How do I prevent my child from becoming a picky eater?

Question

Hi Everyone! I'm one of the biggest picky eaters ever and I'm really afraid that my daughter will be picky as well. Any helpful hints on how to avoid this?

(I'm due in August with my first baby...I know I'm jumping the gun a bit, but I like to get all the info I can).

Thanks in advance for your answers!
Mandy

I'm concerned because being a picky eater causes me problems on a day-to-day basis. I don't want her to go through that.

Answer 1

Me and my hubby are expecting in October...and my husband is the picky eater and he said the same thing...lol He's leaving the food choices to me...

What my mom did and what I will be doing...is FEAR NOTHING...feed the kid EVERYTHING...let them develop their own tastes and don't make faces if the kid happens to like something you think is sick.

I remember being in a restaurant with my parents in Costa Rica, I was 9...my dad and I were eating fried Iguana (ya I said iguana, ya I mean the lizard) while my mom sat there gagging....after fried Iguana there's nothing in the states that I wouldn't try.

Just be really open minded and feed baby all kinds of fruits and veggies and dont' be afraid to get bold...be careful, you don't want to make baby sick with too spicy or anything like that...but don't get stuck in a rut...try everything...at least that way...when baby decides he/she doesn't like something...you still have 2000 other options...instead of a picky baby that only likes 4 things to beging with.

So instead of the usual, strained peas and apple sauce...what's wrong with acorn squash and mangos or papayas? Just always try new stuff... :) Good luck!

When we were older...the other thing too was...we could never say "no" ...we always had to at least try stuff, at least one bite...eventually we ended up trying so many things that were yummy...we didn't mind trying new things. That and what mom served was what was for dinner...too bad if we didn't happen to like it...you would eat what she gave you...or you'd wait till the next meal

Answer 2

I have that problem with my soon to be 7 year old son and I have to admit it's all my fault! He loves breakfast and lunch but he hates my dinner! I guess cause I use a lot of onions, tomatoes and garlic. Ever since he was a toddler if he would say "I don't like that" without even trying it I would automatically give him something else so he grew up thinking or knowing "I don't have to eat that if I don't want to". NOW I tell him "that's all there is and I'm NOT making 2 dinners! If you're really hungry you'll eat it!" Hopefully you don't have to deal with that because it is VERY frustrating. A friend of mine has a 6 year old and a 9 year old and they eat anything and no, they're not overweight....at all! She said that ever since they were little there were no exceptions, they had to eat what she made. They're american and even eat spicy foods whereas we're hispanic and my son doesn't! So start them early. One thing you have to make sure you DON'T do that my step-daughter did with her baby and it backfired.....DON'T LET YOUR BABY TASTE REGULAR FOOD BEFORE STARTING HER ON BABY FOOD! Regular food has salt, sugar and spices so defenitley tastes better than baby food, if you do this the baby will not eat the baby food cause it will be tasteless for her. Also don't give your toddler ANY type of soda even if it's orange or lemon. They could get hooked on it and the sugar will rob them of nutrients. I rarely gave my son fruit soda and he doesn't really like soda now. He didn't used to like red meat and now he likes it cause he's into dinousaurs and some dinosaurs are meat eaters so he wants to be like them, I would have prefered him to be a "herbivour". Your daughter will also aquire her own taste buds even if she never tasted certain foods before I.e. in the womb....I hate strawberry's and my son loves them, I hate peanut butter and my son loves it! It's weird cause when I was pregnant I ate a lot of Honey Bunches of Oats and now my son loooooves them. He prefers healthy cereal over sugary cereals, I'm glad. Well, I hope my info. was useful and you apply it. You'll be an awesome mom if you want to help your baby's eating habits and she's not even born yet. Lucky baby! Good luck!

Answer 3

Very dificult.

When the kids are babies, it is not that dificult, they usually eats everything you start giving to them, of course is like anybody else, you have to make it tasty or the baby will throw it all from the beggining.

But once they start growing, they learn what they see, specially because they start eating what is being prepared for the whole family, instead of the special food.

So, i truly believe that in order that your children have healty food, you have to start for your self and your partner, - husband, bf.

So, you have to try to have a healtier food your self, in your house you will have to have all kind of food, what i mean is that if you don't want your childs to be picky you have to introduce them to all diferent kind of tastes, you will have to offer them a wide range of diferent meals.

I'm sure finally, and sometimes during the childhood, he will refuse some of them, it's normal to any person, but the secret is that he has the chance to try everything.

The problem is that if the parents don't like the vegetables, perhaps, usually there will never be vegetables, in the meal and in the house, so when he is older and you take him to a restaurant or to a friends house he will say, i don't like vegetables, because he never learned to eat them.

Answer 4

Introduce them to a wide variety of foods early. But don't be surprised if they become picky eaters anyway. I think all kids go threw phases where the only thing they want to eat is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Answer 5

introduce them to lots of different foods. make sure you have them eat healthy foods right from the start. try to keep them away from junk foods. but, most kids hit a picky eating faze between ages 2-5 for girls and 3-7 for boys.

Answer 6

Forget about it. You'll find much more important issues in your lives together. Let your child eat whatever she (you said "daughter") wants. It won't kill her. And she'll be young for a very short period of time. Trying to control her choices will, inevitably, eliminate some of those choices based on YOUR perception of whether they are good or bad for her. If, for example, you keep her away from chocolate, you may find her gorging on the "forbidded fruit" as a teenager. If you allow just about anything in moderation she'll be able to make her own choices. You'll be surprised how marvelously this turns out for you both.

Answer 7

introduce her 2 a wide selection of food so when will not b as picky hope this helps u

Answer 8

Give him good nutritious food..no options.it´s eat or go hungry.. he will come around very quickly. My mother put the food on the table.. if you did not eat you went hungry.. I don´t remember ever turning food away because I didn´t like it.. We even ate and loved liver as kids. I still do.

Answer 9

Introduce him / her to foods (all kinds) right away! I can get my three year old foster child to eat spinach...but my own kids (15 and 12) wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole!

Answer 10

Introduce her to vegetables before fruits. By doing this they wont only want sweet foods. I did not give my son fruits until about 2 months after i started to give him veggies.