crappy diet nutrition-wise!

[kerrie24]

My daughter who is 6 is driving me insane,it was pointed out to me today at a friends house how much of a fussy eater she really is.

She wont eat any vegetables,I tried to get her to eat one slice of carrot and she was in tears and gagging!

She likes processed food-cheeseburger-nuggets-sausages-pizza,and plain chicken.Nothing else.

She wont eat pasta,rice,mash,noodles etc,just curly fries with every meal.

She does like fruit and cheese (spread,cubed,grated and also milk)so this is the healthiest thing she eats.

The rest of us have home cooked meals and plenty of variety,veg every day,I just keep trying with her but it makes mealtimes very hard work.

Anyone had this and found a way out?

 

[MrMom2k]

I would HIGHLY recommend you keep her away from all refined carbs and processed foods. This will have a deleterious affect on her body in the future and its better to avoid this habit now

 

[kerrie24]

I know she shouldnt be having it but she wont eat much else,it isnt because I want her to eat it.The chicken nuggets etc were introduced as a once a week treat type thing but now its all she will have,my boys have good fresh meals,meat veg etc.

 

[sophxx]

Have you tried making your own for her and telling her that it's that or nothing as you don't have any in.

You can coat chicken. With bread crumbs and oats and add spic. Or flavoring to the batter

I also make pizza for lo I buy passata and add blended veg so he can't see it as he doesntlike lumps it just lookalike normal tomato puree and then I add cheese I make the base to with wholesale flower.

Would she eat something like tempura veg with dip?

 

[kerrie24]

Have you tried making your own for her and telling her that it's that or nothing as you don't have any in.

You can coat chicken. With bread crumbs and oats and add spic. Or flavoring to the batter

I also make pizza for lo I buy passata and add blended veg so he can't see it as he doesntlike lumps it just lookalike normal tomato puree and then I add cheese I make the base to with wholesale flower.

Would she eat something like tempura veg with dip?

Thanks for your suggestions.

I have tried the pizza,she says it tastes funny.
I can get hidden veg into her lasagna which she will eat.
I have tried to make my own chicken strips for her but she said they werent nice.I have also done the eat this or there's nothing else,but she would happily starve all day,which is more worrying to me.

 

[sophxx]

How long has it been going on? It could be a phase but maybe you could speak to the school nurse if there is one or the doctor's they might be able to send you to a nutionist who might have some better ideas.

Have you asked her if she would like to help you cooking? Would she maybe make something together? X

 

[kerrie24]

She does help me cook and will peel veg,chop things etc just wont eat it.
Ive tried to encourage her,reward her and even tell her that the stuff she eats is bad for her.She will taste things if I push her but just pulls a face/retches/cries if I try to make her eat it.
I feel as if its been years since she ate a vegetable.

 

[holly2234]

I dont really have any advice from the point of view of a parent, but as a child, i wouldnt eat anything! In fact, i dont think i ate a vegetable until i was 18 and cooked for my own family!

What i wished my mum did, was just give to me what she gave to everybody else. If i didnt eat it, fine. But no child will starve in the face of food. I would have eaten it eventually. I also think as i got quite a bit older, i got stuck in a rut and if i ate something different, people would make a big deal out of it so i wouldnt bother, just to get them to leave me alone!

So possibly take that approach with your DD? She will probably be upset and retch etc for a few days but if you dont make a big deal over it and just go about business as usual, she will eat eventually. I know that i did! Unfortunately i was a mother myself by the time something snapped in me!

 

[hypnorm]

I would only cook one meal, everyone gets the same, make her meals small, and say she can only get down from the table once she has had so many mouth fuls of what ever is on the plate, do not give up she will scream, cry, anything. No pudding either unless she eats some of her dinner. Processed food it full of salt and fat so of course it tastes better.
I don't envy you, try charts and she can tick off what she has eaten.. Try a five fruit and veg chart - she gets a reward when she gets five fruit or veg a day.

Mine are fussy to an extent but if they don't eat they don't get anything else. Also I do now know which foods they REALLY don't like.

 

[angelae36]

Some of the problem could be the pressure you both feel under. You for wanting her to eat a better diet and your daughter for being watched like a hawk and told to "eat this, try this eat this"

Maybe give her a choice on a morning of 2 "menus".
When she has chosen explain that it is what she will be eating and there will be nothing else instead if she doesn't eat it.
Maybe set a time limit of 20 minutes and explain if she's not eaten by then it will be removed and nothing else will be given.
Be realistic about the portion size at first, just small amounts so it doesn't look so scary.

When you put it in front of her from then on ignore what she's doing. Be it eating, having a tantrum, crying screaming whatever. Maybe chat about how her day has been kind of thing and talk with other members of the family. What I mean is try not to focus on what she's eating if that makes sense?

Or an alternative, give her one thing that you know she will eat and give her a bit of something you want her to eat and maybe use some kind of reward chart so if she eats the spoon of mash she gets a sticker etc.
If it works then gradually replace the processed food with the food you want her eating.

Or, just don't buy the processed food. If it's not in the house she can't have it!

I'm sure at first she will fight you all the way and a battle of wills will commence, but the most important thing is whatever way you decide to go do not give in. At all, ever! Even if she's going to bed hungry (although I'd find that hard to handle myself!). She's old enough to know that she needs to eat and not just "junk".

I hope I've given you some ideas as to what you could do. Good luck!

 

[kerrie24]

Thankyou for the ideas.

 

[isil]

Some of the problem could be the pressure you both feel under. You for wanting her to eat a better diet and your daughter for being watched like a hawk and told to "eat this, try this eat this"

Maybe give her a choice on a morning of 2 "menus".
When she has chosen explain that it is what she will be eating and there will be nothing else instead if she doesn't eat it.
Maybe set a time limit of 20 minutes and explain if she's not eaten by then it will be removed and nothing else will be given.
Be realistic about the portion size at first, just small amounts so it doesn't look so scary.

When you put it in front of her from then on ignore what she's doing. Be it eating, having a tantrum, crying screaming whatever. Maybe chat about how her day has been kind of thing and talk with other members of the family. What I mean is try not to focus on what she's eating if that makes sense?

Or an alternative, give her one thing that you know she will eat and give her a bit of something you want her to eat and maybe use some kind of reward chart so if she eats the spoon of mash she gets a sticker etc.
If it works then gradually replace the processed food with the food you want her eating.

Or, just don't buy the processed food. If it's not in the house she can't have it!

I'm sure at first she will fight you all the way and a battle of wills will commence, but the most important thing is whatever way you decide to go do not give in. At all, ever! Even if she's going to bed hungry (although I'd find that hard to handle myself!). She's old enough to know that she needs to eat and not just "junk".

I hope I've given you some ideas as to what you could do. Good luck!

I would do the bit in bold! I was a nightmare for eating as a child and my mum would give me an option of 2 things but that would be that. She didn't make a massive fuss about it and I think that helped. Drawing attention to it will just make it into an issue imo.

 

[Whisper]

Having read all the responses i don't think i can add anything more, there are some wise people on here

 

[charliebear]

I dont have anything to add except my experience.

My son is 3 and is fussy too. He is gradually trying more new things, like the salad off my plate, he liked how it crunched when I ate it. He tried it and will eat it willingly now.
I tried making my own too and when he was weaned it was all homemade.

I found relaxing myself helped, he has a smoothie and vitamins every day, so at least he's getting some good stuff. He loves fruit but wont eat veg, except raw carrot and salad as mentioned above.

I watched a programme once where a girl would only eat chocolate and had a phobia of other food, it took until her teens for her to decide she wanted to eat 'normally'. There was also a toddler on there who was living on biscuits and yougurt. The advice given to the parents was to give him what he wants. It worked, he was soon asking for new things. Both children were healthy despite their diets.

Were kind of doing what thy did with the toddler, giving AJ what he asks for and that is how he decided he was going to try and eat salad. I have given up stressing out over it as it wasnt helping us or AJ.

I wish you all the best with your daughters food journey. x

 

[Inge]

My OH 9 yr old son does this. OH and I wont make different meals for each member so its one meal and thats it. Leo is 1 and he'll eat anything in front of him, Im hoping he keeps it up. I hope you find a solution

 

[tulong]

I dont really have any advice from the point of view of a parent, but as a child, i wouldnt eat anything! In fact, i dont think i ate a vegetable until i was 18 and cooked for my own family!

What i wished my mum did, was just give to me what she gave to everybody else. If i didnt eat it, fine. But no child will starve in the face of food. I would have eaten it eventually. I also think as i got quite a bit older, i got stuck in a rut and if i ate something different, people would make a big deal out of it so i wouldnt bother, just to get them to leave me alone!

So possibly take that approach with your DD? She will probably be upset and retch etc for a few days but if you dont make a big deal over it and just go about business as usual, she will eat eventually. I know that i did! Unfortunately i was a mother myself by the time something snapped in me!

I come from a family of 6 kids, and 4 of them are really picky eaters. But we have now grown up (age range now 14-27 yrs) and we are down to 2 picky eaters (the two youngest), but if you even knew the progress of one of them you would smile.

I love what Holly2243 said. Having been in a family of picky eaters, I've been able to observe lots. When the kids does try something, don't make a big deal out of it. Just pretend like nothing happened and they'll start trying a few more things here and there. Maybe not at this age, but in future years. Keep cooking nice homemade meals, and eventually the smell will smell good to them and eventually one day when you put it on their plate as you have every other day, they will try it. Also, another thing I noticed, when kids start hitting their growth spurt in the teenage years, they get so hungry! That's when they usually start to branch out a little more. When you are so hungry and have matured a little, you start trying things. I also liked Holly2243's idea of putting it on their plate.

Don't lose hope! It may not get better right now, but in the late teens early 20's, they'll probably grow out of it It happened to Holly2243 and to the 4 children in my family who have passed that point.

 

[Lucasmum]

My 5 year old is quite a fussy eater, but he isnt given the choice, we went through the he wont and and will starve himself phase and I realised that if it wasnt nipped in the bud sooner rather than later meal times were going to become a disaster area pretty damm quick and he wasnt going to starve in a hurry!

All we ask of our son is that he tries it, we get him to try stuff plain and with various sauces, recently discovered he loves roast parsnips dunked in ketchup (my idea of hell hate the stuff) however with a touch of sauce it meant he ate it.

 

[Ratty]

I have a similar issue to you. Although with my son its more to do with texture than taste I think.

There are certain things he will eat if mashed up i.e peas. Last night I mashed the carrots up with the potato and had no issues.

He won't eat things like jelly, marshmellows or sweets (except for boiled ones that he can suck). He will eat mince meat, but no other red meat that he has to chew.

He also does the gagging thing on carrots or peas etc if not mashed up. However, it seems to get worse when his tonsils are playing up. I think its got to do with foods that don't "disolve" when chewing and he can feel the food at the back of his throat when he swallows.

Does your child struggle with swollen tonsils or have tonsils that are fairly large?

 

[kerrie24]

I have a similar issue to you. Although with my son its more to do with texture than taste I think.

There are certain things he will eat if mashed up i.e peas. Last night I mashed the carrots up with the potato and had no issues.

He won't eat things like jelly, marshmellows or sweets (except for boiled ones that he can suck). He will eat mince meat, but no other red meat that he has to chew.

He also does the gagging thing on carrots or peas etc if not mashed up. However, it seems to get worse when his tonsils are playing up. I think its got to do with foods that don't "disolve" when chewing and he can feel the food at the back of his throat when he swallows.

Does your child struggle with swollen tonsils or have tonsils that are fairly large?

she does,I hadnt thought of that.