Picky Eating Kids Remedy

Know the Techniques for Picky Eater Kids

All Moms and Dads went through this with their children at some point, and it is not easy! There is no quick overnight fix to end picky eating, but there are a few amazing ways to curb it and make your life much easier! So here you go moms .... hopefully, these ideas will bring as much success to you as they did for me.

Having a picky eater at home can be tough, but these tips will help!

Is It Normal for My Kid to Be a Very Picky Eater?

If you are anything like me, your grocery shopping revolves around your toddler and their likes/dislikes this week! Mac and cheese was a hit last month so you buy 80 boxes this month, smirking like a fool at the check-out because they don't realize you are Super-Freaking-Mom today! Then when you serve the first box you hear, "I don't like this anymore; it's too sticky!" It's okay to cry...it's okay!

So besides having 79 boxes of macaroni and cheese to get rid of, you have to come up with another meal choice in a pinch, so you ask "what do you want?" Congratulations if you get a straight answer that doesn't involve cookies or ice cream!

Start Early!

Okay, let's face it, for most of you this one has long since passed! However, it is never to early to start planning for the next picky eater! Many parents are guilty of creating their child's bad habits, and one way we do this is by programming them to like certain foods.

When they are small we feed them mushy, bland foods because that is what we are supposed to do! If you spent the first years of your life eating food with no texture or taste, you would shy away from a little crunch too!

Start exposing your child to different textures early in life so they won't be as likely to be displeased because something is "squishy" or "slimy".

Don't Engage in Power Struggles

Often times I find myself arguing with my three-year-old over something absolutely absurd! I am the adult, why am I even discussing this with you? Oh, yeah because you are a Person too! A little person, but still a person whose opinion matters!

Telling your child they MUST eat everything on their plate, or they HAVE to eat their peas will only make them turn up their noses, dig in their heels, and yell "No Way"! Avoid using power words that gain control over a person and instead try saying:

My peas are so yummy I ate them all, what was so yummy you ate it all?

Could you please finish at least one vegetable and half of something else?

Maybe you could find room for just a couple more bites if you tried really hard? ( This is when I pretend to feel all over their belly and find a spot for three more peas!)

Please ..... you would be amazed at how far you get when asking instead of telling!

Allow them to Help You Plan the Week's Menu!

Kids want to be included, they crave attention and want to be a part of something bigger than themselves! Allowing them to participate in the menu planning gives them an opportunity to have their tiny voice heard, and that means so much to a child!

Have them sit down with you and choose a few meals each week. Let them pick what they want and don't argue with them about it. if they suggest cookies, you could redirect by saying "We need everyone to eat healthy so they won't get sick, we could have cookies for dessert though"! That way you are not saying no to their idea, but still teaching them that it is important to be healthy. If they choose Pizza and Pickles, let them have Pizza and Pickles! I would probably do that for lunch though!

Grocery Field Trips!

This has been the single biggest success for me when it came to getting my kids to try new foods! Go to the grocery store and take your time looking at all the different types of food and produce! Let them touch things and encourage them to pick out one thing they have never had, but would like to try! Some new foods have been met with a big YUCK! However, it was also how my daughter found out she liked mango, kiwi, plums, and many types of vegetables!

Kids will love having the freedom to choose whatever they want, and will be excited to rush home and try their new find! You might find a slew of new foods your kids will eat that you had just dismissed, like broccoli or okra!

Additionally, if you have the space growing a garden together has the same effect and they learn a great life skill!

The One-Bite Rule

Ask (don't force) your child to eat at least one bite of everything on their plate. If they don't like it, that's okay, but they might find it is delicious and eat all of it! You can add a little flair and make it fun using one of these ideas:

Tell them you will take a bite at the same time and then the two of you will compare notes on what you each thought about it!

Tell them you want them to explain how it tastes to you... Is it sour, sweet, or salty? Mushy or crunchy?

Have them close their eyes and try a bite of something new, what color does it taste like? (My kids adore this, they laugh so hard when they think it is Orange but it is actually Green... I still haven't figured out why that is so funny .....)

Make sure you put at least one best seller on their plate because you ultimately do want them to eat something!

Don't Force Them

This sounds a lot like don't engage in power struggles, but it is altogether different! We get frustrated and assert our authority over them by telling them they need to eat it all! The power struggle is when you argue with your child, force is when you give them no choice to argue!

Dinner time should be a time for bonding and creating memories with each other, a special time of day where you are all finally in one place and together! it shouldn't be something that is dreaded because they know they are going to be forced to finish their peas, and they hate peas!

Dealing with a picky eater is never fun!

Stop Worrying

As parents, we are hard-wired to worry, constantly, about our children. It is a paternal instinct to keep your child healthy and alive. If they are not getting the correct nutrition from all the different food groups how can they be healthy? So if they never eat a vegetable how are they getting the right vitamins and minerals? It's enough to drive you insane!

Calm down guys! Kids will eat what they need to stay alive, they won't let themselves go hungry! If you are truly worried about their nutrition, add a daily Flinstone Vitamin to their diet! Don't ruin a child's experience with food because you are a worry wart!

Don't Punish Them for Not Eating!

Please don't punish your child because they don't eat what you think they should. There are many reasons a child won't eat their food, and one being they might really not like it! You might think they are being dramatic, or you might think that they are purposely being disobedient, but please don't punish them!

People often find themselves saying things like "If you don't eat I am taking away TV", do you really want your child to choke down something that makes them gag just because they want a TV? What if you are forcing them to eat when they are not hungry? Would you want someone to make you eat anchovies before you could watch CSI? I sure wouldn't!

My son has a sensory issue and certain types of pasta make him gag. I didn't realize this was even a thing (YET!), and couldn't understand why he would eat spaghetti sauce on macaroni noodles but would say he didn't like ziti? So I told him - I knew he liked it because he had it before, and ate it all, and to please try one bite ..... BAD CHOICE! It actually made him physically sick all over himself and my floor!

Needless to say, I felt like the worst human being in the entire world at that moment! He was spoiled rotten the rest of the day, and I learned a valuable lesson! What if I had punished him when he refused to eat it? Would that have been fair?

Should you Bribe a picky eater?

Don't Bribe!

If you eat all your broccoli I will buy you a doll! Boy, how many of you have heard (or used) this one before? How many of you have a basket of trinkets at the ready for moments just like these? Finish all your food and you can have a puppy!

Let's examine this for a minute. If someone approached you and said "Hey, eat all that mashed potatoes and I will give you five bucks" and they did give it to you as promised, what would you do at the next meal? You bet you're.... well let's just say I would refuse to eat until I was offered another five dollars, and I wouldn't stop!

Kids are not stupid by any means, they are very clever and know a good thing when they see it! So if refusing to eat for a minute gets them promises of candy and toys, they are going to learn how to use that to their advantage!

Good Bribe Vs. Bad Bribe

Good Bribe

Bad Bribe

Why?

I would love to have our yummy cake for dessert as soon as you eat a bit more healthy food!

Eat your chicken and I will give you a king size candy bar!

Desert is something that everyone participates in after they eat healthy food, a candy bar is just a reward for eating.

I would love to go for ice cream but we really need to eat something good before going to get junk food!

Eat your peas and carrots and I will give you Ice cream!

Again it's the wording, in the first example your not giving a reward you're offering an activity but you need a full belly first, the second is a reward just for eating!

Let's watch TV and cuddle but can we fill up our bellies first so we are nice and comfortable and our bellies don't growl?

Eat your food and you can watch Tv!

The first is not saying you won't watch Tv together you just want them to be full and happy, the second implies no Tv unless they eat.

Maybe we can go play at the park once we eat and get some energy!

Eat your food and I will take you to Walmart to get a Toy!

The second one is giving a huge reward for something they should be doing anyway, while the first is giving them a good reason why they should eat before they go!

Bribes are not always bad when worded correctly! However, it is usually best to stay away from them when possible! I am a mom so I understand that sometimes it is easier to do whatever gets them to eat, but can you afford to get a toy at every meal?

Put the Electronics Away

Besides being a fabulous writer .... heh... I am a waitress, and I watch hundreds of family's a week eating together! The single most annoying thing to see is family's where every single member has their nose shoved into some form of the electronic device! Seriously, what happened to turn off the Tv, taking off your hat, no elbows on the table, what did you do today family dinners? They just disappeared!

Now I am no stranger to electronics, I love my tablet and my Laptop, and would probably shrivel up in a corner detoxing without them. However, dinner time is family time, bottom line! Put them away for ten minutes and show your child that eating is a family event and they will be more likely to join in!

Letting your child watch Tv or play games on their handheld devices while eating is a terrible idea! Kids will not focus on their food and therefore will not eat nearly as much!

Turn them off, seriously! If you cannot go an hour without them for dinner then your child likely has more pressing issues to worry about, like being neglected for Facebook!

Is Your Child Not Eating Right?

Getting children to eat healthy and nutritious food is a war. Sometimes the only thing you can do is gather your armor and hope to win a handful of battles! If you utilize the ideas above you should notice a giant improvement in your kids picky eating habits! However, even the best of us have to let our kids win once in a while!

If you really want to understand why your toddler won't eat, study their habits. You will need to get to the root of the problem before you can work on fixing it! Once you determine why they are not eating well, you will be better prepared to negotiate the tricky terrain of picky eating!

Some reasons a child won't eat well are:

They really don't like what you are giving them! If you have gotten your kid to take a bite and they consistently decline a certain type of food, there is no point in pushing it.

They don't feel well! Does your little one eat fine sometimes and other times wants nothing to do with food? Are there certain times of the day they don't eat? There may be a bigger problem involved?

Certain food may make them not feel well. Recently people have become more aware of gluten and dairy allergies, if your kid is declining to eat a specific type of food it may be that food is making them feel yucky!

They may not be hungry! Just because Lunch is at 12 and Dinner is at 6 doesn't mean your kid is hungry then! If you notice your little one is asking for food at later times you may have to adjust your eating schedule!

Too many snacks! I am a huge fan of snacking if it is healthy! If my child wants apples I give them apples! If they want carrots ..... guess what they get! However, sometimes snacking can interfere with meals, just keep an eye on when they are snacking and if they eat better when they don't snack during the day!

Too tired to eat! My children are normally six out of the seven dwarfs, but the minute they get tired outcomes Grumpy! I cannot get a bite into them when they are tired, they just are not interested in food! Maybe try Lunch after their nap instead of before and see if that helps their picky eating habits!

Drinking too much! Just as with snacking I do not say no if my littles want water or milk! It is just as, if not more, important they stay hydrated. However, we don't drink close too or during meals because I don't want them to fill their bellies with juice! We get drinks after or halfway through meal time! I do the opposite of this! I try to fill up before eating which is what made me think of this!

Sensory Issues! It never occurred to me before the ziti accident occurred, that my kid may have sensory issues! Since then I have become much more aware of what he likes, dislikes, and why. Most of the things he dislikes have a certain texture! So maybe it is not the taste so much as the texture. To get around this I will cook some foods differently! Don't like crunchy, okay, I will boil the vegetables! It works!

Picky Eaters Are Not Bad Eaters

Just because your little one is not fond of certain foods, or tries to make mealtime a battlefield, doesn't mean you have to engage. They are not bad, just in need of some guidance.

Children don't have the skills needed to understand why eating is important to their health, they don't understand correct nutrition, have no idea why they need vitamins, and could not tell you what a calorie is! All they know is this is good, this is yucky, I am hungry and now I am not, and what you are showing them!

If they know they can control something in their lives by refusing to eat, they will! Don't show them it bothers you or make it a big deal, and you will see results! Kids will eat when they are hungry, and won't if they are not!

Remember, if nothing else is working you can always resort to the old standby! Eat what is given to you or wait for the next meal because I am not a short order cook! That's what my mom did and (I would not be surprised to hear) what most of you did and here we are just fine, worrying about our kids now!

Thanks for reading...