How to help a child who is a picky eater

Does your child scrunch up his face, throw meat back, and refuse to eat what you’ve served him? If so, he stops letting them get away with it. I will be frank. Do you think a kid who is desperately poor, who hasn’t had a decent meal in who knows how long, would make fun of the roast beef you’re serving? Your child can choose the food that he wants to eat or not, because he has enough to choose from. Trust me, if your kid hadn’t eaten in five days, that full container of tomato soup in your fridge might look edible by now. But luckily, if he lives in the US, his son should never be in that situation!

I knew a guy who hated vegetables. He ate fruits, hamburgers, pizza, nuts, etc. just not simple vegetables. When he thought he could get away with it, he would put the offending vegetables on his napkin, pretend he had to go to the bathroom and flush them down the toilet, or hide them under the garbage in the trash can. His mother asked his doctor what to do. (You can ask your own GP what to do with your child. There are fruit and vegetable supplements. Ask about them. However, this doesn’t make up for having the real product. It’s extra.) The boy’s doctor said: keep giving him fruits and find ways to make vegetables tasty. He also noted that the boy liked pizza. And that pizza has tomato sauce, which is a mashed vegetable. I can’t say that he recommends giving your child pizza to go, but how about making a pizza at home with fresh tomatoes and olives? Or put a sliced ​​tomato on top of a homemade burger? As a “not-so-vegetable” person, I like grilled vegetables and vegetables cooked in olive oil in a skillet. I also like raw vegetables with hummus. Humus makes vegetables more palatable. If your child doesn’t like one particle vegetable, try another. I know a guy who says he hates all vegetables except big, mild red bell peppers. He can try cutting up a large red bell pepper (not the hot pepper) and serving it with a healthy dressing.

Now, what if your child routinely crosses his arms and says, “Yuck!” to what you made for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Have a rule. You did what you did and that’s it. Your home is not a restaurant, with a menu full of meals that can be served at your whim. Your child can have the food you prepared or not. Just be sure to serve healthy foods. And that you try to take into consideration what they like and what they don’t like. (I can see a kid say disgust when he is served liver and yams every night. Have variety.) You cannot force your child to eat. But if they leave the table hungry, their food will be in the fridge if they get hungry. Or they can wait for the next meal. Remember that your child is not in a third world country, starving to death. Remember this when they complain that you are not being a good parent and not feeding them. You are feeding them. Just not the foods they want. The children will push. I’ll be honest, if I thought as a kid I could have gotten my mom to let me have mac and cheese or hotdogs for every meal, she would have. But luckily, she sets the rules. And she made more sense. Once you give up and let your child start eating, say, cereal every night for dinner while the rest of the family eats a regular meal, it will be hard to stop. Also, in other people’s houses it’s rude to say, “Ewe! I don’t like your pork chops. I hate potatoes. And your fruit. Can I have a bowl of cereal instead?” I’ve seen it happen. I said no. The boy ate what I served. The boy’s mother was amazed. Why should she be she astonished her? She can also say no. Her son will eat something that works for him, even a little, if she is hungry enough.

Sometimes, to stop eating their healthy dinner, your child can try the “I’m not hungry” routine. If this happens every night and your child isn’t sick, find out what she eats for a snack. To curb this, cut back on snacks and have the “snack bar at home” close at 4pm (depending on when you serve dinner).

Growing up, my mother was strict but fair when it came to food. She realized that there are some foods that children do not like. Each of my siblings and I were allowed to choose one food that we didn’t like and didn’t have to eat. (She also added fava beans and liver since she did not like these foods). I chose pea soup, but argued that since pea soup was made with peas, I shouldn’t have to eat peas either. I never had to eat peas. Now of course I tried them, that’s why I gave them two thumbs down. You can try my mother’s idea on your family.

Lastly, don’t have a rule that unless your child cleans his plate, he can’t get up from the table. Growing up, my brother did not like two vegetables. A lot. Green beans and something else. My father said that he couldn’t excuse himself until he finished his green beans. My mom’s idea of ​​”at least having a few” was scrapped. So my brother could get up from the table, I remember sneaking his green beans at least twice, which didn’t freak me out either. The point is, don’t make eating an unpleasant chore. Food should not be forced to swallow unhappily. Eating should be something we enjoy. It’s not a bad memory.