Fussy Eater - protein

[wapphighwood]

Looking for suggestions for getting protein into my fussy 5 year old DD's diet. Will quite happily live off beige carbs if I let her, I've tried all sorts of protein types, she is now even refusing fish fingers, chicken dippers and cheese, which I know aren't great but at least it was a protein source! She will eat a couple of nibbles of veg with encouragement but other then gravy won't have any sauces so can't hide veg in sauce.

Are there any child appropriate protein shakes/drinks?

She will eat a yogurt, but only the ones full of sugar such as munch bunch. Will have milk on cereal but I don't want to give her more than one bowl a day due to the sugar.

She has a very sensitive sense of smell and can't stand me even eating peanut butter etc within a metre of her! Will occasionally eat a few almonds. Won't eat plant based protein such as lentils.

I'm worried about her health and growth.

Could you make your own shakes? Experiment but I do one for running that's a banana, handful of nuts, dollop of Greek yoghurt and some milk. You could add some honey to make it sweeter.

I've also managed to sell ground linseed as 'sprinkles' which gets a good helping added to porridge in the morning..

Would she eat hummus and breadsticks/crackers?

Will she eat sausages? You can get them without nitrites as you shouldn't have too much processed meat. I know you said no plant based but I pass off Linda McCartney sausages as real ones. I find most of the vegan sausages are very herby but not these ones. They're quite bland.

Eggs, could you do a quiche?

Hmm.. will she eat eggy bread? That’s one of the protein sources I have for my fussy eater! Sausages?! If you buy the 90+% pork ones, it’s a decent chunk of meat..

Seeds are good - for kids, the milled/ground version are what you need - chia, flax & particularly hemp seeds (a complete protein). Can be blended into say smoothies?! Or if she’ll eat weatabix you can mush the seeds into it all? Would she go for chocolate milk? Again you could blend in some seeds?

You could bake with lentils & hemp seeds. I made really nice chocolate & lentil muffins the other day..

I would slowly remove the ‘fun’ ie less healthy food, so that all the options are ones you don’t have to ration.

So make the cereal a less sugary one. Buy yoghurts you think are ok. We get the little yeo ones which don’t have added sugar.

We have a similar problem with my eldest (she’s older now) and we trained her that if she was going to have toast for breakfast she needs to have a glass of milk or a yogurt with it.

She went through a no cheese phase but she would have a little orange grated cheese with red pesto in a sandwich, so we just went with that. Is she off melted cheese too? Could you try homemade pizza? We do pizza cheese on toast (red pesto and cheese).

I sat her down and talked through some different options and she came up with that.

She’d also eat little bits of ham and cheese on cocktail sticks. Have you tried odd things like that?
Also sliced bought turkey is fairly tasteless and might be worth a try?

Smooth peanut butter in a sauce is fairly undetectable, we have pork mince satay. Just garlic ginger soy water and peanut butter I think. Middle child has absurd taste buds and will eat no sauces, but will have this.

Good luck!

If you don’t manage to find something maybe you will need to go to the dr though?

My son is very fussy eater with allergies dietician suggested giving him vitamins and minerals such as well kid supplements to make up for any nutrients he is missing although I know this doesn’t quite answer your questions about protein

Thank you everyone for your replies!
I'm going to try all of the suggestions, and sit down with her this week in half term and talk things through.
I do give her a daily vitamin.
Occasionally she will eat scrambled egg but not any other forms.
Sausages and meat balls (no sauce!) she will eat but only a small amount e.g. half a sausage or one meat ball.
She doesn't like tomato so won't eat pizza.
At school they sometimes give her a salami sandwich from the salad bar if she won't eat any of the main options, but I don't want to offer at home too because of the high salt etc in those types of meat.
She will eat a roast but not much of the meat and it has to have gravy on it, I might try gravy with more meals but get low salt gravy.

I going to try more milk shakes/ smoothies with some hidden extras. She isn't a big drinker either though, her water bottle comes home full from school most days, she will just have had a cup at lunch and a gulp from the water fountain in the playground.

I do try and encourage her to try things, we follow the one bite of everything on your plate rule before she can leave the table (well we try!), she will have a small bite, I try and encourage to have more but I don't want to turn food into a battle. Sometimes I think it is a control thing on her part rather than real dislike of the food.

Forgot to add earlier, she will eat prawns of all things! Not hummus or melted cheese though

Sorry to gate crash! Two year old son is the same, very fussy. For parents feeding little ones seeds, may I ask what seeds and quantity? He loves weetabix so I’m thinking blitz some seeds and add to his breakfast.

Bump please! Doing an online asda food shop and would like to add seeds but not sure what to get

What about protein in other meals e.g. a bean chilli or mince in bolognese

My little one is funny about meat, I think it’s the texture he doesn’t like. He eats a lot of eggs, most days he has two eggs but obviously he needs variety. That’s why I thought maybe trying seeds as I’ve seen suggested but really unsure on which ones and also quantity

What about buying the weetabix with added protein?or those warburtons thins and bagels that are supposed to be fortified with added protein?
Prawns are a great source though, it’s great he will eat those xx

Had a mini win today with lentil noodles. Didn't tell her they were any different to the normal egg noodles.

I got some hemp protein powder from the supermarket but haven't yet successfully hidden it in any food or smoothie

Had similar struggles with ds but I was very surprised when we went to a dietician that he didn’t need nearly as much protein as I thought and was getting enough in bread and milk. Iron, though, was another matter.

Try cashew nuts, my dd will eat those but no other nuts.
Milled seeds or buy the mixed seeds and grind them yourself, better digested that way.
I do 'sunshine rice' which is just boiled rice to which i add an egg in once drained off and back on the heat til egg cooked.
Dd also fussy with meat but will gobble up a plate of boiled and mashed spuds that i add some beef mince and carrot in when cooking then i mash all together.
Try her with tofu, really good source of protein, as is quinoa.

Could you make a pizza with a white sauce base rather than the traditional tomato base?