<p>Love the “poop” story. My picky one used to eat raisins until we read that “Julius, the Baby of the World” book by Kevin Henkes, and Lilly tells Julius that raisins taste like dirt. That was the end of D2 eating raisins to this day. :(</p>
<p>My niece was an extremely picky eater - she really only liked things like bacon - but only the fat, not the meat. And Kraft macaroni and cheese. She would not try new things. She’s now 26, and has tried and liked a variety of foods, including things like oysters and artichokes. She didn’t try grapes until she was 22, so this is a big change. Like others have said, I think getting out in the work world (she didn’t go to college) and being in social situations where bacon fat wasn’t on the menu helped.</p>
<p>On the “try one bite” tactic: Her mom tried that with her older brother and cooked winter squash. His response was to take the one bite and then immediately vomit his whole meal onto the dinner table. He still hates squash, although he loves pumpkin pie. We haven’t broken it to him that pumpkin is a squash.</p>
<p>I gave up on the “just one bite” thing when S2 started gagging and throwing up anything he didn’t like, especially apples with skin or chicken with skin. Believe me, I would much rather peel an apple than clean up vomit. Oh, and he also has severe peanut allergies, so we also have to be careful with any processed foods - we don’t really keep any in the house.</p>
<p>We experienced the one bite regurgitate day with a green bean…never did the one bite thing again…</p>
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<p>Ugh. I hate green beans. No one else seems to think they taste sour but they taste sour and gross to me. And they’re slimy. I suppose there’s a few other things I’ll just flat out refuse to eat as well. Green beans, black olives (only food allergy), coriander leaves (tastes like sour flowers, not a pleasant taste - though no one else tastes that), cow milk (sour - though no one else tastes that), yogurt (extremely sour & bitter - though again, no one else can taste that), pickles (extremely sour - I’ve met some who taste that and some who don’t), few other things along those lines. I imagine I’m simply just very sensitive to sour.</p>
<p>The poop story is great.</p>
<p>My D also didn’t like hamburgers. When she was a toddler she’d take one bite then look at me like I was trying to poison her. Most other meats produced the same reaction. The only meats she would eat as a toddler were chicken nuggets, bologna and fish sticks. She learned the word and concept of vegetarian when she was 5, and has been one ever since. When she was younger I’d ask “What did you eat for protein today?” The child loved to eat lima beans and green beans cold, straight out of the can. I still find half-eaten cans in the fridge on a regular basis. On the other hand, she’s always loved broccoli, one of the least-loved foods of most kids.</p>
<p>I never considered her picky, but I suppose it could be seen that way. She doesn’t make a big deal about it. There is always something she can eat, side dishes, salad, bread, something.</p>
<p>Kids are funny. As a toddler, DS liked tortellini but wouldn’t eat ravioli. Until one day we called them “jumbo tortellini”…</p>
<p>DD was very picky as a child and teen. Even many standard “kid” foods like mac and cheese, or hot dogs or peanut butter were not eaten.</p>
<p>She would eat some meat but we generally had to cook it separately so there was no spice or sauce (except teriyaki…) which got one extra pot dirty but was no big deal.</p>
<p>She went most of her life without anything green crossing her lips.</p>
<p>The best method we found to expand her palette was have her go over her friends’ house for meals, or go out to eat with her friends when she got older. We never made food a big point of contention, but it seems that, once removed from whatever dynamic was going on in our house, she was a lot more willing to try things and wound up liking them.</p>
<p>Mac and cheese, peanut butter, Chinese food, pad thai, salad, some vegetables, yogurt, there’s a reasonably long list of food she wouldn’t try at our table that she now likes because she tried them somewhere else. Not a huge list, she is still pretty picky. :D</p>
<p>I guess we’ve been lucky. Our kids were never picky. We DID do the “two bites of everything on your plate” thing. Middle kid doesn’t like shellfish. Youngest went through a period where she could not STAND cooked carrots - so we just quit making them…not a huge sacrifice. She would eat them raw, which is better for her anyway. She had never been a big vegetable lover, but she will eat them.</p>
<p>We always exposed our kids to a lot of different tastes - different cultural experiences, etc. They got into the habit of trying pretty much anything.</p>
<p>I’m amazed at all the stories here. I feel REALLY lucky!</p>
<p>I was a really picky eater as a child mainly because my mother served very few things. She considered potato a vegetable. I can’t recall ever eating anything green. But it was really traumatic for me. I was so afraid of eating anywhere but home for fear of not being able to eat what was put in front of me so I avoided it at all costs. When I met my husband and went to his mother’s house for dinner it was unbearable. She served TWO vegetables!!!</p>
<p>I have since gotten over it and can eat just about anythng. I was determined not to let this happen to my kids. We did not have the “one bite” rule. But I served many things, in small quantities which they were welcome to try or not. They could have more of anything they wanted and since there were few unhealthy things in the house, they were welcome to eat what they wanted. There was never a discussion of whether they should, or shouldn’t, eat anything. All three of mine will eat just about anything.</p>
<p>They did each have at least one thing they didn’t like and they were welcome to avoid it. My youngest didn’t like tuna fish, but I bought “chicken of the sea” and he was okay with that. Oldest didn’t used to like tomatoes but they are fine now and middle one was never fond of peanut butter. Otherwise they don’t care.</p>
<p>I believe that if food is not made an issue, they are more willing to experiment and will try stuff because there is no pressure to eat it. To this day, mine will choose a vegetable over a dessert since desserts were rarely served so they never developed a fondness for them. My middle one once traded the half a candy bar I packed in his lunch for his friend’s salad at school.</p>
<p>When the kids were little I got around the vegetable wars by letting them eat raw veggies as a snack or appetizer. Loved raw carrots, broccoli, cauliflower–just don’t dare cook the things!</p>
<p>I’m so glad my parents didn’t force the one bite thing. I’m still very stubborn about food and really need to try things at my own pace. If I feel forced, I tend to reject the food. I try not to, really I do.</p>
<p>We didn’t really have family meals so plates were never prepared for you. It was more of a grab what you want as you want it type of eating. One perk of my small family is that it’s more flexible ime.</p>
<p>My Ds were not too picky growing up. I always cooked dinner when they were growing up and would ask them to at least try things.</p>
<p>D1 became a vegetarian when she was around 14 and is still one to this day. She eats a wide variety of things although she didn’t like highly spiced foods for awhile, but now likes things that are more seasoned. D2 does not eat meat, only fish. She loves spicy foods and eats lots of veggies.</p>
<p>When D1 moved into her first apartment after freshman year she had a roommate that only ate cereal, mac and cheese and chicken nuggets!</p>
<p>I’ve given up. My son is 16, 6’2" and weighs 125 pounds. He just doesn’t like food and never has. What he does eat is mostly processed (frozen sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits, Goldfish crackers, Amy’s frozen burritos.) He claims to hate pasta, even plain pasta. He takes a men’s vitamin, or he would be malnourished. The only vegetable he will eat is broccoli, so we have it multiple times per week.</p>
<p>He does drink fruit smoothies so he is unlikely to die of scurvy.</p>
<p>And can I just add that although I know people mean well when they say they never made food a battle and that’s why their kids are such amazing gourmets, really, that didn’t work for us. Maybe it’s because he’s on the Asperger’s spectrum, but my son just never liked food. Period. He says he eats only to stay alive. My daughter will try anything, however, and so will I, so I think some of this is just inborn.</p>
<p>I was a VERY picky eater as a kid, and I still have my quirks, but I grew out of it. Among the things I wouldn’t eat:
-pizza
-onions in tomato sauce or in general
-peas
-sodas
-chocolate
-jello, sorbet, smoothies, milkshakes
-fruit of all kinds (even as a baby I preferred carrots and broccoli)</p>
<p>I still refuse to eat fruit, as well as things in the ‘squishy/jiggly’ realm of textures (fish, oysters/shellfish, sorbet, jello, smoothies). I have a serious texture issue!</p>
<p>Dear Massmomm - we need to be internet buddies! I so feel your frustration! Most of DD’s favs are processed, and she’s always been underweight - not even on the chart. And she’ll never be a gourmet cook. We visited Uncle Maddio’s pizza this week (she’ll eat a white bread cheesy pizza with tomatos), and they had a “we are hiring” sign posted. DD said “I could NEVER work in the food industry, makes me sick to think about it.” Definitely wired differently. On that point, it is GREAT to hear from the Picky Eaters directly - love, love, love hearing from that perspective</p>
<p>My daughter is a very picky eater. In an effort to “pick my battles,” I tried to stop making what foods she ate an issue. I attempted to provide healthy choices, but she was gone a lot of her senior year of high school due to her activities, so I really lots track of (and control of) what she was eating. </p>
<p>She started having terrible menstrual cramps, so I took her in to the doctor who decided to check her blood. The doctor diagnosed her with a severe iron deficiency. She was on max dosage of iron pills, 2x per day, for months to rebuild her iron stores. I would have never guessed it from her overall health, although in retrospect she had terrible flaky fingernails, caught every bug that came her way, and was starting to become very tired over the previous few weeks. The constipation from the iron pills was so not fun for her to deal with (even with stool softeners and constant water intake).</p>
<p>She takes a multivitamin with iron now, and hopefully has learned (the hard way) how important it is to eat right.</p>
<p>I’m a picky eater at age 18. I have to say that as I’ve gone through my teenage years, it’s become easier to suck it up and eat things that I don’t really like that much. Now, I’ll eat tomato sauce sometimes, although I hate when there’s too much, and I’ll eat tomatoes on sandwiches (but only certain types of sandwiches and not in salads). I don’t really like most types of sauces but I usually will still eat it. I still refuse to eat oranges or anything orange flavored and I’m very picky about vegetables. </p>
<p>However, I’m more willing to try new foods, I’ll eat sushi now, I eat salmon and other fish, and I have red meat sometimes because I realized that I needed a more balanced diet especially with protein. I also can’t stand swallowing vitamins. My mom always says that she was also a picky eater, and I like some of the foods she did when she was young, so I still have hope for myself.</p>