when fin first started eating food as a baby, i thought he was going to be a great eater. he flat out refused baby cereal - but can you blame him, that stuff is gross. but he took to all the other foods we offered him like a champ. as a new mom, i decided it was best to make all my own baby food. so he was eating "exotic" things like avocado and mango and cottage cheese. he never turned his nose up at anything. once he moved onto table foods at around 9 or 10 months of age, he continued to be a great eater. i would make one dinner for the three of us and he would gladly eat the cut up bits of whatever we were having for dinner. then he turned 1, and it was like a switch was turned off in his little body. he started to refuse all manner of foods.
then it happened... i made the ultimate mom mistake and began my days as a short order cook. this has been carrying on for quite some time. i have tried a gagillion tricks to try and get him to just taste new things. i mean really, have you ever known a kid who doesnt like mashed potatoes? he wont even try them. he doesnt know what he is missing out on. we have tried telling him "eat this is will make you insert
lie descriptive word here". i mean, we all know that couscous salad makes you silly, right?! we have tried offering rewards for trying new things. we have tried the old, "just one bite and if you dont like it you can spit it out" tactic. lately we ad been successfully using the reverse psychology method of saying," i bet you can't take two bites of that". however, yesterday i was outsmarted by my 4 year old who responded, "you are right mommy, i can't take two bites of that". doh!!
so if you have a better method, chime in and add a comment, i am getting desperate here! and worse, the "switch age" is rapidly approaching to max and keegan and there is no way i am preparing 4 separate dinners each night!
2 comments:
Well I have one who will eat anything I put in front of him (Brady) despite only being 21.8 lbs yesterday, one who is pretty good (Mackenzie) and then there is Kyle. Since as you know when you have one you can make different meals but with three not an option. When Kyle starts his temper tantrums I remove him from the table and what I have found is if he is hungry he will eat. He may go 2 days barely eating but on the third day he chows down on whatever I put in front of him. If he starts throwing food, crying etc. I remove him from the table. I know it is more complicated with a 4 year old but you are fixing what you are fixing and if he and the twins are hungry they will eat. I was always a scrawny picky eater I remember making gag noises when my mom would put dinner on the table but look at me now pleasantly plump and will eat just about anything put in front of me. Good luck!
We do not have a 4 year old picky eater, but one who feels her life is so busy she does not have time to eat. After a few bites, we hear "Mommy, Please can Helena get up?" She is soooo full that she cannot eat another bite, unless it is a chocolate chip cookie or Crazy Vanilla ice cream.
Our rule is - if you don't eat, there is nothing else for the rest of the night. Most nights this catches on, last week I could hear her belly growl before going to bed and she was on a snack campaign - so her choice was Ritz Crackers and not the Cheetos she has her eye on!
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