Dinner suggestions for an almost 4 year old PLEASE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ravioli? I make a pasta that looks like Mac 'n Cheese but is really pureed roasted butternut squash (and is delicious).

At 4, I would honestly stop serving something different to him. He either eats what's offered or waits for breakfast. He will not starve himself.

THIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We struggle with this as well- but even worse than catering to the picky eater is having him then not eat the specially prepared meal to suit his pickiness! I have totally given up. Our 5 YO now knows that he gets nothing after dinner except his leftover dinner if he doesn't eat. So if he eats a reasonable meal, he can have a snack before bed. If not, his dinner goes in the fridge, and he can have the rest of it before bed if he wants. If not, he can have breakfast in the morning. It's actually working out quite well. I make sure not to including anything I know he finds repulsive, though. But I consider any standard meat / veg / fruit fair game as long as it's not spicy. I also think it's fair to always offer something you know the kid likes that's decent, like bread, cheese, fruit. I know, for example, that my kid is not going to eat sautéed spinach, but he will eat frozen mixed veggies, so I'll quickly heat up a little portion for him.

This is me too. I serve pasta and chicken a lot, deconstructed, because then she'll eat. She loves pasta with Parmesan, or at least she does on Mondays, Thursdays, Sundays, and on crescent moon days. Otherwise it's disgusting. Same with chicken, cheese sticks, ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I donno OP. I think you either get a good eater or you don't - I don't think he's going to like a filet of sole anytime soon.

What I would do is to bribe him. Give him one unknown food each night. He takes 1-2 bites, he gets a point. He gets 5 points, he gets a prize etc. That way he can be slowing trying new things.

I still think once a picky eater, always a picky eater.

Not true. If they are exposed to a variety of food and see everyone around them eating it, they will eventually join in.

"Eventually" being the key word. Prepare for "eventually" to be a long time. I've been serving my two kids the same meal as the adults in our family since they were 3-4 years old. 10 yr old DD eats most of what I serve. 11 yr old DS does not. He would rather go hungry than eat something he doesn't like. So, he goes to bed hungry and waits until breakfast. Still has to sit at the table and be polite. I find he's getting a bit more adventurous about trying things in the last year but it's still really hard to predict. I don't force him to try things because I was also a picky kid and I remember how awful it felt to have to choke down things that tasted nasty to me or had an awful texture. I did eventually eat a more varied diet without being forced to it but not until college, with the social environment of school being a big factor. I eat lots of different things now, although I still don't like spicy foods.

God, you are a JERK. You had this same issue yourself, and now you let your child go to bed hungry?

You shouldn't be a mother. Your JOB is to FEED YOUR CHILD.

You are a moron. This mother does feed her kid -- every night there is healthy food available. Her child chooses not to eat. That's different than being sent to bed without supper.

You will most likely raise snowflakes, possibly malnourished ones if you favor this kind of indulgence. Who shouldn't be a mother?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He should be eating what the rest of the family is eating, every night, no exceptions. He has become picky because you have allowed this behavior for too long.

+100

Another #100. My kids got two choices -Take it or Leave it. If they chose not to eat their supper, there was always breakfast. As a result, I had children who would eat pretty much anything.

[Anonymous]

He either eats what he is given or he doesn't eat.

Just because he's picky now doesn't mean he always will be. But he needs to be encouraged to try a variety of things.

[Anonymous]

Our kids, 3 and 5, eat whatever we are eating, but thankfully will eat most things, or at least try them before they cansay they don't like it.

I have found they tend to not like mixed flavors so rather than curry over rice, the older one prefers curry on one half of the plate and rice on the other.

On thing that really surprised me is that one of their favorite restaurants is Indian. They love the buffet because "you get to pick what you eat." And who doesn't like the rice pudding dessert. So sometimes making things a little more interesting by having some choice thrown in, but not to an extreme, can help. Sometimes we'll have two vegetables and the deal is that they have to eat at least one of them.