Picky eater "yucky"

[Peacefulbird]

Hi, can you ask his parents? What are his food choices at home. Some children have food texture sensitivity. I have exprienced the very same kind of behavior in my group and or new children joining to daycare. I usually start very slow. First serving the very same thing that everyone is eating but in a smaller amount. I usually ask them to try just two bites and then they can have what they like ex. Their favorite yogurt. I ask them if they want to be helped by cutting their food in small pieces they usually like that. But I've also a small food processor so I pureed things and mixed in their yogurt. At first not too much and I have slowly increased the amounts until they develope a taste for that food.

I always remember in a nutrition course I took "it takes 40 times ta sting a new food before our palate becomes familiar to it"; and works even for adults. Sometimes we make the mistake of not serving a certain kind of food because the child doesn't like it, leaving that poor child with a limited poor food choice. Just keep trying at times peer pressure works wonders.

[Lee-Bee]

Hi, can you ask his parents? What are his food choices at home. Some children have food texture sensitivity. I have exprienced the very same kind of behavior in my group and or new children joining to daycare. I usually start very slow. First serving the very same thing that everyone is eating but in a smaller amount. I usually ask them to try just two bites and then they can have what they like ex. Their favorite yogurt. I ask them if they want to be helped by cutting their food in small pieces they usually like that. But I've also a small food processor so I pureed things and mixed in their yogurt. At first not too much and I have slowly increased the amounts until they develope a taste for that food.

I always remember in a nutrition course I took "it takes 40 times ta sting a new food before our palate becomes familiar to it"; and works even for adults. Sometimes we make the mistake of not serving a certain kind of food because the child doesn't like it, leaving that poor child with a limited poor food choice. Just keep trying at times peer pressure works wonders.

He eats very small amounts of very limited foods at home. I have asked if they have noticed a pattern (around textures, colours, etc etc). They have not. They are stressed about it. But they do feed him protein and veggie shakes (from powder) to try and compensate, he is small but growing. He eats plain oatmeal for supper every night. I can't judge, my kid eats well. Whether it is because we have trained her to or just her nature I can't say for sure and I am sure it sucks to have such a picky eater (whether there habits have trained him that way or not). They have spent many days tracking his intake to see how many calories etc etc.

I don't expect to change him. I merely serve what I serve and hope he tries it. He's not here long enough to be starving to have to eat anything. He's here 4 hrs and gets milk before he comes and fed oatmeal when he leaves so in my mind there is no pressure for him to reach out and try something.

Anyways...I will keep reminding him not to call food yucky and hope it ends before it goes to far! I would hate for his poor eating to spread to the others!!! I am not offended when he calls my food yucky, but it isn't an acceptable behavior.