Picky Eater! - New Plymouth,ID

You know, I had the same problem with my now, nine year old son. The pediatrician told me to ensure he was taking a multivitamin supplement daily and if he wants to eat the same thing day in and day out, let him. He said he will soon tire of the same old thing and want something different. He is now trying a few new things, not as much as I would like, but more than before.

My daughter is similar but even more of a picky eater and cannot be bribed! I can relate to your predicatment. You are not alone! My four year old girl has been that way since 11 months old! the doctor assures me she will go to college healthy and eating "normally" (although nowadays with so much obesity, what does that mean, right?). She only eats crackers (Saltines and no other brand!), sometimes apples or rarely bananas, dry cereal, cheddar cheese (only that kind and no other cheese), plain peanut butter (only JIF and no other brand), cashews, bread (just about any kind!), Gerber fruit strips (try those, they are a life saver even if they are baby items!) and Disney fruit gummies. She loves pretzel granola bars but won't eat any other kind. What I don't get is if she eats bread and she eats peanut butter, why won't she combine them and eat a sandwich? She won't open her mouth and eat mac and cheese or try it, or anything else new. We have to cut the crust off of pizza in order for her to eat "pizza" but she really isn't eating anything but plain bread there! Always looking for suggestions.......

Well anytime my kids didn't want to eat we used the whole reverse psychology thing. Whenever they would stop eating or not eat anything....In a suggestive voice.."don't eat it..don't eat it" then when they would...we would all go "AHHH" or "you can't eat that!"

I am sure we are setting them up to deify us later..but hey it gets them to eat!

Good Luck!
S.

We had the problem with our twins (5 y.o) about always being hungry. We even nicknamed them hungry 1 and hungry 2. They would eat their breakfast and 20 minutes later say they were hungry. When we went to their doctor she recommended having them eat more protein. This has helped with their hunger. sorry no ideas for picky eaters, mine eat variety of food.

The best way to cure picky eaters is to not cater to it. don't fix special meals. They eat what th rest of the family is eating. Put some of everthing on their plate and if they choose not to eat it, then that's their choice. you can always wrap the plate up and put it in the fridge for later. Then when an hour later they say their hungry, they can eat the plateful. Eventually, they'll learn to eat what's in front of them.

As far as being hungry all the time, try to make sure she's getting enough fiber-rich, and protein. For instance, when we have eggs and sausage for breakfast, my 4 yr old son does much better than if they have cereal.

My son is a picky eater but it is due to autism. You can bribe her with dessert, hide foods in others, but they aren't going to eat what they don't like. I recently read an article about introducing foods to picky eaters, I found it on the internet. It's a slow process but by leaving it on a seperate plate and having everyone at the table comment on how delicious it is helps. Then you move it to her plate but tell her she doesn't have to eat it, then have her touch it, then taste a small amount. Like I said, it is a long process over a week or so but you'll expand her meal choices. My son will literally gag when MADE to eat something his MIND doesn't like.