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[quote=Anonymous]It sounds to me like they eat a pretty good variety for little kids.  I had picky kids too. You really need to drop the rope, as PP said. Since I was a picky kid to I could empathize with mine. They aren't doing this to be obstinate. Some things really just taste awful to them. My DS definitely had issues with textures that took a long time to get over.

We followed the Satter division of responsibility. Initially DH insisted on the "no thank you bite" approach but that just turned every meal into a battle of wills and negotiation over what constituted a "bite". :roll: After enduring that longer than I should have I put my foot down and insisted that if he wanted to eat with us he had to be pleasant.  We stopped discussing who eats what at the table.

I serve the meal. There's always something each child will eat (bread/pasta/fruit) but likely other things that they probably won't try. I learned to serve stuff DH and I liked "deconstructed". Talk at dinner time is about pleasant things, not who is eating what or criticizing the food. They get one snack in the afternoon, sitting at the table, and after that nothing until dinner time so at least they have an appetite. But, if all they eat for dinner one day is bread and milk, so be it.

This is NOT a quick fix. It takes patience and perseverance but by the time my kids were teens they voluntarily ate a wide variety of foods. They still have their aversions, but so do I -- nobody likes mushrooms, DD still hates beans while DS loves them, DS won't touch broccoli but is happy with green beans. Now they generally are competent eaters and I don't really think about this stuff anymore when I plan meals.

FWIW, throughout this long picky stage when sometimes it seemed like they survived on bread and milk, they both grew very consistently and their dr never had any concerns. I did give them a daily vitamin just to assuage my anxiety but it probably wasn't necessary.[/quote]

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