5 1/2 year old niece only eats hot dogs…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 5 yo is in a hot dog phase. She has grassfed organic beef dogs with shredded cheese on with brioche buns. On top she pico de gallo. Seems like a compete meal until she moves into the next thing.

Lol. Brioche and salsa. That definitely makes it ok

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all realize that such kids wouldn't be coddled in other cultures right? Children in other cultures have much wider palates.

There is something to this, but you have to realize that a lot of cultures abuse their kids. What might look like coddling to you could actually be just giving a crap about the child. Also super tasters and individuals with restricted palates, like autistic people, exist in all cultures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all realize that such kids wouldn't be coddled in other cultures right? Children in other cultures have much wider palates.

So? I am still missing the part where this is any of OP's job to fix or worry about? It's not her kid, it's a weird quirk, and it does not effect OP AT ALL.

It's not like the parents of this child are starting a campaign that since their child only eats hot dogs, ALL children much only eat hot dogs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are picky kids, and then there are kids who will, in fact, starve themselves rather than eat the "wrong" foods. If you've never had a severely underweight kid, I don't think you can understand that anxiety -- it's primal. It can take years of therapy to deal with. You sound both super-judgmental and like you don't actually understand what's going on.

We have friends who have two kids who are perfectly normal eaters and one who would only eat an extremely limited diet (basically, only white, bland foods, so he lived on potatoes and white bread and not much else). And they tried all kinds of things, but he would, in fact, starve rather than eat. He was under the care of a medical team and it took many years to (very gradually) expand his palate. I'm sure lots of people judged them, but they didn't know the facts.

THIS. I cannot believe OP is judging the parents of an underweight kid who are in fact getting their kid to eat. Good for the parents!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all realize that such kids wouldn't be coddled in other cultures right? Children in other cultures have much wider palates.

THIS. Eating only hot dogs is absolutely disgusting, sad, and dangerous. At least it's not your kid.

[Anonymous]

Wow. I hope you didn't say anything to the parents. I'm sure many tears have been shed over the lack of food options kid will consume and the side effects.

[Anonymous]

I have a 13 year old who is very picky. She will eat peanut butter on toast or chicken nuggets for most meals. The only fruit she will eat is applesauce, or an occasional banana. Our rule is that if she's not eating what we provided/made, then she has to make her own dinner. She does this without complaint. It is what it is. There were times when she was young where we tried to bribe her or cajole her into trying something, and she would gag. She has a real aversion to certain textures and a very narrow palate.

She's a very mature young teen in most areas and she's started to challenge herself more. For example, she ate some pasta the other night. She didn't like it, but she ate it. She also got her flu shot and even though she has a phobia of shots, she just told herself that it was something she had to do. I always knew that at a certain point she'd just make herself overcome it.

There was a time when she was younger that I felt frustrated and, yes, embarrassed that she didn't have a wider palate. But then I asked myself, "Do you know any adults who only eat chicken nuggets?" And the answer is no. Eventually people grow out of this. No one wants to go to high school or college and get made fun of for only eating kid food.

To sum up, you can judge your sibling and their spouse all you want, but this is a very common issue. If you feel it falls into a larger pattern of not enforcing rules, well we don't know, we're strangers on the internet. You may be right. I just know from my experience that some kids are just like this. Her younger sister never had any trouble trying or eating anything, so I know it wasn't that I somehow caused this to happen. At a certain point parents have to choose their battles.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they let her eat what she wants when family/friends are around? Better than making an issue of it in front of others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 5 yo is in a hot dog phase. She has grassfed organic beef dogs with shredded cheese on with brioche buns. On top she pico de gallo. Seems like a compete meal until she moves into the next thing.

This comment is a fascinating mixture of support mixed with complete douchiness. I can't decide whether to applaud it or to tell the PP to eff off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 13 year old who is very picky. She will eat peanut butter on toast or chicken nuggets for most meals. The only fruit she will eat is applesauce, or an occasional banana. Our rule is that if she's not eating what we provided/made, then she has to make her own dinner. She does this without complaint. It is what it is. There were times when she was young where we tried to bribe her or cajole her into trying something, and she would gag. She has a real aversion to certain textures and a very narrow palate.

She's a very mature young teen in most areas and she's started to challenge herself more. For example, she ate some pasta the other night. She didn't like it, but she ate it. She also got her flu shot and even though she has a phobia of shots, she just told herself that it was something she had to do. I always knew that at a certain point she'd just make herself overcome it.

There was a time when she was younger that I felt frustrated and, yes, embarrassed that she didn't have a wider palate. But then I asked myself, "Do you know any adults who only eat chicken nuggets?" And the answer is no. Eventually people grow out of this. No one wants to go to high school or college and get made fun of for only eating kid food.

To sum up, you can judge your sibling and their spouse all you want, but this is a very common issue. If you feel it falls into a larger pattern of not enforcing rules, well we don't know, we're strangers on the internet. You may be right. I just know from my experience that some kids are just like this. Her younger sister never had any trouble trying or eating anything, so I know it wasn't that I somehow caused this to happen. At a certain point parents have to choose their battles.

I will say that i do know adults (2) who only eat chicken nuggets and burgers. No veg, no fruit of any kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 13 year old who is very picky. She will eat peanut butter on toast or chicken nuggets for most meals. The only fruit she will eat is applesauce, or an occasional banana. Our rule is that if she's not eating what we provided/made, then she has to make her own dinner. She does this without complaint. It is what it is. There were times when she was young where we tried to bribe her or cajole her into trying something, and she would gag. She has a real aversion to certain textures and a very narrow palate.

She's a very mature young teen in most areas and she's started to challenge herself more. For example, she ate some pasta the other night. She didn't like it, but she ate it. She also got her flu shot and even though she has a phobia of shots, she just told herself that it was something she had to do. I always knew that at a certain point she'd just make herself overcome it.

There was a time when she was younger that I felt frustrated and, yes, embarrassed that she didn't have a wider palate. But then I asked myself, "Do you know any adults who only eat chicken nuggets?" And the answer is no. Eventually people grow out of this. No one wants to go to high school or college and get made fun of for only eating kid food.

To sum up, you can judge your sibling and their spouse all you want, but this is a very common issue. If you feel it falls into a larger pattern of not enforcing rules, well we don't know, we're strangers on the internet. You may be right. I just know from my experience that some kids are just like this. Her younger sister never had any trouble trying or eating anything, so I know it wasn't that I somehow caused this to happen. At a certain point parents have to choose their battles.

I will say that i do know adults (2) who only eat chicken nuggets and burgers. No veg, no fruit of any kind.

Is it you or your partner? If not, please let us know how this impacts your health and well-being,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you need to stay away from her for awhile until you aren’t so repulsed.

Agreed. This sounds like the best solution. OP and her judgmental attitude should just stay away. She probably thinks she keeps her opinions to herself, but people like that rarely control their facial expressions and that look of disgust whenever the child eats a hot dog doesn't get masked and the parents clearly know her attitude.

OP can do the family a favor by taking a leave of absence from them for a while. Like until the kid is in college.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a tough situation. I hope they can get her to eat some gummy vitamins to at least avoid scurvy.

[Anonymous]

Her blood pressure must be through the roof.

[Anonymous]

I was a weird eater. Leave it alone. I grew up to eat everything.