[Mars]

Is your little one an adventurous eater? Is he/she/they willing to try out new foods?

I am between a rock and a hard place when it comes to foods for the little missy. Not only is she extremely picky but she is unwilling to try most new foods. She will tell you she doesn't like something without even tasting it. Some days I really do not know how she is surviving. I try to take comfort in the fact that she pees and poops regularly but it's driving me insane trying to look for healthy nutritious foods that she is willing to try.

For a main meal she will eat pasta, rice and fries (homemade) with ketchup. I usually mixed in her veggies in her foods but she's now at the phase of picking them out. She wants to eat "bakes" (local and caribbean food which has no real nutritional content) daily. This has been the latest trend. Bakes mainly have flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt (optional) and water. Some people add baking powder and butter. They are fried (I have no idea why they call a fried food a bake but moving along...), I've been adding oatmeal to them and I've reduced the sugar to make it a wee bit healthier. In addition I fry in olive oil only but despite all that they are not a healthy meal yet she wants to eat them for breakfast every day.

She used to love smoothies and icies and I would be able to give her veggies that way but recently she hasn't been into them.

I think I've tried every suggestion out there with no luck thus far.

So, what is it like with your little ones?

[Capns Girl]

Madi is pretty much the same way. I've figured out the best way to get her to try new things is to introduce it when there are other kids eating it too. If she sees another kid eating it then she is more likely to try it. It makes it hard because as of right now she is an only child and we seldom eat with other people.

I can't wait till she can be reasoned with! At that time I'm planning on enforcing a "No thank you" bite rule. Basically its where they have to try a full sized bite before they can refuse it. My sister does this with her 3 kids and she says that usually they realize they like it and will finish whatever it was that they weren't so sure about.

Good luck!

[Resi]

Oliver has always been picky and eats small portions. I stressed about it on and off for a long time. He started eating better lately and I'm so happy about that. He just started trying some new things and eating things he wouldn't before. If he doesn't like it he will spit it out which is fine with me. Sometimes he still won't try something but I don't push it. When he was super picky he would always want snack foods like crackers. I stopped buying them and then he didn't have it to fall back on.

Have you thought of making something like a "bake" with better ingredients to try and trick her? Like maybe using a sweet potato that you mash up, adding the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and still frying it? You could add some carrots too. What always worked for me is making homeade soups. I can get Oliver to eat veggies he normally wouldn't if it's blended up.

GL and remember it's a phase she will outgrow.

[*krista*]

Charlotte will try anything at this point. She definitely has things she doesn't like. She doesn't like anything that is too dry. But for now she isn't too picky.

Question -- once kids get to a certain age do they typically get more picky, or have the picky eaters been picky since they started solids??

[Mars]

I have tried tricking Amara into trying foods but it has not worked. I tried adding other healthy things to her bake and I've tried introducing more foods with tomato ketchup as she likes that but as long as she picks up a new taste, she spits it out.

She has outgrown her cow's milk allergy but I still give her goat's milk. Recently I tried her with cow's milk and she tasted it and told me she doesn't like it.

Krista, I think it depends on the child. Amara was pretty adventurous when we first started solids but now it's a real pain.

I browse recipe sites constantly looking for ideas and trying out new options but no luck.

This morning she was willing to have chicken nuggets again after not wanting them for about 6 weeks.

[Capns Girl]

Originally Posted by *krista*

Charlotte will try anything at this point. She definitely has things she doesn't like. She doesn't like anything that is too dry. But for now she isn't too picky.

Question -- once kids get to a certain age do they typically get more picky, or have the picky eaters been picky since they started solids??

I think for some kids its a phase and for others its a personality trait!

[Resi]

Originally Posted by *krista*

Charlotte will try anything at this point. She definitely has things she doesn't like. She doesn't like anything that is too dry. But for now she isn't too picky.

Question -- once kids get to a certain age do they typically get more picky, or have the picky eaters been picky since they started solids??

I think they get more picky as toddlers or preschoolers. Oliver wasn't very picky when he started eating but around 1 year old he got picky. It just started getting better at 2 1/2 years old. He still is picky but will try more and eat more than before.

The almost 2 year old boy I watch will eat anything and has never been picky with me. He is the easiest kid ever! Eats a ton, sleeps so well, and listens to me with out any problems.

Mari, She must be going through a phase like Oliver did. He would eat eggs or something for a week and then would not touch them for a month or more. It went like that with yogart, eggs, cottage cheese, and certain soups. Hopefully she will outgrow it when she hits 2 1/2. It stinks and can be stressfull figuring out what to feed them.

[Mars]

I hope she outgrows it soon before I go crazy.

[soImarriedAnerd]

My kid will eat anything you put in front of him Its almost a game to see what we can get him to eat LOL

[Nami]

Chris use to at least try whatever was put in front of him but now.. some things he'll flat out not want to try even though we know he'd like! Luckily he's not that picky and eats a lot of things now. Alissa, she will try just about everything but eat hardly anything! She is super picky! Unless it's American food She loved her some American foods while we was in the states and ate everything we gave her!

[midnight_starr]

So far Adeline hasn't refused anything we have given her!

[alicenwonderland]

I'm no help. Teddy is allergic to EVERYTHING. I can't even get him on the basics. I hope Amara comes around. Have you read the Sneaky Chef book? Its all about sneaking healthy foods into normal foods.

[Trannyfromtheuk]

We went through a picky phase and with a lot of sticking our ground and refusing to give her all the rubbish she wanted she started to eat better.

[~* Helen *~]

Ryans a bit more fussy now hes older and has influence from school friends etc .. Chloe will more or less eat anything ediable lol

[ScottishBrit]

Cambrias Picky. She will try something once maybe twice but then I can probably never get it in her again. I will give her choices and she always wants mac and cheese! I feel like it's the only thing I ever give her! LOL

[Mars]

Ive never given her alot of processed foods, sweets or anything like that and for the most part she refuses a lot of crap foods too. She does love cake (mainly the frosting) and icecream but I limit her portions. I make most of what she eats and I can get in the veggies and fruit in some form but these days it's like she has 2 foods and that's all she wants to eat.

I think it was in my playroom that someone posted the 1 ingredient icecream (made with frozen banana) and I made it and she loved it. So I've been adding a few extra things in with it now. She has eaten a bit better these last few days but she's still not giving up the bakes.

[Bre*n*Will=Reid]

I'm actually very lucky with Reid. He will eat nearly anything (sushi, pho, all kinds of meat, fish, broccoli, carrots, onions, edamame, soup, sandwiches, pasta, eggs, yogurt, etc etc)

I don't know if it's anything I've done or if I just got truly lucky, haha. I will say that we have always "made" him eat whatever we are eating. I won't make him something special. If he doesn't eat what's in front of him, he can go without for like an hour (to see if he's really serious) - most of the times he will go back to the table and eat, but if not, I will make him something else. He never flat out refuses to eat anything reasonable. He can be difficult for snacks, like demanding something unhealthy, but the "this or that" method works pretty well on him. "Would you like cereal or yogurt?" and he will almost always just choose one.

[ShannonMVT]

I would say Matthew is fairly picky. He loves pretty much all fruit, lots of breads, but is pickier on protein and stuff like that. I struggle with the fact that a lot of the things that Dh and I like to eat for dinners are either things Matthew won't eat or CAN'T eat due to dairy allergy. He eats more chicken nuggets that I'd like to admit for lunch and I do fall back on PB&J a lot too. (Well, it's actually sunflower seed butter but same concept).

I honestly don't stress over it as much as most moms I know. I try and offer him protein, veggies, fruit, etc but I can't MAKE him eat it. And I'm just not interested in fighting any huge battles over it. Lucky for me he does eat at least some protein/fat (eggs, coconut yogurt/avocado/sunflower seed butter) and veggies (tomatoes/brocolli/sweet potato) that I don't feel like he is suffering any huge nutritional deficiencies so I just try to offer new things and if he won't eat them, oh well. Try again later. And again, different from a lot of moms, I don't let him go hungry if he isn't eating what we are...I offer him something else. He is decent about trying a bite of something with a little cajoling but then he'll spit it out if he doesn't like it and I'm not going to force him to eat it.

[**jessie**]

Jaxon seems to go through phases. Most of the time he is adventerous, but he has definitely gone through some serious picky stages- I think I even posted about it before.

When he is picky, soup is always a good option. He likes the sort of creamy, purreed soups with no chunks. For meat, I have a marinade that I use on salmon. It is 1/3 c water, 1/3 c oil, 1/3 c soy sauce, and 1/3 c brown sugar. Marinade for at least 2 hours and then grill or bake with garlic salt on the top. He seems to like this because it has a sweet-ish taste to it. Really yummy- you should try it even if she doesn't like it!

Other than that, I offer 1 thing at meal times (well, often with a couple components to it). If he doesn't eat it, he doesn't eat it and I don't make another meal. I do have a snack plate down all day with fresh veg, fruits, sometimes breads, hummus, ect so he can always snack from there if he wants.