We went to Olive Garden not that long ago and all of my kids ate salad. You betcha there were people looking at us in amazement. I have a pretty hardcore approach to eating good food and vegetables and my kids know I mean business. In this house "If you don't eat it for dinner you will eat it for your next meal and not anything else until you finish." My oldest has had green beans for breakfast. Ellie went on an eating strike over cottage cheese, of all things. They all know I will make them eat it the next day. I don't falter on that one. I've read somewhere that it takes at least 10 times of trying a new food before a kid may like it. It is certainly hard to get to even 1 time if your kid won't even try it, I know I've been there!
I know you're wondering how we got to this point. I used to get frustrated with Ethan when he wouldn't eat things that he had eaten before (and liked I might add) and I did not want to have a battle every evening. This only works when they have a concept of when the next meal is around age 4 or so. Regan at 2 is too young but since she is the third she just does whatever they do. I don't get upset or frustrated anymore, I just calmly tell them that if they don't eat it now they can have it at the next meal or snack. I also tell them that it usually isn't as good reheated. Then when mealtime is over, I wrap it up and put it in the fridge. Sometimes telling them that in 5 minutes its going to be put away is motivation to finish it up. At first we tried making them sit there until they had finished but it just made everyone stressed and my kids are stubborn as all hell so that never worked. Time limits are a must.
There are also things that make it simple like, I don't put too much food on their plate. So finishing isn't going to stuff them so much they'll explode. Once they finish their plate they are welcome to any leftovers. Ethan hates tomatoes but he knows that if we have salad he is going to have to eat them. He has also learned that if he eats them first he gets it over with. He has taught his sisters to eat their veggies first, because they follow his every move. Ellie is a self proclaimed "fruit and vegetable girl," so I usually don't have any trouble with her. Although if Ethan is struggling she will usually encourage him. I still get some lip every now and then, but as a result Ethan (my picky eater) has learned to like more things and we don't have a struggle. He even ate zucchini the other night!
I know you're wondering how we got to this point. I used to get frustrated with Ethan when he wouldn't eat things that he had eaten before (and liked I might add) and I did not want to have a battle every evening. This only works when they have a concept of when the next meal is around age 4 or so. Regan at 2 is too young but since she is the third she just does whatever they do. I don't get upset or frustrated anymore, I just calmly tell them that if they don't eat it now they can have it at the next meal or snack. I also tell them that it usually isn't as good reheated. Then when mealtime is over, I wrap it up and put it in the fridge. Sometimes telling them that in 5 minutes its going to be put away is motivation to finish it up. At first we tried making them sit there until they had finished but it just made everyone stressed and my kids are stubborn as all hell so that never worked. Time limits are a must.
There are also things that make it simple like, I don't put too much food on their plate. So finishing isn't going to stuff them so much they'll explode. Once they finish their plate they are welcome to any leftovers. Ethan hates tomatoes but he knows that if we have salad he is going to have to eat them. He has also learned that if he eats them first he gets it over with. He has taught his sisters to eat their veggies first, because they follow his every move. Ellie is a self proclaimed "fruit and vegetable girl," so I usually don't have any trouble with her. Although if Ethan is struggling she will usually encourage him. I still get some lip every now and then, but as a result Ethan (my picky eater) has learned to like more things and we don't have a struggle. He even ate zucchini the other night!
I firmly believe that starting kids on veggies that you have pureed (that actually taste the way you're supposed to) also helps. Both of my kids are good fruit and veggie eaters, because let's face it, puree-ing veggies is much easier than pureeing meat :)
ReplyDeleteLindsay I totally agree! Although Ethan would eat anything as a baby and then turned into a picky toddler. The "banana gerber food" never smelled like bananas to me, well some version of them, but its so easy to just mash one up!
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