I am having trouble getting my son to eat healthy foods. I have tried many things, like giving him dessert if he eats everything, letting him cook with me, and even keeping him from leaving the table untill he has eaten all his veggies. Nothing has worked, and often I end up just making him something he will eat like a peanut butter sandwich. Any suggestions?
2007-06-29 17:08:06 · 17 answers · asked by iwishicouldgrantwishes 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
A 3 year old isn't going to starve himself. Don't make anything special for him. Just make what you usually make, and he can sit at the dinner table when you do. If he doesn't eat it, than put it up for later. When he gets hungry than he can eat his food from dinner.
2007-06-29 17:12:13 · answer #1 · answered by Lacey 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My son does the same thing so this is what I do. I add shredded carrots and zucchini and hamburg to his past sauce. I buy him those kids nutrition bars when I have a day that I can't get him to eat at all, they are with the baby food. I don't remember the name but they are in a blue box.
He loves chicken nuggets so I make them home made in the oven rather than the ones that are made from chicken parts. He loves yogurt so I add fresh fruit , cut up small (even blueberries are cut) to his yogurt.
His doctor said that french fries are fine as long as he eats them with catsup and none or very little sea salt.
I have let him help me make homemade turkey/chicken soup for a while now and he loves pasta and rice so I use whole grain pasta (the smaller the type the better) and brown rice. He drives me crazy because in my soup he eats zucchini, carrots, onions, garlic, string beans, celery and spinach but won't touch a vegetable other than being in a soup.
The doctor suggested this. Feed him what we eat for dinner and if he doesn't eat make him wait 1/2 hour and give him some of the soup or peanut butter or whatever he will eat.
This is working for us. He will occasionally take something from Dad's plate to try and even if he spits it out we tell him what a good boy he is.
He will be fine you just have to learn a few tricks until he starts to experiment on his own.
Good luck!
2007-06-29 17:25:30 · answer #2 · answered by New England Babe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Offer a variety of foods like you have been doing. Three year olds are finicky as a rule. Instead of making him finish all the veggies, offer different kinds and just require him to taste them. He might find something he likes. If he is at a healthy weight don't worry too much and don't get into power struggles. If he really doesn't like what you've made, maybe a peanut butter sandwich occasionally will be a choice but keep offering different things. Also, three year olds love finger foods - maybe cutting up healthy foods into finger food form would help.
2007-06-29 17:20:29 · answer #3 · answered by hizkid42 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like you have tried everything..here is another suggestion for you.......
I was always told to let them eat what they will eat. If it's peanut butter sandwiches 3 times a day, then so be it. Most kids go through stages like this. Just keep offering different things, don't get mad at them. It will end...it just takes some time and patience.
Good Luck
2007-06-29 17:12:43 · answer #4 · answered by Momma P 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Stop making him something he wants. Fix a meal tell him you expect him to eat it. If he doesn't let him up from the table and offer him NOTHING else for the rest of the evening. Tell him that he gets nothing else until breakfast and that is how it is going to be when he refuses to eat what is fixed. He will NOT starve by missing one meal. If you don't he could wind up like my ex husband, an adult who is extremely picky and expects to have a seperate meal made just for him. If he doesn't like the menu at large family gatherings he expects the hostess to fix him a seperate meal just for him and frankly I don't think it is right to spoil a child that way.
When my own daughter decided to try and pull that on me I took her out to the front yard, made her look above the roof of our house and asked her if she saw any "Golden Arches" when she said no I said "That's right this isn't Mc'Donald's, this isn't a restaurant, either you eat what is on the table or you don't eat at all." She went two nights without dinner before she decided to give in.
2007-06-29 17:59:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
He won't starve. Just make sure you offer healthy snacks instead of junk food when he does get hungry. Trust me, your child will not starve. He is a human being and eventually will eat. Its completely normal for children of this age to be picky. Just make sure healthy choices are in the household instead of junk. That way when he does get hungry he has options of healthy foods instead of say a bag of cheese curls. The child will not starve himself. He can choose pb sandwich every day. He will eventually get tiresome of it. Add some fruit fun when he does. Just don't cave and say ok you don't want pb sandwich, DO YOU WANT CHIPS? Its a mothers quest to make sure her child gets enough to eat. Your son is fine. Even if its pb sandwiches for the time being
2007-06-29 17:16:14 · answer #6 · answered by hbuckmeister 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a three year old too, and they will eat when theya re hungry. I'd just make sure they are getting enough milk so they get all the calcium. Otherwise I don't worry about it. However if you want to make some cute foods, check out www.familyfun.com - they have some really great ideas.
2007-06-29 17:16:18 · answer #7 · answered by me 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What my mother did with me, and now what I do with my own is "you get what you get and you dont throw a fit". You give the child a reasonable portion of everything you are having. If they say they are finished, take the plate, cover it, and put it in the refrigerator. When the next meal comes around, warm it up...thats what they get. If they still do not eat it, repeat. They will eat if they are hungry. Just dont give in. If they want a snack, get that plate out. Believe me, as a girl who once ate green beans and mashed potatoes for breakfast....this works!
2007-06-30 10:00:49 · answer #8 · answered by Ashley B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My 3 year old will only eat chicken and french fries. Her doctor said it is perfectly normal and will grow out of it. Keep trying to offer new things without making a big deal out of it. He will only try new foods when HE is ready. Give him a kids chewable vitamin also to make sure he's getting any vitamins he may be lacking. Everything always works out with kids, just on their time not ours.
Good Luck!
2007-06-29 17:14:03 · answer #9 · answered by CF1228 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This is a very frustrating stage. When my oldest was that age, she had us make her mac n chz only to wash the chz off. It is an independance issue. My advice: 1. don't encourage it, but don't scold too hard either. 2. try to make it fun. Kids are all about fun. Try making faces and shapes with the veggies and allow them to be finger foods. 3. Look on the parenting sites for ideas on cooking for kids that are picky.
Good luck to you, believe me there are many more stages to come. :)
2007-06-29 17:17:05 · answer #10 · answered by tonyer71 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋