Did your "picky eater" bloom???

Parent Cafe
1

So to not derail the maple syrup thread… :slight_smile:

I made two major errors (IMO) as a young parent. 1. Rocked my kids to sleep for a long time (really don’t regret this but I do think putting them to bed asleep was the root of some of their waking up and NOT being able to fall asleep on their own) and 2. Cooking/catering to their limited tastes.

I should have made them eat whatever I cooked. Truth be told, I like about everything, my H not so much. He’s largely a meat/potatoes guy. The kids became even worse, preferring a steady diet of little meat, lots of pasta, cheese, some fruits, limited veggies, breads and the typical not-so-good-for-you kids stuff like chicken nuggets, corn dogs, etc. It was a glorious day when kid 1 and 2 happily ate a grilled hamburger!!!

Kid #1 is now 26 and she is a self-described foodie and loves to cook, bake, grocery shop. She eats seafood, ethnic dishes, vegetables galore, etc. STILL is not a fan of hearty meats - she will never order a steak, pork chop or ribs.

Kid #2 is now 22 and loves trying new foods. His GF is Lebanese and he adores her family foods. He will try anything and is not afraid to try and cook something himself. He started learning to grill last year. Loves a good steak!

Kid #3 is 17 and trying to erupt from her “pickyness”. :slight_smile: She too is limited on meats, but will eat chicken, turkey and some seafood. Again, no “hearty meats”. She has opened her tastebuds to Mediterranean food and no longer reaches for pasta three times a week.

Who is the picky one in your family? Did you like me cater to specific, limited tastes when your kids were young. Are YOU picky? Do you wish you had more sophisticated food tastes???

2

My kids are picky eaters (one worse than the other) but I am happy to hear that they might grow out of this.

3

I really never grew out of it (but I am better than when I was a child and subsisted on cheese sandwiches). I never forced Ds to eat anything they weren’t interested in (for months, it seemed like D2 lived on cereal around late elementary school years), and I am happy to report they both probably have twice as many varied foods than me that they really enjoy. They are pretty much willing to try anything. I am still the pickiest eater of the family.

4

My DD absolutely refused to eat eggs growing up. It really screwed me up on nights when I thought an omelette would be a good quick dinner.

Fast forward to now…she eats two sunny side up eggs every morning.

But she still won’t eat mayonaisse…

5

I was never a picky eater and grew up in a family of them. I loved to go out because I could order wild, new things from the menu. My family thought I was nuts.

H was a horrible eater as a child probably due to his mother badgering him to eat EAT. Once he left home he started to eat.

My kids have always been pretty good. They will try anything, but don’t like everything.

6

My youngest has aspergers and is a very picky eater. If forced to eat something he dislikes, he will actually gag and throw up (We learned that the hard way :0). He has gotten a little more adventurous as he’s gotten older, and has learned to eat politely when served something new and/or strange. But, if left to his own devices (as he usually is at college) he will eat pizza or a hamburger every day.

7

My second D is also a very picky eater (first D eats pretty much anything go figure). It is very stressful for her, and other family members never fail to give her a hard time about it. She is 16 now so it will be interesting to see if she will open up to new things. She did drink some orange juice last week, which was the first “new” thing she’s tried willingly in probably a year.

8

goskid2 would only eat “white” items when young: pasta (plain, cheese, no sauce). pizza (with cheese only, no sauce). Tortillas (plain). Rice (plain). Bread (white only, cheese, butter or peanut butter only). Apples (peeled). No veggies or meat. PIA. Had to make his lunch all thru HS, even though HS had a fab chef in cafeteria.

In HS, team dinners didn’t cater to him like his Momma did…and all of a sudden, chicken, cesaer salad, omelettes, pepperoni pizza, spaghetti sauce, chili and tacos became acceptable to him. In college, the dining hall (which was very good) soon became monotonous, so he began cooking. Today, he’s fairly adventurous (except Thai and salmon) and will eat or attempt to make just about anything.

Pediatrician just said to hang in there, it will change. Interestingly, he claimed that some kids with major ear issues (goskid2) liked bland, non acidic foods in early childhood…

9

Interesting to see this thread! My soon to be 15 year old has been eating the same few basic foods since he was a toddler. Hot dogs, processed chicken products, sausage, and burgers are the only meats. Huge amounts of pasta, pasta, pasta, only with a specific canned sauce. Breads, pizza, crackers, sweets…that’s about it. Oh and lots of milk. He has basically been on his own meal wise since he was able to operate the microwave. I’ve given up even thinking about it.

10

I was required to eat whatever my mother served and hated it. I decided when my first was born that I would encourage but never force. The first had a limited number of things she would eat when a child but now is an adventurous eater. The other has always been happy to try new things. I shudder to think about the battles about food we would have had if I had forced kid 1 to eat things she didn’t want to eat (like everything.) I’m glad I opted out.

The fact that picky eating (I hate that term) is so common makes me think it’s a common facet of childhood and kids shouldn’t be pressed to change until they’re ready.

11

Our kids (D now 24, S now 21) had such limited, unhealthy diets growing up it’s a miracle child protective services didn’t come knocking on our door. Our son, in particular, practically lived on Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup. Now, they both have branched out nicely. Son has been able to appreciate and enjoy the diversity of foods that Berkeley CA has to offer, and that probably changed his eating habits more than any other factors.

12

Funny what they would eat when it was a friend’s parent cooking- eg, fiddleheads, salmon, sushi, all sorts of things. Still surprises me what they like now. I will say, D2 went through a vegetarian period- which, to her, meant chips and cookies. D1 can cook and is pretty good.

13

I prefer healthy light food, but am fairly “unpicky”

Kids are foodies. Both like to cook and are good at it. They were fairly picky growing up, but are over that.

14

Picky eating was viewed by most in my extended family and among many neighbors in my old working-class NYC neighborhood extremely negatively as a sign someone was spoiled.

This was especially so among those in my parents’ generation as they grew up having little to eat at some points in their childhood and seeing people starve due to the Japanese invasion/occupation of China from 1937-45 and later, the Chinese Civil War in the late '40s.

My parents were pretty mild compared to my aunts and uncles who would sometimes harshly discipline my older cousins when they said they didn’t like to eat something as children. Keep in mind their childhoods took place during the '60s and '70s when this type of parental disciplining was much more common even among many mainstream American communities.

Comparatively speaking, my parents were mild though I did recall plenty of lectures from them and from older aunts/uncles about how back when they were kids, they were sometimes lucky enough to have ANYTHING TO EAT…including extremely watered down rice soup with a dash of salt every few days. My older cousins covertly rolled their eyes when those lectures started.

The spoiled stereotype was somewhat confirmed when I found what I felt were a surprisingly large number of college classmates from upper/upper-middle class backgrounds who were picky eaters in the most obnoxious sense (i.e. Openly expressing dislike of dishes…including uttering “eww!” at a dinner hosted by a retired college official). I’ve also had a couple of classmates openly toss food offered by me and others into the trash right after loudly expressing dislike for the dish.

Personally, I felt their social graces were seriously lacking and shocking as such behavior wouldn’t have been tolerated in my own family or those of most working-class neighbors in my old NYC neighborhood.

15

Both kids are kind of picky in their own ways but between them they eat a balanced diet! S (22) is a big meat and potatoes guy and will also eat fish. But no sauces and everything needs to be plain. He won’t eat red sauce on pasta but will cover rice with ketchup to eat it! Since moving off campus and cooking for himself he’s been eating/cooking lots of eggs and chicken. Won’t touch bananas or most other fruit but will eat apples. Veges - broccoli, peas, corn on the cob and some plain caesar salad. DD (almost 19) loves fruit and veges, most meats and fish but won’t touch a hamburger or any type of ground meat (steak - yes). Also won’t touch couscous which is one of her brother’s staples and really doesn’t like regular potatoes but loves sweet potatoes. Wouldn’t eat eggs until this summer and is now eating them regularly at school. Most of what they don’t like I think are texture related items - banana, ground meat, couscous, etc. I always expected them to eat what they were served but some things weren’t worth fighting over. She didn’t eat any meat until she was almost 6. And she won’t touch soda because of the fizz (or beer for the same reason!)

16

My daughter (now 21) was a very picky eater as a child. I made pasta or rice for her every night (along with whatever my H and I were eating). She eventually grew out of it and likes most food (she is the only egg eater in the house.) However, her favorite is still a dish of pasta (which she makes herself many nights).

17

It took us a long time to understand that DS’s pickiness had to do with his sensory integration issues. He couldn’t handle anything with too much flavour, or things that were difficult to chew (meats, skins on fruit, celery, etc). He has gotten better about both issues as he has gotten older, but still likes to stick to his favorites. He’s moving into an apartment next year, so I’m going to have to give him cooking lessons this summer. I’m making a list of things that he likes and that are fairly easy to make - pasta with butter and parmesan cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, broiled chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper only), white rice, broiled steaks and hamburgers, scrambled eggs, pancakes. And he can supplement that with frozen pizza, grapes and strawberries (fruits that don’t require peeling), orange juice, yogurt, and cereal. He will eat most green vegetables, if I cook them but I doubt that he will cook them on his own.

18

So long ago :slight_smile: toddlers got tastes of everything, children were served what I made and were free to not eat it – but the untouched plates went in the fridge for later in case they decided hungry was no fun after all. Of course, I didn’t deliberately cook things nobody liked. We also had a weekly blind choice from a random cookbook – that was fun — and when they were little, if there was produce we wondered “how do you eat that?” we’d buy one and bring it home. Cue two boys in the driveway, trying to open a coconut…

They are typical 20-somethings. They can cook, but they’d rather have convenience food or takeout in excess. It is beginning to dawn on them that their waistlines are paying the price, and they are trying to remember to buy fruit, veggies too. I made sure they knew how to cook well by the time they left, but I guess some people just don’t like to:(

19

I have three very different eaters. I feel my youngest is still evolving but he will eat anything except beef, which he stopped eating early in high school. Not sure if he’s ever had lamb. He loves hot and spicy. My oldest is a vegetarian but an accomplished cook. She was not an especially picky eater as a child. My second child was a very picky eater as a child but an extremely polite social eater. I’ve seen him multiple times eat food at parties and family gatherings that he would avoid at home. He’s happy in his late twenties to eat pizza, hot dogs, mac and cheese, etc. He is not keen on vegetables. I don’t cook differently for each kid, but invite them to share the kitchen with me, and encourage my daughter to just take it over!

20

I don’t know if I should admit we just renamed some foods. They still laugh about the “onion rings” that were really calamari. They liked them.