Dinner time is always dreaded at my house.
Home boy is the pickiest eater! It’s a constant battle
trying to get him to eat his food or try something new. He is usually crying or
whining because he’s too scared to try anything and he just can’t slow down
long enough to eat. The kid goes 90 mile an hour from the time he gets up to
the time I put him to bed. Like a 24 hour cup of coffee.
I read in Parents magazine that toddlers do not have bad
eating habits…{hold the phone! Yes they
do! I’ve got proof} but rather they learn bad eating habits from their
peers ie; me. {Ugh! why is it always the
parents fault?!}
So I read that over and over, and I’d have to agree with
that statement. I’ve always considered him a picky eater from the time he was a
baby…and when I think about it, so am I and so is his dad. He gets it honestly.
For a while I went on a health kick and was only eating
salads. I figured Teegan wouldn’t eat it, so I would offer him chicken nuggets,
lunchables, grilled cheese, or PB&J. I was being healthy but wasn’t even
giving him the chance…Then like most of my diets it ended within a week or two…
I started making regular dinners again, spaghetti, chicken
and rice, ya know, normal stuff…. But now he didn’t want to try any of these foods especially
the vegetables and even some fruits. I was not above bribing. So for every bite of noodle he’d
eat, I’d reward him with a smarty or a fruit snack… Wow, I had it all kinds of wrong!
So now, I’m in the process of breaking my bad
habits and my sons bad eating habits. Man has it been a bumpy road!
I have researched and read several articles on picky eaters.
Most of the articles all had a few things that were the same.
- Get the kids involved in preparing the food or helping them pick out the food while grocery shopping.
- Make the food look appealing by shapes or even naming it something else. (Just think how companies advertise to your kids with songs, fun colors, and characters…we have to do the same.)
- Be patient and offer the same foods multiple times. Don’t give up!
So now when Teegan and I are at the grocery store I let him
pick stuff off the shelf or pick the apples he wants, and let him put it in the cart. I
let him help me prepare dinner, and once a week he gets to pick what’s for
dinner. (This week he chose waffles.)
I haven’t tried changing food names to make it more
appealing. However, I have made homemade chicken nuggets and told him the stuff
I was putting on it was the same as McDonalds.
It took almost a year to get Teegan to eat carrots. One
thing that helped this was ranch dressing, and also buying the carrot coins and
cutting those in half, which eventually lead to baby carrots cut in half. Whew,
what a process, but now he eats them no problem!
Another tip that’s helped at dinner time, is not putting a
lot of one new thing on his plate. Trying to get him to try a green bean is
like pulling teeth. I was putting a scoop of green beans on his plate and to
him it’s overwhelming. So now I put 2-3 on his plate and ask him to try one. He
hasn’t tried one for me yet, but he has for his grandma!
Overall we have been making healthier choices and I have
been trying hard to be a good example so he will continue to make healthy food
choices not just now, but later on in life as well. Like previously said, I
have banned all fruit snacks in the house.
(Those were his life line!)
His snack choices now are typically grapes, apples, yogurt,
and popcorn.
I’m not gonna say all of our choices are 100% healthier, but
we are making better choices than we were before. And home boy has come a long
way in just a year.
The article was right. I had to be very consistent and not
give up or give in!
If you’re having trouble with your kid, don’t take my word
for it, try these tips yourself or check out these sites for more helpful
hints.
Feel free to share some tips you've used to help your picky eater!!
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