[Gracie Love]

Does anybody have any advice for dealing with a picky eater?

Matthew my 5 year old will not eat anything that isn't chicken, pizza, or covered in ketchup. If it even looks green or like a veggie he won't even touch the plate or anything on it.

We have tried everything we can think of. Making him sit there until he eats however long that is. Keep serving him the same thing until he is hungry enough to eat it. Grounding, spanking, bribbing. Is there anything else you can suggest? John and I absolutely refuse to give in to him. He needs to eat vegetables and other foods. He is skinny.

We even tried "look Matthew, Ethan has eaten more than you, you aren't going to let your little brother out eat you." He just says" good he can eat mine too." Which for having a smart mouth he gets in more trouble. Please help! We are at our wits end.

[Shakespeare]

LOL. Sounds just like my brother. I havn't met many 5 year old who -arn't- picky eaters. Don't worry they grow out of it My brother "ran away" once when he was 5 because "mom made ocky food." He also ate only 3 iteams, and was incredibly skinny.But now at 14 he eats almost everything, and stays put too

Well, I don't have kids, and won't for a long while yet, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

~Kate

[Role Modlin]

Originally Posted by Shakespeare

LOL. Sounds just like my brother. I havn't met many 5 year old who -arn't- picky eaters. Don't worry they grow out of it My brother "ran away" once when he was 5 because "mom made ocky food." He also ate only 3 iteams, and was incredibly skinny.But now at 14 he eats almost everything, and stays put too

Well, I don't have kids, and won't for a long while yet, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

~Kate

I'm more of a picky eater than either one of my kids, so I don't know what to say to this one.

[H.M. Murdock]

You could:
Serve him nothing but vegetables for a week. He'll eat then. After that, if he doesn't eat his vegetables, then threaten to do it again, and mean it. Eating only chicken, pizza, or anything doused in ketchup is not a good habit to have developed, much less to allow to continue.
Nip it in the bud!

I truly don't understand how a kid can not want to eat vegetables or anything green. When I was a wee laddie, and even today, I love salads, vegetables and such.

[PKfanSteph]

First up, I'm 27 and the pickiest eater I know. The only greens I like are peas and green beans and if there's red meat or pork on my plate, you can bet there'll be ketchup too! But that is a major improvement from where I was. When I was five, just about everything that was cooked had to have ketchup on it; potatoes of all kinds, every meat, heck even mac-n-cheese.

Now, when I am at home and when I am at someone else's house are two different things. I'll do my best to eat things I don't like out of respect for the hosts. And sometimes ketchup just isn't available so I live without it. But these things are something that I learned over time...I could've cared less when I was young.

When I was about 5 and really skinny, my mom had the same concerns you do. Here is what my doctor told her:

"Right now, she's heathly. Eating something is better than eating nothing. Keep the ketchup and add a daily vitamin."

[side note: ketchup on Flintstone vitamins tastes aweful...]

I know personally when my mom tried to make me eat something, it made me hate it all the more and only served to strengthen my resolve to not eat. Some kids eventually give in when they get hungry. I didn't. Spanking, grounding, starving, didn't matter. Somebody once told my parents to feed me a bowl of ketchup without any water. They said it would cure me of my "problem". I ate the whole thing, no water, no problem. And I still love ketchup.

[Xkcer Man]

I've always been a picky eater, but my girlfriend has gotten me to change enough to where I'll try stuff that I don't know I don't like, whereas before I would've just said I didn't like it because I'd never had it.

I think the idea of eating only vegetables will make him hate vegetables because they are associated with punishment. Kinda like punishing him by making him go to church will make him not want to go to church.

Have you tried putting ketchup on vegetables? Maybe if that works you stop buying the ketchup as much and then him them "You eat it all the time with ketchup. Try it without."

[Gracie Love]

PKfanSteph, You sound just Like Matthew except green beans and peas are green and in his mind even ketchup doesn't fix that. I am concerned with the habit continuing in to adulthood. I just don't want that. Matthew puts ketchup on Mac-n-cheese too.

Matthew won't even eat mashed potatoes. It hast to be fries or not potatoes. Only Chicken strips fried, Little home made pizzas(nothing else), As long as it isn't green he might eat it with ketchup.

He will eat a cheese and ketchup sandwich. White bread, kraft cheese slices, and ketchup. (nasty huh?)

Ps Matthew tried the ketchup on his vitamin too.

[PKfanSteph]

Originally Posted by Gracie Love

PKfanSteph, You sound just Like Matthew except green beans and peas are green and in his mind even ketchup doesn't fix that.

I only ate peas because it gave me something to do while podding them as a kid .

I am concerned with the habit continuing in to adulthood. I just don't want that.

And there's nothing wrong with that! It's good that you're concerned, you should be. Being a picky eater is a real pain in the rear!

Matthew puts ketchup on Mac-n-cheese too.

I reverted back to putting ketchup on my mac-n-cheese while I was in college. That stuff the dinning center made was dry and nasty! Otherwise, I've grown out of that .

Matthew won't even eat mashed potatoes. It hast to be fries or not potatoes. Only Chicken strips fried, Little home made pizzas (nothing else), As long as it isn't green he might eat it with ketchup.

It sounds like threatening doesn't work, so you might try something a bit more "sneaky". What about a compromise? Give him one thing he wants in exchange for a bite of something he doesn't. Tell him he can have fries if he eats a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Make him feel like he's winning, like it's really you who's giving in.

He will eat a cheese and ketchup sandwich. White bread, kraft cheese slices, and ketchup. (nasty huh?)

I used to eat just ketchup sandwiches--buttered white bread with ketchup. Sounds aweful now!!!

Ps Matthew tried the ketchup on his vitamin too.

Did he like it???

I have a friend who keeps trying to convince me to put cayenne pepper on all my food. He uses that stuff *MUCH* more than I use ketchup. When other friends kid me about my habit, I just mention my friend who puts cayenne pepper on everything but cereal, including fig newtons.

[CanadianChick]

Trying to force a child to eat will never work. If you're going nuts and frapping out over it, you're giving him some serious advantage! It's a big flashing red button he can push to make you mad.... every time, never fails. Why on earth would he give up power like that?
And, seriously, power struggles over food can lead to eating disorders later in life. (I can cite studies if you like!) It's probably not a good idea to let it go too far.

You could try being really careful about what foods you offer. If your kid is hungry, he WILL eat. WHAT he will eat, however, depends on what you're offering. If you think, "This kid won't eat anything but Frosted Flakes, so I better make sure I always have some around," you're setting yourself up.

Here's the plan I use for my super-picky kids:
1. They don't HAVE to eat anything at all. I make them sit with the family at dinner time, so there's no advantage to missing meals. (They don't get extra play time for not eating!) If they want to fast for four days, that's their choice.
2. I tell them clearly when the next snack will be. (ie/ "You can leave your spaghetti, but you won't get anything else until bedtime.")
3. If there's dessert, they can't have it until they've eaten all their food. ("No pie and ice cream until you've eaten all the spaghetti on your plate.")
4. I make sure snacks are healthy and nutritious. (granola bars, fruit, etc.) You don't want your kid skipping spaghetti because he knows he'll get cookies before bed!
5. I DON'T let myself get mad about it.... this is difficult....
6. I try to be considerate when picking out menus. It's just downright nasty to serve brussels sprouts when you KNOW the kids sincerely hate them. If you really want them to eat their veggies, find out which ones they hate the least and offer those. They could choose between the brussels sprouts OR the carrots, but no dessert until they eat one or the other. See what I mean?

Hope this helps, it's a frustrating thing to deal with!

[Gracie Love]

Actually, Matthew has been eating lately. Pretty good. SO maybe his behavior is turning back around, again.

[God's Jedi]

Hey, he sounds like my twin. Only....11 years younger. Just do what my parents did: wait it out 'till he's old enough to drive and has money. Then he'll go out somewhere every night and not bother you

[bobthecockroach]

If you tell him to eat it and he doesn't the problem runs deeper than pickyness. That's direct disobedience and should not be tolerated at all. Not to say you should just force him to eat what you want him to eat.

As for pickyness, he will grow out of it if he's taught to. I used to be picky but now eat almost anything (save for salad dressing, mustard, mayonaise and pickles). A good bit of that was going off to camp where my choices were eat what's served or eat nothing but peanut butter and jelly for a week. First year I went, I had peanut butter and jelly a few times. Next year I just ate what was served. Then again, I never had a problem with fruits and veggies. I would say, try to find a way to incorporate veggies indirectly into his diet. Make casseroles, put onions and bell pepper (in very small pieces) in pastas. Experiment with different ways to prepare veggies. Boil them, steam them, fry them, bake them, microwave them, grill them...

Anyway, you're never required to serve pizza or ketchup. When grown up, kids will eat what they learned to eat as children. Actually, that applies to pretty much everything, not just eating.

[Gracie Love]

Actually you know, I prayed about it and amazingly we have a lot less problems lately. He still has his moments, but it seems to get better. John has been teaching Matthew about the covenants that God made and he and Matthew have a covenant about eating. It is kinda funny. Last night he ate lasgana and he got a new toy for it because he even ate the green stuff. Thank you one and all for your suggestions. God Bless