This phrase is incredibly common, except in my case I really think that I have the most bizarre picky eater of all. All of the flavors and foods that most children prefer she shuns, and foods that I didn't enjoy until my twenties are her favorites.
Case in point, she won't drink juice.
I can't think of a good reason why she won't. When she was younger she liked it, but now as soon as someone offers her a glass she runs away as though offered poison.
She won't have candy unless it's lemon or lime flavor, and anything cherry or strawberry-flavored she rejects. She likes spicy meats like salami, and any kind of cheese, but apples and oranges are out of the question. She can have fish any day of the week, but peanut butter and jelly could go bad in my cabinets.
Perhaps the openness to all of these unusual flavors is a good thing, but it definitely makes preparing food for her an interesting experience to say the least.
Do you have a picky eater? What are your child's favorite foods?
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Comments (8)
My son has a short list of foods he will eat, but he is starting to expand them. I think he probably eats an average amount of foods for a kid his age.
He likes apples, oranges, pears, bananas, strawberries, and carrots. He likes spaghetti, no meatballs and he will pick the meat out of meat sauce. He likes chicken nuggets/tenders and he is starting to expand his taste buds to eat non-breaded chicken. He likes shrimp and fish. It may be a while before he will eat non-breaded fish. He likes breakfast sausage. He may eat scallops without breading. He likes steel cut oatmeal, grits, and cereal with no milk. He also likes french fries and noodles (he can get particular about the shape). He is very picky about the kind of juice he will drink.
I was picky when I was a kid. The good thing is I grew out of it (mostly) and so will our children.
My daughter was never a picky eater until recently. She was able to eat every and anything without an issue but lately she's been very particular about what she eats.
I made chicken alfredo yesterday with mushrooms and accidently served her a piece of mushroom. Well, this wouldn't have been an issue before because she would eat it or put it aside but she made such a big fuss about it and refused to eat it unless I threw away the mushroom. I told her to not be picky and to not eat it if she didn't want to but she wouldn't budge unless I removed it from her plate. Needless to say, I have to be very careful about what I put on her plate now otherwise I'll get complaining or whining. For the most part, she's good at eating vegetables but sometimes that picky attitude can come out and it can be very stressful having to deal with it.
My 2-year old has been an insanely picky (and weird) eater for the past year, and is finally starting to eat mostly anything. For awhile, he would live off of cooked veggies. And fruit. And that's about it. But he even preferred his veggies over the fruit, so weird. Now he will do anything to get junk food (he loves chips, cookies, etc...things we don't normally have in the house, but did a lot over the holidays). But he is eating much more now, finally eating most meats, bread, pasta, etc...I finally figured out though, that he really just does not like mashed potatoes/gravy/ketchup/sauce. Weird kid. LOL
Wow! My daughter will eat fish sticks with tartar sauce, but forget any other type of fish! For the longest time, she wouldn't eat any meat whatsoever. Thankfully, she's kind of out of that pickiness stage. Her favorite food, by far, is cottage cheese. Holy cow. Put some cottage cheese on her plate and it's gone in a matter of minutes and she'll want seconds. Everything else on her plate? Doesn't get eaten. And if it does, it'll be after she's finished all her helpings of cottage cheese.
My two have tried this often. But they are always made to try at least 1 bite even if they believe they don't like it. I will serve foods over and over and over. Every time they have to try at least 1 bite.
my oldest son, 4-1/2, is a step beyond a picky eather. He's a "resistant eater", as I discovered while doing research for ideas to help him.
He will not eat any vegetable or fruit (not even in pies/cobblers/smoothies/mashed potatoes) except in juice and sometimes fries. He won't eat any meat except hotdogs (no bun), bologna, and just recently, we got bacon in there, too. Chicken nuggets and fish sticks are hit-and-miss with him. He'll have a food he absolultly loves, but will suddenly drop (such as applesauce and yougurt). It's rare that I can get him to eat those anymore. He like Mac n Cheese, ramen, and sometimes spaghetti, but no other kind of noodle dish. Sometimes he'll eat cheese, but he's starting to refuse that, too, except in Mac n Cheese. He's good with other dairy.
Even most desserts he won't eat. Pudding, some candies, ice cream with toppings or any chunks in it, cookies with chunks: he'll refuse! (I think it's easier to name what he will eat than what he won't. Brownies, plain ice cream or sherbet, some cakes, and some cookies. I think that's it)
If I try to force him to taste one bite, he gags before it reaches his mouth. If I say, "This is what I made, you can choose to eat it or not" he'll often choose "not" and once went an entire week without eating dinner. I did make sure that I made breakfast foods he liked because he's so skinny he needs something. At least he likes whole grain hot cereals (as long as they're just one grain, not mutli-grain) and whole wheat bread, so he's getting SOME important nutriants. I wish I knew what to do to help him overcome his...borderline phobia...of foods. I tried the "sneaky chef" idea...and he knew. He wouldn't eat Mac N Cheese for a month after I tried to sneak a little purreed sweet potato into it one night.
Any ideas, anyone?
Some kids just have weird tolerances and preferences. Try offering her more flavorful things--maybe look into cuisines from other cultures. She might enjoy the spice of Indian food, for example. And be careful how you approach food yourself--kids sometimes feed off of adults. If you refuse to eat something, she might, too.
@smile4iluvya@xanga - That has to be so frustrating! I don't have many ideas, but know that when you feel in completely over your head, there is help. Talk to your pediatrician about his eating and about getting a consult for an occupational therapy evaluation or a consultation with a feeding specialist. If there's more to his picky-ness than just behavior (sensory difficulties, pain from reflux), they can work with him to get him past this stage. If it's just "typical", they can give you some strategies to get him to eat more.
You should check out this website http://childrenandbabiesnoteating.com/ . It has so much information about why kids won't eat and what you can do about it. It helped me understand what was happening with my daughter and helped me find a feeding therapist to help her eat more.