Picky Eaters | The Happy Housewife™

Picky Eaters The Happy Housewife™: "Picky Eaters ~ Part 1, My Story --- http://thehappyhousewife.com/picky-eaters-part-1-my-story/
August 18, 2009 > No Comments
It seems like everyone has an opinion on picky eaters. This series on Picky Eaters is not trying to change anyone’s mind or make anyone feel like less of a parent because they do things differently. This my story and what worked for our family. If you are struggling in this area, feel free to try some of my ideas. If you have your own tips to share, leave a comment or join our active discussion going on over at The Blog Frog."

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Seems several of my favorite blogs have braved this topic lately. It seems to be a relatively hot topic just now.

Since I enjoy history - I found it interesting that picky eating seemed to be a problem of the rich and the modern - us poor folk have fewer problems with it. So do we have a magic secret? Not really - we just usually don't have the time or money to accomodate a picky eater.

I have breast fed my kids until they self weened pretty much. Though since I tend to miscarry if I'm still nursing, both Joel and Kendra were encouraged along in the process. I can't afford a lot of baby food items, so I tend to just smush up what we are eating. In general, my kids are 7 or 8 months old before they start asking for food. I don't force the issue at 4 months just because they need to learn to eat. We do get cereal on WIC - but it often sits on the shelf, accumulating dust, until they are older. I still have some in a jar mixed with other ends of cereal boxes that we mix in with apple sauce and yogurt.

My pickiest eater so far is my husband. His mom fed him everything - but now he is quite picky. He often cooks and eats a completely different meal than we do, or if he is away, we eat foods that he won't - like broccoli stir frey! Yummy. He could live on pasta, hambergers, tacos, french fries, fried chicken, and soda pop. Recently, I've been getting kefir pudding and kefir shakes in him - and he likes fruit and fruit juice in general. And plain green salads.

I've got stuff I won't eat - like lima beans and oatmeal, and I have a mild allergy to peppers and dairy.

Kendra eats most anything we put in front of her. She tries new things at restraunts (buffet ones) and has found she likes a variety of foods. She is allergic to dairy and has discovered she really does not like most dairy products. She loves kefir and does fine with it. She is probably my most versitile eater. She loves to cook and bake.

Vannan has issues with foods. She hates beans because they don't digest well when she eats them. We found dairy products make her asthma worse, so she only eats that in small amounts. We also avoid sugar in most forms for the same reason. The funny part is that now she doesn't like sweets much. She has never liked cake.

Joel likes almost anything - except pasta. In fact, he doesn't care much for junk foods at all. He likes going out for Chinese and eating broccoli, string beans, and chicken on a stick. If you take him to McDonald's, he'll eat half the fries and pick at the burger a bit - and come home wanting something to eat.

Marriana is my pickiest eater. She has had to learn to not spit out her food or throw her plates on the floor. She now tries everything offered to her. Some days she still refuses to eat what is given to her. But will eat breads and sugary foods until it's coming out of her eyeballs and still ask for more. I like seeing her learn to eat veggies and meats without a hassle. The process has been slow - but we make progress daily.

We don't do deserts or a lot of grains (when I can avoid them). We've found grains happen when we have a tight month. We eat lots of salads and meats - mostly chicken. I would like to eat more healthy - but our budget is tight and we have to still feed Tim too. Right? We try to follow the diet recommended at http://www.mercola.com - I feel so much better on that diet and loose weight too.

Many kids are picky eaters because of texture or taste or allergies - the food makes them feel bad or sick. Sometimes it's just a phase. But I think the biggest group of picky eaters is a side effect of the premade up food industry. They put taste enhancers in most of the foods - and the more it is processed, the more of these chemicals are in the food. These chemicals are addictive and make you want more - other foods (real food) then taste less - kids don't want them, and neither do adults. It takes around 14 days to retrain taste buds ... and 3 - 4 months to loose your desire for the other foods. Picky eaters tend to abound in families that relied on convenient prepackaged foods when the children were little - baby foods, baby meals, microwave and put and on a plate type stuff. I see very few picky eaters in families that made their own baby food, make their meals from scratch, and refuse to play short order cook.

I'm no expert on what is the healthiest way to feed a child. Mine don't always eat what I think they should. We avoid things like high frutcose corn syrup, dyes, and foods with a lot of chemicals in it. We eat very little deserts - though we have a 2 MnM rule - for supper. Eat everything on your plate and you get 2 MnMs. Marriana has tried dumping her plate on the floor, hiding her plate under the table, and even feeding her supper to Joel to get those MnM's. And at least twice she got away with it. We aren't perfect - especially right now with the heat and pregnancy and lack of sleep.

I do try to accomodate a strong dislike. I hated being given slimey oatmeal for breakfast every day. So I try to not push their buttons by giving them a hated food every day. I think Joel gets the short end of this - Daddy thinks the 4 food groups are macaroni, spaghetti, bread, and the other stuff. (Just kidding) - but we do end up with pasta quite a bit. Remember Joel doesn't like pasta?

If you have a strong opinion - you might want to go put your 2 cents in at the article above - from the Happy Housewife.