Chicken Nuggets

[aardonpardonwenttothegarden]

So this is irritating me a lot. DH and I are working professionals. We don't have a cleaner and send our DS to nursery 5 days a week. It's hectic for me with all the house work and office work and stress and looking after everyone. DH does his fair share (dishes/ hoovering) but I'm the main caregiver.

When DS is home he eats proper home cooked meals. He's tried chicken nuggets before when he was about 1.5 years but doesn't like them since. For context he's turning 3 soon. I casually mentioned that DS needs to eat/ try chicken nuggets before his birthday party. He's hardly ever had them and I've noticed whenever he's at birthday parties he never eats the food there, most times it's nuggets , or pizza. And then demands food immediately afterwards as soon as we get in the car.

So my DH went, he doesn't need to eat processed food. I said okay so what about bread , etc he said yes let's not give him that. Then he added something on BBC that most suppliers don't know where their chicken comes from. I said well okay let's become poultry farmers and breed chickens and then we will know for sure. His mood went off and so did mine.

AIBU to introduce him nuggets for one off parties / occasions.

@JingsMahBucket I get what you're saying but you also don't want to encourage fear of certain foods. It sounds like this child has a very healthy diet at home of unprocessed, healthy food, which is great.

But if you encourage this idea that certain foods are evil, you will instil a kind of fear which really isn't necessary.

It's OK to eat a chicken nugget now and again if the rest of your diet is healthy.

Balance is really important and you don't want to encourage aversions/ fear of certain foods which are actually fine.

My child doesn't really like them but likes some other ready made foods

I am not for or anti and food but don't see a reason to deliberately have a child try them not all kids like the same food same as not all adults do

That is not the case with the op though. She seems to be actively trying to get her child to eat this rubbish, processed food. How hard would it be to make her own food to take in a lunch box for him? Strange.

@viridiano I get what you mean but really, her kid doesn’t even like them. There’s no need to push him on it. Sure, everything in moderation, but these types of foods really are bad for you and are engineered to be addictive. Once a month really would be a good sense of moderation versus one or two times per week.

@aardonpardonwenttothegarden are you pushing because you want him to fit in with his peers or because you don’t want to feed him again after parties? Actually, reading the start of your post again, it seems like you may want an easy way to feed him when you’re busy?

BTW, I’m not being accusatory. I’m trying to tease out what’s driving you. Try not to stress about it, no matter what. 🙂

You're being really weird. Just put a few bits he does like in a lunch box & give it to him in the car.

you're trying to make your DS like processed food, it's unnecessary.

I mean, my kid eats plenty of less than ideal stuff although she’s not especially a fan of nuggets and we do homemade pizza (and bread actually since DH got a bread maker at Christmas and became obsessed). But there are plenty of other things she eats that aren’t the pinnacle of healthy eating, and at a birthday party she’d be making a beeline for as much sugary stuff as she could and I’d fully expect to have to try and feed her something with actual nutrients in it either before or after.

I don’t see the need to persuade or cajole your child into eating things he doesn’t like and aren’t especially great for him though. Like sure try to encourage them to eat vegetables of whatever (as in keep offering) but I don’t think you have to MAKE them like nuggets. His taste will probably change anyway and there may come a day he’ll only eat nuggets and nothing else.

If you’re looking for easy options because you’re busy and don’t want to be cooking from scratch every night then that’s fair enough but it doesn’t HAVE to be nuggets and pizza.

My DH does this a bit with fishfingers. We both love them but DD only wants to know if you pick every bit of coating off them at which point you may as well have just cooked her a piece of fish. It bugs him because he likes having them as a quick, lazy tea which, no harm in that but either give her something else or take the coating off - I don’t get why you’d be hung up on her eating something she doesn’t like and isn’t actually bringing any benefits.

@JingsMahBucket Yeah that's true. I wouldn't actively encourage it I guess, if it's just chicken nuggets that he doesn't like.

I'd be interested to know why he doesn't like them, though. Is it because his dad has told them they're 'bad food', and are there other foods like this that he won't eat because dad says they're bad? Is he worried something bad will happen if he eats chicken nuggets, pizza etc.

My concern is that OP's husband might be instilling a fear of all processed foods, which isn't necessary.

Either way I think OP needs to speak to her husband and they need to be on the same page about attitudes to food, otherwise the kid is going to get very confused.

Why not make nuggets - an easy way to do it is to pan fry chicken cut into pieces until it's half cooked, roll in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs then return to the pan. You can also cook butternut squash the same way, a favourite here. I serve it with katsu curry myself, easily made by sauté an onion, a red chilli adding curry powder then a can of coconut milk, leave out the chilli if you want it mild (and add it back after child's is taken out for more heat though mine were eating proper curries by 3)

You’re really making a mountain out of a molehill here, OP. So what if he doesn’t want to eat at parties? He must only be going to them every couple of months, if that. He’s not going to starve to death. Just take some snacks with you for the journey home in case he gets hungry.

Can't you just serve packed lunch type things? Sandwiches, packet of pom bears, cookies apple and carbon of juice? You could put them in little bags as well so on the day you just pop them on the party table and OP naturally help clear up their kids mess and put it back in the bag too! I would say if he doesn't like them then don't introduce them imo

Chicken nuggets cannot be compared to bread. You're being ridiculous, no-one needs to like chicken nuggets. They're pointless, no nutrition. Why not set a good example and serve healthy food at the party.

DS is 4 and if the party food is nuggets he doesn’t eat them. Just eats the chips and / or copious amounts of crisps / party rings. He doesn’t like them and that’s fine. He does love a burger though, like his mum.

It’s not something I’d worry about to be honest, and I wouldn’t introduce them at home just so that he’ll eat them at parties. Just take a sandwich for him to eat afterwards.

Christ, give the boy some bloody chicken nuggets 😂.

I make an effort to cook when I can be arsed but I don't think twice about chucking some nuggets or god forbid - McDonald's at her occasionally.

Parenting and working is hard, give yourselves a break now and again and let him eat some processed shite.

@cannaecookrisotto it's the child that doesn't want to eat them.....the mum wants him too for some strange reason.

I have never worried if my children eat at a party. My eldest went years not eating the food as it made her very anxious. We just fed her afterwards. It's not a big deal and most parties are only 2 hours long.

This seems like such a non issue! It's a birthday party so kids will probably not be super fussed about eating. If he gets hangry in the car can't you just bring him a sandwich in case?

It sounds like your DC has a very healthy diet much more than mine! I don't get what the intro is really for apart from that you are both busy and you'd rather feed him easier things? In which case if your DH can't chill out a bit then he can take over all the cooking!

I really don't understand why you are trying to get your child to eat heavily processed food when he currently doesn't like it. This seems completely crazy to me!

That food is full of crap that's bad for your gut and mental and physical health, it's low in nutrients, and it's also addictive. It's great he doesn't like it! Seems crazy to potentially affect his future health (what if he decides that's all he'll eat?!?) for the odd party.

I'm trying to wean myself off UPFs and it's incredibly difficult. Why give your child this battle!

If you know he won't eat any of the food at a party, why don't you just take some food with you for the sake of the odd party. Lots of people have to do this for allergies etc.

Lots of mumnetters (for the lack of better word) calling weird. Thought I'll do one attempt at this.

I do understand the part of (and always carry snacks to feed him for 10-12 hours when we're out and about on the road as I've experienced massive traffic and sat without food or water) when DS would be hungry on the way to or from.

The idea of this post was

1. To reintroduce him to a (guilty pleasure) food that all his peers happily enjoy (nuggets and pizza are examples; other party food being sausages - I don't like the smell and taste and I don't eat them either so not introduced yet )
2. That DH thought not to because it's processed.

My AIBU was whether it was okay to introduce him to nuggets (so what if they are processed) and perhaps gather from audience which brand.

One of the PP said was it make him "fit in with peers" - I'd say yea, kinda.

Another PP said , why pushing processed shit - I'm toying with the idea. I want him to eat at parties which I know is not a big deal. He eats and loves broccoli and carrots out of choice.

And another one said about why did I write about being professionals and not having a cleaner - to introduce myself and the position that I'm in. Just wondering if it was okay to do that.

Thanks for some of your time in sharing recipes I'd definitely try homemade versions.

Sorry you had to read my post , don't bother responding if it pains you so much.

Plenty of kids don’t eat much at parties.
Take stuff he likes to eat with you.
I’ve been to a lot of parties and never once seen a chicken nugget.
My kids are vegetarian, how do you imagine they cope without chicken nuggets?
Don’t fetishise unhealthy food, it’s not innately tastier or more fun.

Btw I know several kids who don’t like pizza either, also not a problem at parties. It’s probably where we live but the most popular food is always veg sticks and party rings.

@aardonpardonwentothegarden you seem to have had a name change fail.

Can you not just take your own food to a party? My son has allergies and I always take a small lunch box for him.

if its chicken nuggets you really want him to eat but your DH is against it then I’d go homemade, chicken thigh chopped up, dipped in flour then egg then breadcrumbs simple! Surely your DH couldn’t mind at that?