FUSSY CHILD AND GIVING HIM A ROAST DINNER..

[BLUESEAPARADISE]

We have DC friend over tonight and we are all having chicken pie, roast potatoes, peas, carrots and Yorkshire pudding with gravy,

The friend is incredibly fussy ( and I understand it's very difficult as my DC is fussy) however his mum has told me to give him a roast dinner just like everyone else to try and encourage him to try something.

How would you serve the meal with as little stress as possible? One potato? Or a small bit of potato? One carrot? One pea?? How about the pie?!

The friend apparently is very unlucky to try any of it but mum still wants me to serve it to him in a hope he will try!

I don't really want to overwhelm him with a large plate of food but It would be nice to say to his mum when he picks up that he has had something!

Sorry for this post I am such a worrier!

Any tips on how to support a child ( who isn't yours) who is incredibly fussy?

Well done! 2 children successfully fed, definitely a win

As I childhood fussy eater I wouldn't have eaten either pudding for the same reason as gravy - yukky runny/melty food that touches other food. Drove me nuts that every party had jelly and ice cream.

Only started eating custard when I made my own ultimate control freak

OP I’d have eaten it. You’re making me hungry! Sounded delicious.

Glad it went well.

Sounds as if a happy evening was had by all which is fundamentally the aim of the visit (and fantastic that the OP's ds had a great meal).

The problem is that fussy children are all different. When my dd was very fussy any sign of sauce would have been enough for her to reject the whole plate, so only the help yourself option would have worked (she would probably have eaten some of the separate potatoes and vegetables). But she did sometimes eat surprising things at friends houses so I think it was worth a try. She is a very adventurous eater and great cook now, so parents of fussy eaters there may be better times ahead :)

My DS1 is very fussy and may eat the dry meat part of a roast dinner and nothing else, so if it was described as a roast dinner and the dry meat element turned out to be a chicken pie he wouldn't even have it on his plate. So, altho i know it's pedantic, i wouldn't call that meal a roast just because the 'roast' part is absent.

I would also say putting things in the middle is best for my buggers.

Oh and in future you could serve a picky tea instead. I never usually use that term, but i saw it pissed off some of the Reddit critics so am determined to crow bar it in as often as possible. ( at Liney)

Granny the OP didn't ask for a nutritional analysis. Bit sad that you feel the need to distribute unsolicited judgement.

All that's 'roast' about that meal are the potatoes! . Not my idea of a roast dinner at all, although it may be one I may adopt...
Anyway, a question. I've been out of the U.K.for some years. When did Yorkshire pud become an accompaniment to chicken or ham? ? And particularly chicken pie? When I left it was only served with roast beef, unless you lived oop north when it was served before the beef.

My DD1 (8) is very fussy, more as a control thing in her case. It’s so hard to know what to do for the best, isn’t it, OP? Obviously we don’t want to make food an issue but at the same time we want them to have a balanced diet.

There was nothing wrong with the meal. It’s great that your DS ate it, even if his friend didn’t.

Gotta say though that's a fuck load of carbs.
Oh fuck off. In this situation nobody is interested in your dietary advice.

Sounds lovely OP, your DS has good taste as far as I'm concerned - I'd love pie and yorkies!

OP my DD was a very fussy eater (at almost 5 she's getting better but is still fussy/nervous if she doesn't recognise things when eating away from home)

Of what you're offering, she would eat:
The pie
The potatoes
Maybe a sprinkling of peas
Gravy it is was the colour she was used to.

If I knew we were going to a friend's to eat that kind of thing, I'd really like it if all the sides were on the table ready to help themselves, and then just a small piece of pie was given to DD on her plate to begin with. No more than a handful (her hand) with the clear knowlegde that she can ask for more.

Then I would try to encourage her myself to take some potatoes and some peas (I'd encourage the other stuff too but I wouldn't waste too much energy encouraging stuff I know might put her off the entire thing)

If she ate a moderate portion, with enthusiasm, and stayed at the table and had nice manners, I'd be delighted. With a fussy eater, for me, it's all about her trying something she isn't totally used to, giving it a really good go. If she's ravenous later, I'll make her toast myself at home. The important thing is that she sits and eats and appreciates it.

Ah, have just seen that his mum won't be there... in which case definitely just serve a very small piece of the pie and put the otehr stuff on the table for him to help himself. Potatoes should be safe so maybe try to encourage him to at least have one. Don't worry about the other stuff, honestly, I'm sure his mum won't mind if he's not actually ingested as many calories as he might at home. Food is all about experience as much as it is nutrition/energy, so if he's sat at the table, nibbled some things and not freaked out, that's a good result imvho!

Aggh hadn't rtft, sorry - well done OP, sounds a good result. My advice, such as it was, came too late!!

Yay! Two children fed with minimal drama.

I kept telling myself that the main thing was to keep on immersing DS in ‘good meal times’, where the emphasis was on joining in and being social... hard to do when you can see them getting thinner before your eyes though!

I persisted and he’s mainly over the fussiness, but it was horrible when we were going through it. I know I’m lucky there was an end to it, so lots of sympathy your way!

Welldone on your son eating it! Bet you're so happy! Ignore the comments!

It sounds like a happy meal time...I'd easily have eaten two puddings too OP!!
Can I ask, why has the fact it's 'carb heavy' been brought up? Why is this a bad thing?

My ExMiL was very good at this kind of thing, bless her. Tonnes of grandkids, and she had something for everyone. I must tell her that one day.

Shitting hell OP, don't tell the MN Food Police about those desserts after the death by carbs main meal!

Glad your DS liked it. My DS has been very fussy in the past but has been slowly getting better, every time he asks to try something else then declares he likes it is cause for celebration. Last week he suddenly wanted to try baked beans and said how much he loved them, I nearly died in shock! Maybe this will be the breakthrough for your DS and he will be eager to try more food better throw out all the carbs though in case he now has a taste for them.

When did Yorkshire pud become an accompaniment to chicken or ham? ? And particularly chicken pie? When I left it was only served with roast beef, unless you lived oop north when it was served before the beef.

In our house Yorkshire’s are served with anything that has veg and gravy, whether it’s pie, a roast or whatever

The carb police/it’s not a roast police can do one, who gives a shit what it’s called??!!

Probably shouldn’t ever come to where I live, we eat pie sandwiches

Mumsnet silliness strikes again...

(Ps - glad the kids ate, that’s what’s important )

I'm told children don't deliberately starve themselves OP so I think you've done a fantastic job of trying to cater to everyone without forcing food down everyone's throats.

FWIW I often do a 'picky' tea/dinner. Which is my way of using up everything in the fridge. Funnily enough it always works really, really well - I just put everything on the counter (with added croutons) and just tell people to do what they want. Sometimes there's just too much pressure on people to eat.

Personally I would not fuss, if he eats it he eats it, just let them get on with it.

The food police on some threads are just God forbid that the odd meal not be perfectly balanced according to them!

Well done OP, and crack on with the dinner - sounds lovely.

It sounds like a great meal with lots of favourites to choose from for the children.

I'd have loved some!

Awww, bit disappointing he didn't try any of the supper, but at least he's eating something! Good on you!

We had some fussy periods and it was hard not to fret over it.

With guests I ended up with a signature dish of fish fingers...I lacked your dedication op. And the creative menu writing of your DS!

No child or adult needs pastry, potato, and batter all in one meal. Op is having a tough time and that's one thing, but to shame everyone that's gone 'hell that's a load of carbs' as if a nutritionist wouldn't say the same is just offensive.

And are you a nutritionist? Did the OP ask for your opinion on the content of the meal? I don't believe she did.

So we don't need the carb police, thanks. Unless you're going to post a detailed weekly breakdown of all of your meals for the same nutritional judging... something tells me I shouldn't hold my breath on that one.

The op wanted to widen her child's range of foods. She succeeded.