Dealing with a finicky eater can make any mom go crazy. They won't eat meat, fruits or vegetables. They won't eat bread or anything that even resembles bread, like pita pockets or tortillas.
A reader recently asked about her "carbotarian" son, the most finicky of eaters who has survived his five years on only fruit-flavored items and pasta.
I have a friend whose finicky eater swears he doesn't like cheese but would eat it on pizza every day if he could. And I have one of my own who I have coaxed into expanding his palate, but it has taken a long time and a lot of patience.
One book I got back when my finicky eater was a toddler that really helped was "Coping With a Picky Eater" by William Wilkoff. Where it most helped was to make me realize that three squares a day is just not in the cards for many toddlers. Many kids do just fine on two decent meals a day, so stop fighting if they aren't hungry.
If you can, concentrate on the higher-vitamin fruits like apples with skin on, berries of all color, cantaloupe, etc. Keep offering veggies and make the rule only that he has to try it. Be good to your word and drop the subject because you'll be tested at first to make sure you mean it. Then, even the foods the child previously liked may get passed on.
Try to make mealtime as pleasant as possible and do not even talk about what the child is eating, good or bad. Just talk about your day.
Meanwhile, give your child a multivitamin to make yourself feel better and add finely diced carrots and peppers to meat sauces, quesadillas, meatloaf, etc.
Do not have junk in the house that would be tempting to offer as an alternative. Offer a bedtime snack of some yogurt or cheese slices to make you feel better after a finicky dinner. But make no comment on the dinner eating. You want them to look forward to meals!
Wilkoff suggests putting just one tablespoon of each meal item on his plate, saying nothing and only offering seconds if they eat what you gave them.
If they don't eat, don't say a word. Offer a healthy snack in two hours. If they don't eat, once again don't say a word. Offer another meal in two hours and do the same routine.
Here are some other tips I've gleaned from Wilkoff's book and other moms of picky eaters:
SNEAK IT: I load up carrots and diced zucchini and even chopped spinach in spaghetti and pizza sauces. I add diced tomatoes, carrots or spinach leaves to quesadillas and grilled cheese. Soup is a wonderful way to add extra veggies. And "Sneaky Chef" and other cookbooks have great ideas like adding carrot puree that goes unnoticed in macaroni and cheese.
OFFER IT: Even though I have added and sneaked veggies, I still have some on the plate at every meal. Don't hide your love of healthy food; model it.
RAINBOW OF COLORS: My kids have never cared for veggies but they will eat all manner of fruits, so I add fruit to every meal, especially cantaloupe (which has the same vitamins as carrots) and berries.
MAKE IT A GAME: We call broccoli stalks "trees" and imagine we are giants eating a whole tree. Sliced carrots are coins and we see who can put the most money in his belly. Silly stuff works wonders.
GET THEM TO HELP MAKE IT: This has been one of the most helpful things lately, getting the kids to help make dinner. If they helped make it, they have a sense of pride and really want to like it. Let him tear lettuce, measure water for rice, add veggies to the soup.
THE 'NO, THANK YOU' BITE: I tell my kids I will never make them eat something they truly don't like, but I want them to at least try it and say "No, thank you" to see if they like it. Even if it's something they have tried before and not liked, I ask them to have just one bite the size of a quarter to make sure. I explain that taste buds change as you grow and people often love stuff they hated as a kid. By doing this I finally got the kids to like broccoli and carrots because after several "No, thank you" bites, they finally developed a taste for them.
Trying these tactics can make a difference in the most finicky eater, even if you have a "carbotarian" in the house.
(Sharon Kennedy Wynne can be reached at swynne(at)tampabay.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)
Must credit the St. Petersburg Times
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