Bad eating habits

[mickyc]

He is just pokey in everything he does. He is stubborn. I don't think there is anything wrong with him. I have had other children over the years who have been bad for holding food in their mouths.

I guess bottom line is I am frustrated. I have really stepped it up lately and tried to eat a balanced diet. Then to hear from 2 moms this week that their child lives on peanut butter sandwiches at home. Makes me question why I give a dam, spend good money and encourage THEIR child to try new things.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Have they always been like this or just since you changed the menu? Could it be that they're just getting used to the change in your menu?

I would keep up the good work and keep feeding healthy and nutritious food and just let it be. They will either eat or go hungry. Don't go back to giving "crappy" food

[Lee-Bee]

I don't know if it is learned behavior or temperament or a combination of the 2 but it really sucks when such young children are so picky. To have determined at such a young age that they won't eat a large selection of food items is just concerning. What are they going to be like as adults? Do they suddenly decide to like the foods or just stay with their very small selection of comfort foods?

We lucked out with my daughter (again not sure if its her or the way we are raising her) but she eats great. Last night I served my husbands favorite Hungarian dish. My daughter HATED it. Like she gagged every time she got some in her mouth but I couldn't help but laugh because she tried it like 16times during the course of the meal. I served it with other food I knew she would eat and as she happily ate the other foods she would take a yet another big mouthful of the Hungarian food. I didn't expect her to like it as she's never had it before because she just recently somehow outgrew her milk protein intolerance so never could have it. She hadn't had any dairy in her first 2 yrs of life and she is weary of dairy as start to offer her it. It is my first taste of her hesitating with a food item. Normally she just eats what she is served but suddenly there is this new food group in front of her and it just doesn't quite taste like anything she knows. Makes me realize that the children that are served only bread and plain pasta likely feel this way about anything else that is served. BUT, it doesn't mean we'll just stop serving any dairy because she doesn't like it. Frankly it means we will have to serve dairy with every meal, every day for a long time until she is so used to it so no longer has any suspicions about it!

My DCG girl has been with me for like 15months now. She eats a VERY limited diet of mostly carbs. It took 14months but she JUST started eating pasta with sauce (the only way I serve pasta). At home she gets plain pasta. I don't get it. Plain pasta is essentially carbs and nothing else. I make homemade sauce full of veggies and meat. The whole point of pasta is to get all those veggies and meats in all the flavor and taste and enjoyment is in the sauces!!! It took forever but she finally picked up her fork and ate a full plate (a few times now). No idea why she changed her mind but if I switched to plain pasta (like home does) odds are she'd never start to like the sauce. She possibly would like the pasta sauce sooner if I MADE her taste it each time. But that's just not a battle I care to try. It would stress me out too much.

No idea if this child is picky due to lack of exposure (and constant offering of favorite foods) or if she is constantly offered favorite foods because she is picky. But it is sad to see!

As for being slow...no idea what to suggest. Sounds like you have experienced this before with past kids so likely have a couple strategies. Have you tried a kitchen timer? Set it for a reasonable amount of time and after that remove his plate. Is he old enough to understand if you recorded how long everyone took at a meal and graphed it out. Look Johnny at lunch it took Sarah 14minutes to finish her meal, Timmy took 17 minutes, Jenna took 18 minutes and look, it took you 54 minutes. Look at the bars on this chart. it took you over 3x's as long. Why do you think that is? How can we help you eat faster? What do you think is a reasonable amount of time to eat your lunch Johnny?

I can see a kid spending that long if they were EATING a substantial amount of food! But it sounds like he is just filling time! That would drive me bonkers!!!

[mickyc]

My menu is relatively the same except I feed more food groups now per meal and have cut out a great deal of our afternoon treats and substituted that with healthy alternatives - still things the kids like.

I have had slow eaters but this boy takes the cake!! I have tried getting him to start sooner but he is easily distracted by watching the others play. He really has no understanding of time. He also has a very limited vocabulary. I often warn him that if he doesn't hurry he won't get to eat the rest on his plate. I also tell him he needs to hurry or I will have to take the food out of his mouth before nap. He doesn't like when I do it and gets upset when I take his plate away. He just doesn't get any faster.

Ah well!!!! I think it has just been a long week!! Lol

[Dreamalittledream]

So many of the things I hear that parents do at home baffles me, but not much we can do but offer the best we can at our Daycares. I heard really good advice on this forum early on and it honestly enters my mind every time I have a frustrating food situation.

It is our job to offer healthy options. If they actually consume them or not is out of our control.

Lessons I've learned are to serve very very small portions of everything to start (more to follow if everything is eaten on their plate), I serve the slow eaters first (and clear everyone's plates away at the same time whether slow eater is done or not) and I serve drinks at the end of meals and snacks. I do have a '1 bite' rule that they please try a tiny bit. If they don't like it, no biggie. I don't tailor my menu at all over what one may not like (I keep having them try it). I don't stress, or react at all, in fact, if they eat very little or very slowly (I've found any negative reaction really just gets them upset and gets us nowhere). Just some things that have worked for me. I wish you much luck!

[5 Little Monkeys]

Lee bee, that is how my 3.5 year old dcg is...she will taste anything I give her now but she is such a gagger!! Your daughter sounds like an awesome eater....good job!!

Yesterday we had cherry tomatoes in the omelettes and she gagged but didn't throw up (mom says she eats them at home all the time??) and my almost 2 year old dcb gagged as well but I told him to relax and breath and he was fine and swallowed. At the time I was just hoping they didn't puke but it is kinda funny watching kids eat sometimes.

[sandylynn]

I have a 3.5 year old who has just decided...WE DON'T EAT ANY VEGGIES ANYMORE...OK...fine by me....if veggies are mixed in with my rice, chicken dish...she won't eat the meal at all....I used to offer something else (yogurt, fruit etc.) so they at least had some food in them..but I have STOPPED THAT....I told the mother I don't play her daughter's games and she is completely onboard with me....mother flat out said...remove her food and don't offer anything until snack time after nap...I do ensure she gets her liquids though....Looking after 5 children under the age of 4 takes teaching, learning, patience, tolerance, imagination, forgiveness, nursing, (we are their 2nd mothers) though I question that I am most of my dkc's FIRST mothers....bottom line....I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PLAY GAMES WITH CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 4 and I won't do it....I LOVE MY JOB