Why are people so competitive over what their kids eat?

[Fuebomba0]

Like eating a kids meal at a restaurant isn't that bad , just don't see why a lot of people are competitive over what their kids eat. Like wow your 5 year old DS eats seafood paella 👏👏

I find it’s about drinks ‘my child only drinks water’ I asked my sons friend if he wanted Vimto or orange and his mum snapped back that he only drinks water, it was as if I had offered him a glass of acid!

I know water is best.

People are competitive when they are insecure

but I really dislike that many restaurants stick to a crap "kids meal" to doesn't match the parents choices.

I lost count of the times I ordered an adult meal for a young child, who enjoyed it but 3/4 went in the bin because it was just too big. The whole point of eating out is to save you from cooking, I am not paying for junk food like chicken nuggets or a crappy pizza for lunch when it's the lazy option I could serve at home.

Or I stick to McDonald but then I pay McDonald's prices.

@GameSetMatch

I find it’s about drinks ‘my child only drinks water’ I asked my sons friend if he wanted Vimto or orange and his mum snapped back that he only drinks water, it was as if I had offered him a glass of acid!

I know water is best.

I know this will sound so smug and everything this thread is against but I honestly don't understand why people offer anything but water and milk to a child who still can't get their own drink? If your child can only get hold of squash or juice by you putting it in their sippy cup then isn't it an easy win to just... not?

@Hardbackwriter I’m talking about older children not children who drink out of a sippy cup!

Sorry, it was more a musing off your post not that I was saying you were putting it in a sippy cup! But lots of people do (they sell special pre-made squash aimed at under ones, at an extortionate price) and I just don't get why?

@Camomila

Is it just me or is anyone else really enjoying this thread? With the pandemic it feels like ages since we had a bunfight about weaning/food/sleep

I have to wean DS2 in 2 weeks, so it'll be interesting to see how similar or different he is to DS1 (DS1 took ages to get the hang of eating, then had possible allergies, but now isn't fussy at all)

Not just you. I’m warm and fuzzy reading it

Yep, I’d say it’s because having a fussy child is undesirable too. My oldest is fussy but has got better with age (I am a fussy eater so I’ve always had food issues)

Middle child eats some insane shit that I would never contemplate putting anywhere near my own mouth.

Nearly two year old doesn’t like eating at all, I don’t think he’s fussy, I’ve no idea why, he just has no interest. It’s incredibly frustrating but I don’t give two fucks what anyone else has to say about it really! I’ve brought them all up the same!!!

I would congratulate someone on having a good eater but I am a bit envious of children that eat exotic food!

I know a couple of kids who can't stand McDonald, and a couple of who really don't like chocolate.

I bet their parents are called all kind of names by a few haters, but even children have preferences.

I mean I wouldn’t congratulate someone 🤣

@Hardbackwriter

Sorry, it was more a musing off your post not that I was saying you were putting it in a sippy cup! But lots of people do (they sell special pre-made squash aimed at under ones, at an extortionate price) and I just don't get why?

I agree with you but it’s the same as them selling the jars full of sugar and preservatives.

DD still only drinks water, milk and chocolate milk. She wouldn’t try anything else to know if she liked it. When she was a baby and we were trying to get a bit of water into her, we resorted to putting a bit of gripe water in it and then decreased the amount each time.

Companies know parents are desperate to get food/liquid into their child so will sell them the sugary crap.

@JaniceWebster my oldest has never eaten a sweet in his life. He “doesn’t like” sweets, loves chocolate, but nobody can believe he’s never eaten sweets and it’s nowt I’ve done I assure you

My personal bug bear are those that say 'my child is such a good eater and is so tall' like I'm choosing to starve my children (we are a short and slim family). When I'm feeling particularly pissed off at this I like to point out that obese children tend to be tall for their age.

I made the big mistake of not understanding that children often go through a fussy stage. I was absolutely horrible to my eldest when he wouldn't eat a lot. We got through it thanks to Billy Bear and Petit Filous. Of course now my children are men and the classic tall and slim MNetter's DC The upshot is they give me hell for being fat and not looking after myself.

I do also think that what 'fussy' is can be so defined by your circumstances that it's a bit meaningless. DS normally eats exactly what we eat so we don't consider him fussy, but we don't eat meat (he does eat it at nursery) and so he's a bit wary of it, so to a lot of people he would be a very fussy eater because he'd regard most of their meals with suspicion. He's adapted to us and we've adapted to him so I think of him as 'eating everything' but actually there's quite a long list of things that he doesn't eat (e.g. baked beans, scrambled eggs) that would be really regularly eaten by a lot of people who would therefore think of him as fussy.

For those whose DC don’t eat fruit, IME it’s a texture thing. I don’t eat fruit either. I will eat apples, and I drink orange juice (but only smooth, can’t abide bits ) but the thought of biting into an actual piece of fruit and feeling the texture puts me off massively.

I am very similar with a lot of veg, but tbh with veg there are a lot of workarounds. A lot of veg I like if it’s only just cooked so still crunchy, so we eat a lot of stir-fry and I will have baby corn with dinner. I eat carrots either raw or cooked in fact I eat half the carrots I’m doing with a roast before they actually make it to the pan. and I make a lot of soups which can be blended to be smooth, so I do get my preferred amount of veg.

If kids won’t eat fruit then veg is preferable anyway as fruit has considerably more sugar in it.

Since I fell ill nearly four years ago I don’t eat chocolate either. I just don’t like it any more. Will eat the occasional biscuit, but only very occasional.

Drinks-wise I used to drink far too much coke. now I taste it and it tastes like pure sugar and I can only wonder wtf I was doing back then...

Now I drink water, milk and orange juice. And squash but only the sainsburys high juice orange one, and I have it very dilute. Because of my heart failure though I am limited to 1500ML of fluid a day so I have to literally measure out every drink I have...

But while might some say I am picky, I eat a very varied diet. No I could never be a vegetarian, but we eat a lot of fish, prawns, etc and chicken, and red meat is a fairly minimal thing on our menu.... It’s interesting because given I have a serious heart condition I constantly watch what I eat,and so it has been easy to not have to change my diet excessively. Things like processed meat has never been that high on the agenda, the only thing I really cut out was bacon because of the salt content.

In my experience most of them grow out of it. My younger son was the fussiest eater - everything beige. Now 18 and back from uni for lockdown he eats everything. His body is a temple these days so it’s all avocado, greens and lean protein. Yay, I can finally boast to my NCT group 😂

Apparently it can take up to 20 times for children to accept new tastes! It's difficult to watch a meal be rejected 19 times in hope that no.20 will be lucky (also wasteful unless you have a dog or a fast metabolism ).
I guess people boast about it as they would any great feat of endurance like a marathon.

Interesting article below mentioned that some preferences are genetic or developed in the womb.

health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/2016-03-18/can-you-really-learn-to-like-healthy-foods

I completely understand children preferring plainer, non-spicy food although I am lucky enough to have a DD who loves varied, flavourful food from around the world (she is fussy in other ways and doesn't eat some major foods that most children do so you win some you lose some!)

However I still don't agree with restaurants only offering x and chips as children's food. They could easily offer something plain but more nutritious.

Also surely most children without a specific health reason have more varied palates than that- unless you have only offered them junk food at home, they must eat various non-fried foods even if it is plain pasta and chicken.

Yeh but this constant snobbery about how food + chips is bad, when it's not ffs

Bloody hell OP it's not rocket science.

Chips are not a very healthy food. They are usually processed and fried in unhealthy oils. It's often a lot of unhealthy fats, salt, and few nutrients other than starchy carbs.

Fine occasionally as a treat/one off but not as a constant.

It’s pointless. I have the kind of kid who will happily eat seafood paella and I’m under no delusions that it’s anything I’ve done - it’s entirely luck of the draw.

So far my 18 month old turns her nose up at potato and sweet potato, most frustrating! Surely mash is the ultimate toddler food!

I do also think that what 'fussy' is can be so defined by your circumstances that it's a bit meaningless.

True, especially if your family meals tend to be from another culture/s. I've never tried a spaghetti hoop - DH jokes they'd take away my Italian passport if they did
(Jacket potatoes with baked beans OTOH are delicious)

*If I did. Can't speak English today

My dd was a fantastic eater as a child, fruit and veg, fish and proper meals. At 16 she did a massive u turn and now at 23 she Still lives off takeaways mainly. Friends/boyfriends can be a sway good or bad.

But while might some say I am picky...

You are really picky.