S/O What do picky eaters eat, in your experience?

[Anonymous]

I assume all picky eaters have their unique preferences. My kid is a picky eater despite our best efforts, but breakfast is our saving grace. She will eat any carb-based breakfast food (pancakes, waffles, cereal, pastries, etc.) for sure, but also loves yogurt, fruit, and oatmeal. I figure if she has yogurt, a bowl of fruit, and some kind of bread (toast, a croissant, half a bagel), that's a not-terrible start to the day with a lot of key nutrition involved, so I feel better if she picks at the rest of her food.

One thing that has surprised me is that the stuff I think of as kid pleasing (Mac and cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets, anything with a dipping sauce, etc.) has not appealed to her. She's the sort of picky eater who doesn't like food that is combined, so no pizza or casseroles. And she doesn't like meat (I think it's a texture thing) so chicken tenders are out. And while she'll eat pasta, she's picky about it and has many times rejects just regular Mac and cheese (but will have rotini with pesto sauce, especially if I shred some parmesan on top -- go figure).

Kid is 4 and I think it's really about that natural suspicion of new or unusual foods that kicks in around this age and I believe she'll grow out of it. She talks a lot about food needing to look appetizing to her and that's totally reasonable. She just has extremely narrow standards for what appetizing means right now, and I think that will relax as long as she's continued to be exposed to different foods and sees us eating them.

[Anonymous]

Many picky eaters I know are brand loyal. My 3yo’s BFF eats mac and cheese and chicken nuggets, but only certain brands. She will eat whatever her daycare serves though, but at home she’s much more limited!

I only have one moderately picky eater in my family. She will eat any pancake but if there is any fruit touching it, no way. She will eat most brands of frozen waffles, but again with the anti-blueberry waffles and not whole wheat waffles. Loves eggs in any form, except hard boiled egg yolks.

We eat breakfast for dinner all the time!

[Anonymous]

How are they picky? Some have an aversion to strong flavors, some to certain textures, etc.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think there is a universal picky eater appealing food. My picky eater won’t eat anything with a sauce or combined foods. Not eating combined foods means he won’t even try a chicken nugget because the chicken is covered in breadcrumbs. He’ll eat plain, unseasoned chicken and bread if they are not touching on his plate, but won’t eat a chicken nugget. He does love pancakes and scrambled eggs.

Meanwhile, his adventurous eater brother, who loves thai food, Indian food, sushi etc won’t eat pancakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:chicken nuggets pizza and mac and cheese. i can't believe what parents feed their kids!

Wrong. True picky eaters have a handful of “safe” foods and it isn’t what you’d consider stereotypical junk. For my picky kid it’s bananas, plain applesauce, one specific kind of Colby jack cheese, soup, plain buttered noodles, quesadillas, scrambled eggs. Exciting fare, no, but not Mac and cheese and nuggets either. In fact, nuggets were a big success for us this past summer when she actually tried them at a restaurant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many picky eaters I know are brand loyal. My 3yo’s BFF eats mac and cheese and chicken nuggets, but only certain brands. She will eat whatever her daycare serves though, but at home she’s much more limited!

I only have one moderately picky eater in my family. She will eat any pancake but if there is any fruit touching it, no way. She will eat most brands of frozen waffles, but again with the anti-blueberry waffles and not whole wheat waffles. Loves eggs in any form, except hard boiled egg yolks.

We eat breakfast for dinner all the time!

A lot of picky kids are picky because of anxiety. Brand loyalty or “I will eat this one kind of waffle” is about familiarity and control. They always know exactly what to expect. People think it’s just liking junk but it’s not. My picky kid would take her familiar banana every day over some unknown and unpredictable mac and cheese or cake or pizza.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:chicken nuggets pizza and mac and cheese. i can't believe what parents feed their kids!

Wrong. True picky eaters have a handful of “safe” foods and it isn’t what you’d consider stereotypical junk. For my picky kid it’s bananas, plain applesauce, one specific kind of Colby jack cheese, soup, plain buttered noodles, quesadillas, scrambled eggs. Exciting fare, no, but not Mac and cheese and nuggets either. In fact, nuggets were a big success for us this past summer when she actually tried them at a restaurant.

This. When I was a kid, I pretty much only ate white basmati rice and plain yogurt (Indian American, obviously). I barely would eat pizza or spaghetti. That's one of the things that's kind of hard about picky eating. There is no universally acceptable meal. I remember that I hated fish sticks (e.g. made me gag), which at the time was considered a very kid-friendly thing.

My picky brother only ate vanilla pudding, white bread with butter and sugar, and rice cereal for a while.

There are developmental reasons why kids are somewhat picky, and as parents are obsessing more about "healthy" foods, I wouldn't be surprised if the safe food landscape hasn't shifted considerably...and it's probably more varied now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pancakes. Waffles. Bagels. Pasta with butter. Peanut butter sandwiches. Cheerios. Berries. Applesauce.

Yes, this describes my picky eater. Add rice, arepas, tortillas (pretty much any plain carb will get eaten).
To be fair, the kid also eats almost any fruit and most veggies (as long as the preparation is simple, ie roasted with salt and olive oil)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:chicken nuggets pizza and mac and cheese. i can't believe what parents feed their kids!

Wrong. True picky eaters have a handful of “safe” foods and it isn’t what you’d consider stereotypical junk. For my picky kid it’s bananas, plain applesauce, one specific kind of Colby jack cheese, soup, plain buttered noodles, quesadillas, scrambled eggs. Exciting fare, no, but not Mac and cheese and nuggets either. In fact, nuggets were a big success for us this past summer when she actually tried them at a restaurant.

This. When I was a kid, I pretty much only ate white basmati rice and plain yogurt (Indian American, obviously). I barely would eat pizza or spaghetti. That's one of the things that's kind of hard about picky eating. There is no universally acceptable meal. I remember that I hated fish sticks (e.g. made me gag), which at the time was considered a very kid-friendly thing.

My picky brother only ate vanilla pudding, white bread with butter and sugar, and rice cereal for a while.

There are developmental reasons why kids are somewhat picky, and as parents are obsessing more about "healthy" foods, I wouldn't be surprised if the safe food landscape hasn't shifted considerably...and it's probably more varied now.

Really good insight here.

We actually get excited when our picky eater is willing to eat "unhealthy" foods like pizza. Pickiness is a problem in two ways: (1) they don't get enough food or not enough healthy foods for proper nutrition, and/or (2) they are simply hard to feed because they reject so many foods.

Our kid used to have both these problems, but we were able to identify enough foods deemed acceptable that I don't worry about nutrition or getting enough to eat anymore. She's not eating salad or anything, but she gets some diversity, plenty of fruit and lean proteins, good fiber, etc. So for us it's just a question of addressing the second problem. And with that, I don't really care what the new foods she tries are. I just want her to try need foods, and express an interest in giving things a chance. Pizza, burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, even chicken nuggets (which I personally find kind of gross).. all of that would be a step in the right direction because while those aren't every day foods, being willing to eat them means she can go to restaurants, eat at school, and eat at friends houses and not go hungry. That's good!

[Anonymous]

OP here,

Thanks! It seems like most of your experiences match mine, which is that it's really hard to predict what a specific picky kid you don't know will eat, and that while there are categories that are more likely to be accepted (e.g. things with less sauce, more consistent texture, more likely to be familiar) there's still a lot of variation, and unless you know a specific kid's preference the best you can do is have some variety, including some foods that are more plain and familiar, and keep things slightly deconstructed (e.g. sauce on the side, or a fruit platter instead of a salad) rather than serving some magic food that every child will eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:chicken nuggets pizza and mac and cheese. i can't believe what parents feed their kids!

Wrong. True picky eaters have a handful of “safe” foods and it isn’t what you’d consider stereotypical junk. For my picky kid it’s bananas, plain applesauce, one specific kind of Colby jack cheese, soup, plain buttered noodles, quesadillas, scrambled eggs. Exciting fare, no, but not Mac and cheese and nuggets either. In fact, nuggets were a big success for us this past summer when she actually tried them at a restaurant.

This. When I was a kid, I pretty much only ate white basmati rice and plain yogurt (Indian American, obviously). I barely would eat pizza or spaghetti. That's one of the things that's kind of hard about picky eating. There is no universally acceptable meal. I remember that I hated fish sticks (e.g. made me gag), which at the time was considered a very kid-friendly thing.

My picky brother only ate vanilla pudding, white bread with butter and sugar, and rice cereal for a while.

There are developmental reasons why kids are somewhat picky, and as parents are obsessing more about "healthy" foods, I wouldn't be surprised if the safe food landscape hasn't shifted considerably...and it's probably more varied now.

Really good insight here.

We actually get excited when our picky eater is willing to eat "unhealthy" foods like pizza. Pickiness is a problem in two ways: (1) they don't get enough food or not enough healthy foods for proper nutrition, and/or (2) they are simply hard to feed because they reject so many foods.

Our kid used to have both these problems, but we were able to identify enough foods deemed acceptable that I don't worry about nutrition or getting enough to eat anymore. She's not eating salad or anything, but she gets some diversity, plenty of fruit and lean proteins, good fiber, etc. So for us it's just a question of addressing the second problem. And with that, I don't really care what the new foods she tries are. I just want her to try need foods, and express an interest in giving things a chance. Pizza, burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, even chicken nuggets (which I personally find kind of gross).. all of that would be a step in the right direction because while those aren't every day foods, being willing to eat them means she can go to restaurants, eat at school, and eat at friends houses and not go hungry. That's good!

Yep. People who think picky kids just like junk don’t know real picky kids. My oldest used to go to restaurants with us and never order. Not one thing. Even now she does that at some restaurants. Still doesn’t eat stuff like fries, cake, not a fan of almost any candy . She tried rotisserie chicken breast recently and liked it and that felt like a massive victory.

[Anonymous]

My picky kid likes a few strange things that you don't think of as being crowd pleasers, like olives and tofu and plain beans out of a can. But pretty much no vegetable except cucumber, plain grilled chicken if bribed, nothing that could in any way be considered spicy (including just having a little onion or garlic) but she'll eat an everything bagel. Most pizza has too much sauce for her, she hates chicken nuggets. Loves bread, hates pasta.

It's a nightmare, and I've been cooking real table food her whole life and don't make 2 meals.

[Anonymous]

This is Tolstoyan— all happy eaters are alike, PITA eaters are each a PiTA in their own way.
I think bread products are the most common universally liked. Followed by maybe cheese. But some people don’t like those even, or don’t like them in specific combos.
My kids all hate rice and potatoes, which is insane and not due to anything I did raising them!

[Anonymous]

potatoes, preferably fries or mashed
chicken, preferably fried
pasta (spaghetti) with butter, maybe parmesan, maybe not spicy ground beef sauce
milk
peas
snap peas
apples
sometimes bananas, strawberries, other berries, pears, mango, pineapple, plums, peaches
hamburger, plain
salmon (sushi; start at a young age)
carrots
steak
bacon, until they figure out pigs are "nice"
plain bisquick pancakes with nutella
maybe mild fried fish
corn on the cob only
plain shrimp, maybe with a little butter and garlic
tater tots


NO yogurt, cheese, pizza, pork, bitter ish veggies, spicy anything.

Have hope OP. I was the pickiest child and now I eat all kinds of bizarre and spicy, foreign and domestic foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here,

Thanks! It seems like most of your experiences match mine, which is that it's really hard to predict what a specific picky kid you don't know will eat, and that while there are categories that are more likely to be accepted (e.g. things with less sauce, more consistent texture, more likely to be familiar) there's still a lot of variation, and unless you know a specific kid's preference the best you can do is have some variety, including some foods that are more plain and familiar, and keep things slightly deconstructed (e.g. sauce on the side, or a fruit platter instead of a salad) rather than serving some magic food that every child will eat.

Deconstructed is key for my picky one. Hates vegetables, mostly, but if I make a salad bar instead of a mixed salad, she might at least taste some of them, and then can pick at what she does like, even if it's not very varied.