Graham has become slightly choosy in the food category of late. It can't be! I don't know if I can deal with a picky eater. So tell me, how do kids become picky? They start on vegetables. Those are the first foods they are introduced to. How can they suddenly not like them? One thing I've noticed for Graham is texture. He absolutely won't touch a piece of broccoli, cooked or raw! And green veggies in general he seems to be slightly leery of. He has always loved green beans, and suddenly, not so much. He will still eat peas, but again, for the texture, I just think he likes anything in the shape of a ball. :) He has always had a strong aversion to eggs, weird, right? He really can't stand them - hard-boiled, scrambled, omelet... One success: for some reason he liked my recent zucchini & tomato frittata. That was shocking. But....it was good! :) He has also decided to steer clear of kidney beans as well. I will give him a mouthful of food with a bean mixed in (even mashed!) and he will pull out the food, take out the bean and put the rest back in his mouth. Ingenius, really! He WILL eat any fruit, any time, any where. Taking him thru the produce section at the grocery store almost causes him to hyperventilate. :) So far it's not too big of a deal. He still eats most things without a problem. We're just having to get kind of creative on how we sneak in the big-bad veggies (since it's not really an option for him not to eat them)- zucchini & squash in his lasagna, peas & corn mixed in to his taco, lettuce & tomatoes in his chicken salad wrap (he loves anything in a tortilla!) or when desperation calls, even dipping a bite of a pasta dish in a dab of yogurt! The only problem is that I have to feed him these dishes. If we give him his own dish, he very seriously picks thru all the food and only pulls out the bits he wants. Hmmmm, I suppose he will only let me feed him for so long! A friend is passing along Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, I'm very interested to look at that! So...I am just wondering, does every kid go through choosy-stage? Do you have any tricks-of-the-trade?!
Sunday, April 25
PICKY? Say it ain't so!
Graham has become slightly choosy in the food category of late. It can't be! I don't know if I can deal with a picky eater. So tell me, how do kids become picky? They start on vegetables. Those are the first foods they are introduced to. How can they suddenly not like them? One thing I've noticed for Graham is texture. He absolutely won't touch a piece of broccoli, cooked or raw! And green veggies in general he seems to be slightly leery of. He has always loved green beans, and suddenly, not so much. He will still eat peas, but again, for the texture, I just think he likes anything in the shape of a ball. :) He has always had a strong aversion to eggs, weird, right? He really can't stand them - hard-boiled, scrambled, omelet... One success: for some reason he liked my recent zucchini & tomato frittata. That was shocking. But....it was good! :) He has also decided to steer clear of kidney beans as well. I will give him a mouthful of food with a bean mixed in (even mashed!) and he will pull out the food, take out the bean and put the rest back in his mouth. Ingenius, really! He WILL eat any fruit, any time, any where. Taking him thru the produce section at the grocery store almost causes him to hyperventilate. :) So far it's not too big of a deal. He still eats most things without a problem. We're just having to get kind of creative on how we sneak in the big-bad veggies (since it's not really an option for him not to eat them)- zucchini & squash in his lasagna, peas & corn mixed in to his taco, lettuce & tomatoes in his chicken salad wrap (he loves anything in a tortilla!) or when desperation calls, even dipping a bite of a pasta dish in a dab of yogurt! The only problem is that I have to feed him these dishes. If we give him his own dish, he very seriously picks thru all the food and only pulls out the bits he wants. Hmmmm, I suppose he will only let me feed him for so long! A friend is passing along Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, I'm very interested to look at that! So...I am just wondering, does every kid go through choosy-stage? Do you have any tricks-of-the-trade?!
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yeah, i sympathize with you, but don't really have any tricks of the trade to offer! elliot is the one who seems to have become a picky eater and also loves fruit.
elliot can snarf down macnchz one day and then the next day want nothing to do with it. well, for a while i catered to his whims (part of having more than one kid;). this didn't last long b/c i didn't want to make 2-3 separate meals each time we ate. so now he gets what we eat. and if he doesn't eat it the first round, it goes into the fridge and most every time he eats it at the next meal. and no snacks in between.
don't know if that helps you any...my eating philosophy has become a little more lenient since i have more mouths to feed now!
that makes total sense Nina! I can only imagine the harder it gets!We're kind of at the point where we won't make him anything else or allow him to eat when it "suits his fancy". :) you're right, when they are hungry enough, they will eat!
I agree with what the previous poster said. Also, don't give up on foods even if it seems like he hates it. Just keep offering them to him in small amounts. You never know when he will start eating them again. Peter couldn't stand eggs either. Wouldn't eat them for months! But I kept offering them to him and now he wants them every morning.
Well, I only have limited experience, but Victoria has definately gone through picky stages. When she first started foods she would eat everything and anything (including dead flies and banana peels! :), but there have been times when she all of a sudden doesn't like something--to be honest, it has been a struggle during those times because picky eating is a pet peeve of mine :{ But I would make her eat a little and not allow her to eat anything else, if it was something that she previously liked. I wouldn't avoid serving it again, but I would only give her a little each time. Every time she has gone through a picky phase it has eventually ended, it seems to end more quickly if I don't make a huge deal out of it--not give in, but not make it a huge battle either--giving only a small amount avoids the huge battle for us. Nuts are one thing that she has never really enjoyed, but I have kept offering them to her in small amounts and now she will eat handfuls of them, it did take about 2 years but we got there :) Sorry about the long comment! I have been wanting to try that cookbook too, so maybe you could do a review of it after you have tried it :)
I've only discovered about two things that Charlotte wont eat. G on the other hand - SUPER PICKY! I can't even stand it. However, he will eat any green veggie at any time over anything else. He loves fruit, too. It's meat I have to sneak into his diet. He only eats chicken. . .
Oh, and I have that cookbook and LOVE it. I use it to sneak veggies into Ryan's diet!
I keyword searched "picky" on this forum. Maybe you'll find some helpful info here? I utilize this site for most of my new parent questions! :)
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=6066353
thanks mom friends for your help! I won't start panicing yet.:)
I love Seinfeld's book - I've found that I can sneak about any pureed veggie in pancakes, and Natalie will eat them (the book has all these recipes in it!)! We've used beets, sweet potatoes and cauliflower, and she's clueless. :) As everyone else said, they do grow out of it eventually, and until then, keep offering him everything and sneaking in a few "vital" veggies here and there. :) Good luck!!
I learned a lot from the feedback on this- thanks for asking for all this great advice, Kelly, so I can learn from it, too :) I can sympathize with Nina above- Elyse will go for one thing one day and refuse it the next... that kind of picky. I have learned that what Stephanie said is true- the more I fight it, the worse it does become. There's a balance in there somewhere! Thanks for letting me mooch off your advice :) It was helpful!
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