My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

The incredibly fussy eaters thread

345 replies

boschy · 29/11/2011 11:20

Following on from the thread on AIBU, this is the place for those with incredibly fussy/food phobic kids! If you are fed up with the "eat what they're given or let them starve" brigade, this is the place for you.

(If you ARE one of the 'eat or starve' brigade, please look away now - this thread is not for you, unless of course you've just had the Damascene conversion having discovered that your child is not the great eater you always thought he/she would be, down to your incredible parenting skills and totally relaxed attitude to food.)

My fussy eater is DD1, now 15. All was fine til she hit 12 months - easy to wean, I Annabel-Karmel-ed frantically etc etc.

But overnight she just. stopped. eating. And when she started again she knew exactly what she would and wouldn't eat. We had the tears and tantrums (from me) til I realised it was going nowhere. So 14 years later, here we are.

Her current repertoire is, in no particular order: macaroni cheese (no crispy top). garlic bread. breaded chicken products. chips. pizza with tomato sauce, no cheese. cold chicken (from a packet, not off the roast). spaghetti hoops in tomato sauce. Heinz tomato soup. Milano salami. pistachio nuts. crisps. any sort of bread as long as it doesnt have bits in. wraps. bananas. Innocent fruit smoothies (hurrah!). occasional off-piste forays into things like turkey schnitzel - successful; burgers/lasagne/bolognese - not successful.

She's bored with not being able to eat what everyone else does, but cant bring herself to try. I just try to keep going with the idea that she can try whatever she likes whenever she likes, and that she will grow out of it.

OP posts:
Report
camdancer · 29/11/2011 13:39

alana DS is like that. He loves cooking and also reading cook books. He loves shopping and choosing food. He will even now smell food, it just won't go in his mouth.

Report
LauraShigihara · 29/11/2011 13:42

I noticed that too,camdancer - the Freaky Eaters all turned out to be a little more healthy than the programme makers would have liked Grin. It was quite heartening.

Report
LauraShigihara · 29/11/2011 13:45

DS loves chocolate but hates chocolate cake. He will help me in the kitchen making the thing (as long as he doesn't have to get 'dirty' ie use his hands) but won't touch the finished product.

I have tried the baking with mum thing to death - it makes no difference.

Report
boschy · 29/11/2011 13:46

oh yes I love the myths!

  • have you tried pea puree? Jocasta would ALWAYS eat that
  • we've had lots of fussy eaters here at XYZ nursery, we'll sort that one out dont you worry
  • send her to me for a week, she'll be eating everything by the end of it
  • cook with them
  • grow stuff with them
  • share family meals with them


hollow laughter all round. It sometimes seems to me as if all these experts think we enjoy having incredibly fussy eaters, or that we are all weak and stupid?
OP posts:
Report
MsBrian · 29/11/2011 13:48

Sigh.... Oh where have you all been all these years? :)

Report
Becaroooo · 29/11/2011 13:51

Yep. Have heard em all Grin

Now I am on my ds2 I dont take it to heart, but with ds1 (who had some significant developmental delay) I would cry very often Sad

Report
LauraShigihara · 29/11/2011 13:56

Jamie Oliver - 'I have never met a kid who didn't eat this pasta'

My very close friend - 'I feel your pain, my child wouldn't eat her brocolli yesterday'

Other close friend -'We have a little vegetable patch and my child grows and cooks her own veg for tea!'

Someone else me many years ago 'A healthy child won't starve himself'

Report
boschy · 29/11/2011 13:59

And another thing - as mothers, we are led to believe that feeding our children is one of the most important things we can do, and almost that a 'good' diet = utmost love and care. So when your child seemingly throws it back in your face, by refusing the food you have made with love, it's almost a rejection of 'you' rather than the food. Which can make things very complicated.

If I can say anything to those of you with littler children than mine, it would be feed them what they will happily eat. Yes try and sneak in 'better' stuff and it may pay off, but really they will not suffer/be utter failures because their diet is more limited than you/their school/your PIL would like.

I dont cook for mine any more because of the emotional cost - but you can buy a pretty good macaroni cheese from the supermarket!!

OP posts:
Report
alana39 · 29/11/2011 13:59

I still can't manage to stay calm about it all the time - cue crappy inconsistent parenting.

How do you manage to stay sane and not let it ruin mealtimes? This is my (main) parenting ishoo and I get very cross with myself for not being able to manage it.

Report
LauraShigihara · 29/11/2011 14:00

I think some parents are very embarrassed about their little fussy things but others (like me) are so used to it that they don't really think about it any more. I was quite obsessed when the youngest was very small but I actually forget because it is just a part of family life now.

Report
AWimbaWay · 29/11/2011 14:01

I find it interesting that most of our children are just as fussy with the unhealthy food as they are the healthy, so it's not just that they're trying to get away with eating sweets all day long.

Report
Beamur · 29/11/2011 14:01

My DSD also weaned well and then started refusing food from about 2.
Have any of you heard of 'supertasters'?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster
It sounds a bit bunkum, but I have been out for a meal with some friends once and one woman produced a pack of little strips - she was doing some research into supertasting and handed these strips round - you put them on your tongue - most people couldn't taste anything but one guy started gagging and complaining - it tasted different, and really horrible to him!

Report
alana39 · 29/11/2011 14:02

x post boschy, thankyou that's the kind of thing I need to hear!

Report
AWimbaWay · 29/11/2011 14:03

alana39, i still get stressed too, and hate myself for it afterwards. It's more when I've put the effort into cooking and then all I get it complaints. I've told her I don't mind if she eats it or not, but not to sit complaining about it when I've gone to a big effort.

Report
AWimbaWay · 29/11/2011 14:05

Boschy, you're right, I need to stop faffing and just feed her what I know she'll eat, we'd all be a lot happier!

Report
Becaroooo · 29/11/2011 14:05

I honestly just dont worry anymore.

If people are so rude/obnoxious/silly to make comments/give silly advice etc then they are not people I want to be around.

Eg; we have been invited to my dh's aunts house on xmas eve for lunch. She will do dressed crab, salmon, salad, potato salad, crostini etc. Which is lovely but which my children wont/cant eat. (and I am allergid to shellfish!)

I will feed them before we go, I will eat salad and bread and then we will all eat cake.

If she doesnt like it then that really is her problem..perhaps asking me what my young dc would like to eat would be a good idea? Hmm

Report
AWimbaWay · 29/11/2011 14:07

Beamur, Dh is convinced Dd is a supertaster. I'd love to try those strips to see!

Report
Beamur · 29/11/2011 14:07

My DP used to get incredibly upset about his daughters eating and the effect he feared it was having on her health - but the stress and strain at mealtimes was just awful. In the end he and I had a big talk about it and decided simply to back off - food she mostly liked was offered and the 'healthy' bits she would eat were offered but we stopped trying to introduce new foods for a while. When she started secondary school we refused to let her take packed lunches and gave her money for lunch - I think the peer influences and the ability to choose her own food have helped hugely. Puberty also seemed to influence her appetite - I think her body simply demanded more calories. She is still a bit picky but much better and much more confident about making choices - she used to get really paralysed by making choices from menus when eating out - it was obviously very hard for her.

Report
AWimbaWay · 29/11/2011 14:09

Becaroooo, I'm envious that you can take that view, I must admit I still feel embarrassed and that it's my fault if Dd won't eat.

Report
LauraShigihara · 29/11/2011 14:11

We used to have shouty mealtimes. New foods would mean that DS would be screaming under the table, DH would be seething and the oldest children would bolt to the livingroom to eat in front of the tv. An Indigestion Special, we called those meals Grin

Nowadays, if I try something new, I will sort of perch it on the edge of his plate, away from his proper dinner and see what happens. He knows the theory that you have to try things many times before they stop being unusual and start being usual and will have a nibble or lick of new foods sometimes. And sometimes is surprised that it is edible.

My goal is that, even if he grows up with a small list of food, if they cover a wide range (eg a fruit, a veg, some types of bread, a kind of meat) he will be able to eat away from home without too much fear of unknown things being chucked on his plate. There should (fingers crossed) always be something on the menu he can eat. And maybe future partners won't want to brain him for being such a whiny fusspot over food. That's the plan any way Grin

Report
boschy · 29/11/2011 14:12

alana and awimba it took me a long time to get to the 'give her what she will eat' stage. I have vivid memories of throwing a Tweenies plate full of uneaten food into the sink with such force that it broke. so yeah, I can tick all the crap parenting boxes in this area. not to mention crying in front of her that she wouldnt eat the delicious meal, and did she not love mummy? which made her cry too, and she was too young to actually explain that she just couldnt eat whatever it was. horrible times tbh.

it is MUCH easier now. I think I seriously backed off when she was maybe 5, although occasional lapses after that (mostly when I read eg Jamie Oliver "I defy any child not to love this lobster thermidor pasta").

I still from time to time have to tell DH to back off when he nags (seriously foody family, he just forgets sometimes that making a fight doesnt actually work and merely stresses everyone out). Plus, she has got much further down the road of being able to talk about food, although she cant really explain WHY she doesnt want to eat 'normal' stuff. Fair enough, she's only 15 - I'm 50 and I cant explain why I dont want to do some things!

OP posts:
Report
Becaroooo · 29/11/2011 14:13

awimbaway It took me a while...ds1 is 8.5!!! Smile

I think peer pressure can help with this issue tbh..if their friends are all eating, say, sausage rolls, then they are more likely to try them than if at home.

I have realised something over the years......My children eat well, 3 meals a day and snacks. They drink juice, water and milk. They are both healthy weights and heights and have good teeth.

So, all in all I consider I am not doing too badly Smile And you are all doing fine too x

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

camdancer · 29/11/2011 14:15

I don't stay calm all the time either. I have periods of being calm about it. Just putting the food in front of them that I know they wille at and leaving them to it. But then I have times when it all just gets to me. All that waste, all that really crappy food.

I'd love to have children who would eat even basic things like cottage pie or roast chicken. I love to cook, but I'm not spending hours in the kitchen loving crafting something for it to be rejected without even being tasted. So I just throw stuff in the oven. There is more chance of it being eaten and if it isn't, I haven't invested any time in it.

Report
Becaroooo · 29/11/2011 14:19

camdancer Absolutely! Me too. Dh does still get annoyed sometimes (he eats anything and everything) but I guess I am just a bit further down the road from him.

Report
Beamur · 29/11/2011 14:20

My DP has a friend who I normally got on well with, but he is a bit of a smug parent - he has 4 lovely kids who are growing into nice adults but food is an issue we need to avoid talking about. He is soooo sanctimonious and is of the 'put it in front of them and they will eat it' brigade. We had a conversation not so long ago which touched on my DD's choice not to eat meat (she is 4 but has never liked meat and once she knew where it came from was adamant not to eat it) and he was so unbearable I had to restrain myself from bopping him on the nose.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.