) another big hit is ancient grain cream cheese and turkey pinwheels with a fruit kabob and veggies .
Most of my dcks are fine with my menu and I usually plan my meals around who will be there as I have part timers .
I do not usually buy processed and try to stay out of the middle aisles !!!