Kids and food

[Ljbjkgvh]

My kid used to be a great eater. Terrible at sleeping and drinking water but food was never a problem u til now. He is 6 and has become really picky. Am running out of healthy meals to offer him. He will basically eat things with mince, burgers, sausages, jacket potatoes...but barely eats any veg, gone off chicken, tofu, eggs.

Part of me thinks that we should just make our usual food and ignore that he only eats the carbs. But then I feel guilty and think that I should cook only the things he will eat. He doesn't have any siblings so no other kids to consider.

Any advice?

I think if you only cook what he will eat then it's a slippery slope. And he'll never have a chance to 'grow out' of it if you stop offering a range of foods.

I only offer our usual food but always make sure there is something on the plate DD (3years) will eat. Rice, pasta whatever

There's a spectrum of different approaches to picky eating (the usual fussy kid sort, rather than ARFID, before anyone starts). You can cook and offer what you want to offer, knowing it's mostly a food he 'doesn't like', and not provide anything different. You can cook what you want, knowing he doesn't like it, and provide something boring if he refuses most of the meal, e.g. toast later. You can cook what you want but ensure there is always something on the table or plate that he does like, and not fuss if he only eats that. You can only cook things you know he likes, bearing in mind the preferences may get more narrow over time.

If there was a perfect right or wrong approach from that range, that works for every kid and ends up with 6 year olds that change their ways and happily eat anything, the person selling that book would have made a fortune.

One of my DC was like this..
On the advice of my HV at the time I carried on putting veg on their plate just a smaller amount, felt like less waste.
Was just a stage they went through, did eventually wear off and they started to eat it again...oddly brussel sprouts are still a favourite many years later.

Don't go down the road of asking daily what they'd like to eat, nothing wrong with letting them choose occasionally though, and TBF there's nothing wrong with the things on your list that they do eat, hide veg in a mince dish by making a cottage pie/spag bol type dishes...bit of cheese on top for added dairy/flavour.
Absolutely nothing wrong with a plate of beans on toast thrown into the mix if that's to they're taste.

If they're healthy they'll be fine.

I did used to blitz up fruit and let them have a smoothie drink, but it wasn't an out of the way thing as I drank them too.

Research shows picky kids are mainly picky due to genetics not parenting. I would not stress too much about it. Give him safe foods but try to keep offering new things. He'll change as he gets older probably (unless autistic and ARFID), all fine

Make sure the meal always has something you are pretty sure he will eat. Have other things available but not touching the safe foods (another plate or help yourself from the table type is ideal!)

don’t comment on what he does or doesn’t eat. Just sit with him and talk in general but not about food

This sounds sensible to me. I have an ARFID DC and it is a nightmare. My suggestions would be to keep offering new foods trying to expand via food chaining (I.e. changing one of flavour and texture at a time like if strawberry yoghurt is ok then try strawberry mousse or some other yoghurt flavour), always have something they will eat, cycle round your safe foods so they don't have them multiple times in a row and get bored and reject them and try not to stress - I can assure you they will be fine (we have had nutritional bloods done and all OK despite eating really limited). And a good multivitamin might help you stress less about it. We also sometimes do a play plate which is about engaging with new food without the pressure of eating it and DC had some interest in a reward chart (that they created) where even touching or locking a food got points (there are 32 steps to actually eating something so tolerating it being on a plate near you and touching it is actually really good)

but barely eats any veg, gone off chicken, tofu, eggs.

I read that as you complaining he won't eat gone off chicken! 😊😂

Same with my almost-8yo DD. A fantastic eater as a tiny one, but rubbish now. Whereas her twin brother was a terrible eater as a tiny, but now eats everything.

As a primary school teacher of many years experience, I'm fairly cold-hearted when it comes to kids peculiarities. I make one dinner for everyone - fully aware that it might not be everyone's favourite. You can eat it or not. The only other alternative is a piece of fruit or bread and butter. No one has died yet.

Thank you for the suggestions. Has anyone else had a kid who was a great eater who then turned? How long did it last?