Does anyone else hear Marvin Sapp singing never would’ve made it when you lay down after successfully feeding a picky eater all day? The struggle is not fictitious when it comes to feeding this picky eater of mine. The pediatrician said “don’t become a short-order cook”, that was laughable. “Your child won’t starve himself” also laughable.
The EMTs have literally been to our home twice maybe three times over low blood sugar as a result of me listening to my pediatrician. Thank God for discernment and the Holy Spirit aiding me in learning that waiting it out does not work for our family. Feeding them is my absolute, number one, all-time stressor.
While Beau is the most consistent picky eater (I promise you this is a thing) Arrow can sometimes have her moments as well. Those days can sometimes be unbearable! Two picky eaters?!? There are seven things I do in order to both maintain my sanity and ensure that my children are getting the proper nutrients that they need.
1. Consistency
If they like it I love it. I build meals around things I know that they like. So I will include a couple of things that I know they will eat and I always add something new that I want them to try.
2. Continue to Introduce New Foods.
It takes multiple introductions to a new food before a child will try it. So I don’t give up. I kept putting broccoli on Beau’s plate and one day he picked it up and tried it. Now broccoli is his vegetable of choice.
3. Have Them Cook and Shop with You.
This has by far been the most effective. If they help make it or pick it they want to try it. They don’t always end up liking it but they will try it. While cooking we talk about all the ingredients and we make predictions about whether the dish will be sweet, savory, or spicy. Then we decide once we try it.
When we are in the grocery store we talk about the things we see and what they could be used for. If they say they want to try something (fresh foods only, nothing processed) then we buy it.
4. Make sure they take a multivitamin daily.
This is pretty straightforward. I make sure they take vitamins every day just to make sure they get the proper daily dose of everything. We do a multivitamin always and during cold and flu season we add elderberry and vitamin C. We also make sure they get the proper amount of vitamin D by sending them outside daily when the weather is nice.
5. Check-in
Beau is our child that will love something one day and without warning loathe it the next. I mean gag level loathing. This used to always throw me off. One day out of desperation I had him climb up on my bed and he and I made a list of all things he loved, liked, and wanted to try. I still do this. Every so often I will just check-in and ask him to help me update the list. During this time he also commits to trying 3-4 new things.
6. Three bites to be polite.
They don’t have to eat it all but sometimes, we do ask that they take three bites “to be polite” before they can say I absolutely don’t like it. If they decide they don’t like it then I make a note of it and I won’t offer it to them again for a while. I say sometimes because if trying the food makes them anxious or upset than I obviously don’t force the issue. I just feel that will cause a bigger problem. (This happened to me when I was younger I still don’t like peas.) In fact, I had the choice of eating them or sitting there. Most of the time I chose to sit there. My older brother then started taking my peas off of my plate and hiding them in his napkin so I wouldn’t have to stay at the table after everyone was done. So for us, there are exceptions to this.
7. Phone a Friend.
When all else fails I will call my husband or my mom and they will talk me down. Anxiety is normally at an all-time high at this point. They are both very good at reminding me of the successful days I’ve had and confirming that if all they want is rice, noodles, or a mustard sandwich tonight, it’s ok.
I hope you find something here that helps. Until next time,
