All he wants is chicken nuggets and that is it... When I can get him to taste new foods he gags, and sometimes even runs to the bathroom to puke.. I am clueless how to get him to try something else, and I hate always feeding him chicken nuggets... So please help me!!!
2007-01-01 11:44:36 · 9 answers · asked by spaz050201 3 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Grade-Schooler
Has he always been like this or is it recent?
If it is recent, it is a power struggle and should be easy to break, if it has always been like this it will take time and consistancy. So you have to decide how important it is and be firm with yourself.
At 5 he is old enough to understand rules and schedules. He is also old enough to realize he has been winning this battle. Other foods do not make him gag or throw up. He is doing it to himself to get his way. So get together a plan. First of all what other foods does he eat. He can't be eating nuggets 3 meals a day so what does he like? Make a list of everything he will eat. (Just a tip If he will do spagetti you can add carrots and zucchini that has been pureed in the food processor to the sauce to make it more healthy and he won't notice.)
Ok start here. There are 21 meals per week if he eats at home for all meals. He cannot have chicken nuggets for breakfast so that takes it to 14 meals. He cannot have chicken nuggets everyday. He can have them one time per day 5 days a week. 9 meals left to fight about. Most other meals he can have something else he likes (pizza, mac and cheese, hot dog etc.) but 2 meals a week he has to eat what everyone else is eating.
Sit down each week and let him plan the calendar.
And no matter what he is eating, give him a small amount of what he likes and put other sides on the plate that he would not normally eat. For example if it is nugget day, give him 2 nuggets and then on the side 3 small carrots, and some grapes. He can have more nuggets if he eats some of the other things without gagging or throwing up. But if he gags that is all he will get. Say it and stick to it.
If he gags or throws up at any other meal, he loses a chicken nugget day.
Eventually work it down to less times per week adding in things he has decided are ok, but always keep the gagging rule.
Also watch the ketchup. If he coats everything in ketchup you will just have another habit to break.
He may fight you for a while. He may gag and even throw up, but he won't starve if you say well this is it so throw up if you want, but what is left on your plate is all you are getting. If he misses a meal here or there it won't kill him. And once he realizes you are not going to fold he will stop gagging and eat. He may tell you he doesn't like it and throw a fit, but don't give in. You are the parent and he has to realize it. If you give in on this what will be the next thing you fight about? And it will be all the harder to win that because he will know that if he gets dramatic enough you will give in.
I hope this helps. Good Luck!
2007-01-01 12:29:59 · answer #1 · answered by micheletmoore 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You let him do this. If you would have been more strict from the get and given him more than just nuggets he would have a more varied diet. My suggestion, start small; nuggets with applesauce of celery with peanut butter....you will get a better reaction if you offer something sweet, then gradually add a raw veggie with the nugget and the "sweet" choice. every week using less nuggets and more healthy but appealing choices(for a 5 yr old) raisins are really good. You can even do crafts to help. Instead of macaroni glued to a plate use raisins and maybe he will eat a few and relize that they are pretty good. If you make a big deal out of it he will and he already knows if he does you give him what he wants. BE STRONG!! and good luck
2007-01-01 14:29:17 · answer #2 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many children go through this. I had a friend who's son would only eat hot dogs (not the bun, just the dog) for over a year. Then he slowly started eating other food. My son did this somewhat too. For his whole 1st grade year the only thing he would eat in his lunch was pepperoni. He would sometimes eat chips, a little fruit or a cookie but nothing else. The next year he would only eat a peanut butter sandwich. He's 12 now and still a picky eater but is healthy and growing like a weed so I'm not concerned. As long as your son is healthy and happy give him nuggets and a good vitamin that he will eat (GummiVites would be a good start) Good luck with your little one, it will get better, I promise!
2007-01-01 11:53:45 · answer #3 · answered by i have no idea 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A. Don't offer him chicken nuggets anymore.
B. Offer him other choices; if he doesn't want what you offer, he goes hungry till the next meal.
C. Try giving him small snacks so he doesn't starve...applesauce, crackers, cheese, carrots, granola bars.
D. I know what this is like...my five-yr-old likes her burritos and chicken nuggets! My mom always says...feed them what they're willing to eat, even if it's only one food. So long as they're gaining weight and they're healthy, it's really okay!
2007-01-02 09:40:11 · answer #4 · answered by SassySours 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hello mommy.....that lil boy of yours seems to b the one in control of momma. I know that we as parents always want the best for our children, but sometimes it gets out of our control and the child seems to take over where we left off. The best thing that u, as the mother, can and should do is take back the control. If all he wants to eat is the chicken nuggets, tell him "no", that you will not give him anymore.
Tell him that you are not gonna be buying them anymore, and that if he wants to eat he will eat what you give him, or he can choose not to, and go hungry...this may seem as if it is cruel, but it really isn't...I mean you are giving him something to eat, might not be what he wants, but he will then have to choose either to eat or not eat...he will eventually get hungry and realize that you are not giving into him for nuggets anymore, and will give up the fight and eat what you give him. And maybe reward him with nuggets on special days.
We have a rule in our house...If it's laid in front of you at the table, you have to eat it...if you finish it...you can have dessert. And our children know that if they have even 1 teenie tiny bite left on there plate to eat, that they don't get their dessert. I may get some disappointed looks sometimes when i set their plate down in front of them, but they eat every bit of it, or else they don't eat till the next meal...if it is dinner time and they choose not to finish,they don't get something else, they have to wait till breakfast.
The point is that you need to make it known to him that he does not have a choice to choose something else that he wants beause of something tasting "gross" to him. And spank his bottom when he makes himself throw -up....my 4 yr. old use to do that when he was 2 1/2 yrs. old, and i would simply take him and swat his bottom (enough to make it sting a lil), with a dowel rod....(you can get them up at Wal-mart in the craft section. The lil skinny ones work awesome..... test it on you to see how hard to make it sting just a bit) and then sit him down a explain to him why he got in trouble for making himself throw, cuz the spanking will do no good if you don't explain it to him .
You are a good mother obviously for asking such a question, there is nothing wrong with a lil advice from others sometimes, but you need to have consistency when you do anything like this, so he knows that you mean business, and that you are not gonna give him slack, unless you give him something that you yourself won't even eat...I've done that b4 and (of course w/o tasting it first.LOL) and that was bout the only exception that i would advise for this matter.
This i am sure will do the trick, and give u back control, and your lil eater also.
have a great day/night
Momma An-g
2007-01-01 14:42:25 · answer #5 · answered by Momma An-g 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just be strong about it. fix something for him. he doesn't try it then he goes to be hungry. after he really tries it and doesn't like it then do the chicken nugget thing for now. just need to be really patient but stern too....
2007-01-01 11:47:38 · answer #6 · answered by sirblackie88 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my little brother was very picky too when he was younger... all he would eat would be pizza and bread, he even did that whole gagging thing... but now he will eat just about anything. I'm sure its just a phase....
2007-01-01 11:48:45 · answer #7 · answered by *little one* 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
make it a game for him or have him help you when you are cooking
2007-01-02 06:05:55 · answer #8 · answered by chuy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
show your boobs to him at lunch
2007-01-02 06:28:29 · answer #9 · answered by Rishi V 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋