Fussy eating 9 year old - please help

[jellibabe]

I am having real problems feeding my 9 year old daughter. If I try to give her any vegetables she picks them out. Shopping has become hell and I often wander around Adsa/Tesco wondering what to feed her.

She will eat omelette, pasta, mild cheese, rice, chicken, tomatoes, sweetcorn, pork, bacon, sausages (chipolata's), beefburgers, fish fingers, chicken curry, chicken fried rice, potatoe scones, yorkshire pudding and bread.

She is fairly good at eating fruit and will eat strawberries, grapes, melon, kiwi, apples, mango, oranges and pineapple. Will not touch potatoes (in any shape or form), carrots, peppers, brocolli, cauliflower, peas, courgettes and turnip.

Am desperate. Tried being forceful but this does not work. Dinner becomes a disruptive nightmare - swinging on chair, puting brother off dinner, picking at food with fingers.

Can anyone help me?

Jellibabe, I've only read your initial post but hand on heart I'd be absolutely delighted if my 9yo dd ate all the things you have listed.

FWIW, her supper alternates from spaghetti with butter, bacon and yorkshire pudding. That's it. She will eat fruit sometimes, and yoghourt sometimes.

I am at my wit's end. The only consolation is that her younger sister will eat most anything.

DD1 won't even TRY anything new. We have a Lebanese takeaway near us, and to try and save some money I tried to make my own Batata Hara (forgot - ONE other food she eats). They were absolutely delicious, and when I gave them to her her reply was 'Mummy, you know I don't try anything new.'

FWIW, I think you're very lucky

2sugars you have my utmost sympathy. It really makes shopping for food hell.

My ds is a good eater too (thank god). Although ironcally he hates tomatoes and is not too keen on sweetcorn. Have tried making normal dinners - such as mince and potatoes to cater for him and me but then he refuses them and wants to eat what his older sister is having. As this evolves around chicken nuggets and burgers its so frustrating. I want to get off this cycle. Don't know whether to presist with making 2 dinners - or whether to carry on with our nugget lifestyle.

Also sister insists on eating everything with her fingers. The more fuss I make about it the more she seems determined to do it. Feel like I am being punished.

Do you think they will grow out of it?

Thanks for your family rules Cory I need all the inspiration I can get.

Just incase anyone is reading this thread looking for inspiration. I've found a really good thread on fussy eaters using search for messages. The one I liked is called HELP MN NEEDS YOUR TIPS FOR FUSSY EATERS. There are loads of ideas in there. Am going to go through it and note all the ones that may work on my dd.

Good Luck

jellibabe, don't know the answer to that one. I do 2 separate suppers for dds, because I don't want both of them eating c**p, IYSWIM. Also, I don't think dd2 would tolerate the same food every other day, and as she eats most things I certainly wouldn't want to encourage it.

I hope she grows out of it, but I was hoping that four years ago . Having said that, I was an incredibly fussy eater at that age (and to a certain extent still am, there are some foods I just cannot touch). I remember being about 10 when my mum put some dressing on my hitherto undressed salad and having a eureka moment.

Have exactly the same with dd1 eating everything with her fingers too - apart from of course the spaghetti, which thankfully requires a fork! Doesn't help when H pipes in 'For heavens sake A, don't eat your spaghetti like that, cut it up'. Which makes me double GRRRR - cutting it up is crass AND it's not exactly rocket science to work out that would make it ten times harder to swirl onto a fork! For someone whose previous career has seen him living in many parts of the world he is so ..... English . But that's another story

Hi
I am really worried about my 9yr old sons diet. He is a really fussy eater and will only eat a few things such as jacket potato with cheese and beans, pizza, smiley faces, chicken nuggets, toast, frosted shredded wheat. He has the same meals every day and won't entertain the idea of trying something different.. Both myself and husband eat healthy and always cooking home made meals from scratch. I have tried our son with these but he won't even try. He used to eat anything that was put in front of him but over the past few years his diet has gone worse.. He won't eat veg and will only have fruit now and again.. I have tried a reward system, I have tried consequences and I have tried making meal times fun but none have worked... I would really appreciate any help and advice as I am really worried about him not getting the right nutrients.
Thanks xx

Hi linz,
This thread is 11 years old, you're probably better starting a new thread. Sounds tricky though, hope you get some advice on your own thread 🙂

Have you got a blender? Puree whatever cooked greenery you want her to eat, & mix it in - perhaps with some herbs/spices.

Perhaps the child has succumbed to scurvy by now.

Surely these old threads should be removed?

My DS was fussy and only ate tomatoes (puréed or sauce, not the actual whole vegetable) and sweet corn as veggies for years. At 13/14 he improved a lot, so your kids might improve given time. He is still fussy (but then most people are to me, I love nearly everything) but so so much better. He eats carrots, parsnips, celery, onion, tinned tomatoes (purée no longer required but still won’t touch the whole fruit), peas, all peppers except green ones, rocket, still likes sweet corn, potatoes. The change seemed to be simply growing up. He says his taste buds changed. Not perfect but family meals are so much easier. He’s 17 now and still improving slowly.

& yes I know this is an old thread

Mixing in didn’t work for me - DS could identify veggies he disliked from a distance regardless of disguise