If you folloe ellyn satter on food (esp. No short order cooking)

[Anonymous]

At what age did you start making LO eat what was served? We have family dinner every night and my 3yo basically gets what we get, but i am not sure what to do about the 1 yo who is already more fussy. He basicslly eats fruit, cheese, and turkey. Ive been giving that to him after he refuses our dinner (i try to get him to taste), but am wondering when i should stop that.

[Anonymous]

I did not follow that type of advice but I would think as soon as possible. The longer he gets his favorites the harder it will be to convince him that he has no choices.

[Anonymous]

Dinner is dinner, no matter your age. I have 3 kids and our youngest (almost 2) has gotten the family meal since he was just over 1. He got some modifications (chopped green beans, corn off the cob), esp when he was younger, but he went to the common food as soon as he could chew it.

The little siblings pick up on things fast. Right now, my youngest starts clamoring for "dessert!" as soon as he hits the dinner table. Sorry, buddy, you have to eat a reasonable amount of the meal first. (This is where I diverge from Satter.)

[Anonymous]

Kids have gotten family meal since they started eating "real" food. I've never made special food for them nor have I ever packed food for restaurants.

[Anonymous]

I don't make DD eat anything. With rare exceptions she'll get what we are eating, but I always make sure there's at least one thing on her plate that I know she'll eat. For example, she might have an extra piece of bread or fruit or cheese on her plate that DH and I don't have if I think it's a meal that she might be less willing to try. Unless we're eating later than she is, though, I don't make her a separate meal.

[Anonymous]

Stop it now. Offer the bread (per Satter) or one thing that you know DC2 will like but that's it. 1 is not too early. Stick to your guns. You're the parent. DC will not starve his/herself.

[Anonymous]

We did our food from the very beginning.

Never cooked special food for the baby.

[Anonymous]

I can't stand the satter method. It really didn't work out for our family at all. DS actually lost weight when we tried it (which we did in good faith trying to do what was right for him). I stopped doing it, and yes, I did short order cook, but only within reason. I made sure that there were two things he'd eat, or at least would usually eat, every night, and I would basically offer him a taste of every food we had. Now that he is a bit older, he has one bite of everything but I will still make him something he likes.

My pediatrician said that she doesn't like the sattyr books at all, and she recommended elizabeth pantley's picky eater solution as a better alternative.

[Anonymous]

My kids will skip dinner and eat a big breakfast instead. So unless I serve dinner again at breakfast, I get nowhere.

Any advice for kids like that?

[Anonymous]

Ok, so what if there is no "family meal"? I don't get home from work in time to cook a "real" meal for the kids who need to eat immediately (3 and 1). So I end up serving them generally what they want and then either eating what they had (pasta) or making a "real" meal later for my husband and I. I think they've definitely become more picky because of it, but I'm not sure what else to do because there's no time to cook!

[Anonymous]

I am willing to lessen the spices and also willing to not mix everything together, but other than that, you eat what's on the table. If you'd like to make a request, the kitchen will take it into consideration for the next meal.

[Anonymous]

For pp with limited time, crock pot soups and stews. They either eat it, or they don't get to eat. I do mix in a bit of either brown rice or quinoa pasta if I think it will help them eat the soup. No "cooking what they like". I don't want to raise adults who only eat grilled cheese or burgers and fries, who have never tasted an artichoke or asparagus. I also want them to get the micronutrients, omega3s and flavinoids that will enhance their health and brain development. (not just the calories of french fries).

[Anonymous]

23:42 --I have the same issue -- a 2 yr old who must eat the minute we walk in the door at 6:15 or so and I don't feel that I could in good conscience make him wait. Something I sometimes can accomplish (but have been lazy about recently) is making our dinner the night before and saving him leftovers. E.g. we have chicken and veggies, he gets it the next day. Doesn't sound too appealing but works well when we make something healthful, like lentil soup or stew or whatever, that is more flavorful and healthy then something packaged I might whip up otherwise.

[Anonymous]

I am a big proponent of no short order cooking for my 3 yo (and i do think it has been successful for us), but my 1 yo cant always physically eat the same meal. He doesnt do hard, crunchy, foods, salad, or things that are complicated to eat. Some nights he can eat exactly the same meal as the rest of us. Other nights he can eat part of it but i will make a softer vegetable, or boil some extra pasta, to balance out his meal. Eventually he will be able to physically handle the same foods as the rest of us, so when that happens i will stop supplementing his meal. So i guess its ok to short order cook to accomodate eating ability, but not simply pickyness.

[Anonymous]

I have never read that book so I am not sure what she says but we have just always made one meal and eaten together. Kids can eat what they want from the meal in reasonable portions. like 23:54 I did modify /supplement for them when they were babies to make sure they had food they could eat. As soon as they could chew well and swallow well then the modifications stopped. We eat a wide range of foods with lots of different textures, flavors and spices. one of mine really doesn't like anything too spicy or flavored so I will take a bit out of the pot for her before adding extra spice. I don't really consider that short order cooking though. We don't really do dessert so can't speak to that.