Are 'good eaters' lucky or as a result of parenting?

[OmarsMum]

I have a very picky eater, when he was 2.5 yrs he didn't eat more than 5 different foods. I worked so hard to get more varieties into his body. Chopping veggies, hiding new veggies in his dishes, adding seeds & grounded nuts to his dishes, experimenting with fruits & green smoothies & so on. Now he eats a wide variety of cooked meals, he still doesn't touch raw veggies or fruits but he gets those in his smoothies. I didn't cave in or offered him chicken nuggets or fish fingers as an alternative to nutritious meals, he loves those but I avoid them.

I envy those with kids who eat everything, my son doesn't even eat chocolates or cookies loool , it is a good thing but he's always the odd kid in parties who doesn't touch any food, he is that kid who spent a school year eating nothing for 6 hrs at school. I hate travelling & dining out, we stick to restuarants we know he eats something from their menu, he is also sensitive to foods texture & smell, if a restaurant smells of food he refuses to go in, if we invite people for dinner he refuses to sit with us as the sight of too much food on the table overwhelms him.

He is still too picky, but his diet is nutritious, I don't feed him crap for the same of getting him to eat

 

[lovelylaura]

Well i have 2 very different eaters so im going to say luck or genes maybe? I'm healthy OH not so much. Poppy is a healthy child loves fruit veg fish. However she will not touch anything with any extra flavour or sauce and refuses meat. Freya eats almost everything but prefers savoury over sweet. I did BLW with both and we always sit together at the table for meals. it's just taste buds and encouragement.

 

[pinklightbulb]

Dumb luck. Same as adults-- we all like and dislike things. Why are children any different? If you serve up something they don't like or think they aren't going to, then they won't eat it. As an adult I wouldn't either. Nothing to do with parenting whether your child is open to trying new things and liking them or they aren't.

FTR I have one horrible eater and one who is great, and did nothing different with either.

 

[minties]

Was all luck here, I never did anything special/different or put any big effort into it and my kids are both very good eaters.

Their cousin is 4.5 and classed as failure to thrive, his parents are lucky if he eats a few mouthfuls of food a day. They tried way, way harder than I ever did.

 

[Scottish mum]

Absolutely luck! My lo tends to be a good eater however I have days with him that he just seems to pick at food! X

 

[BigAl]

A bit of a touchy subject for me, as my lo is a really fussy eater. I "worked" just as hard as anyone else to introduce new and healthy foods but he just won't eat them. I don't give him any crap, he has eaten chocolate once in 2 years, and wouldn't eat apple pie and custard anymore than he would eat vegetables. So in the that respect I think most fussy eating is due to the child's personality. Of course a small minority are fussy because they are only exposed to a limited diet, but I would count my lucky stars if I was blessed with a good eater.

The same argument goes for a lot of things, my lo is on the whole really well behaved. I don't put this down to my good parenting, I put this down to being blessed with a good natured child. It actually really irritates me when parents take credit for the good things in their child's personality, such as good behaviour, sleeping and eating. The implication has to be that people with a badly behaved\poor sleeper\poor eater must be crap parents.

 

[Tiff]

We're lucky Claire is a good eater. I honestly don't know why she is, given that she has Autism its very rare for kiddos to be so open to trying new things.

We chose the route that if she didn't like what we have prepared, she didn't get anything different and she doesn't get dessert if she doesn't finish her dinner. But again, its easy for me to say that because I haven't had the worry/stress that she's not getting enough calories, or is seriously underweight.

Unless we're eating something kinda out of the norm that is. And I will bend if she doesn't want tomato sauce on her pasta, and prefers to have just butter and parm cheese. As long as she has some sort of veggie I'm okay with that.

I don't think its a result of parenting though, I think it really all depends on the kiddo. I have friends though who's kids definitely exploit it... I've had one friend make 5 different kind of dinners (all rejected when given to said kiddo - even though they asked for it) then get dessert after not even eating a meal. Its heartbreaking, because I know she really just wants her kiddo to eat.