Reply to so tired of very limited range of foods my kids will eat....

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Reply to "so tired of very limited range of foods my kids will eat...."

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As an adult picky eater:

1. Your kids don't want to be this way
2. They can't help being this way. They're not doing it to make your life difficult. 
3. Throughout life their tastes will change.

I'm about as picky as your kids. The only soups I like are broth based. [/quote]

I was a kid who had a hard time eating a variety of foods so that has made me very empathetic to my picky kids.  I eat a wide variety of foods now but still am sensitive to textures and don't like very spicy foods.  With the kids, we're working on increasing variety but with understanding.  I highly suggest reading some of Ellyn Satter's books on feeding.  I've found them very helpful.  I've pretty much followed her recommendations.  Our typical rules...

Breakfast and lunch the kids typically eat what they like, choosing from a variety of healthful options -- whole grain cereals or waffles for breakfast, sandwiches or hard boiled eggs for lunch, with milk and fruit required.
Minimal snacks
Dinner I make ONE meal but nobody is forced to eat what I make.  There is always fruit and a bread/rice/pasta as part of the meal so they can eat that if nothing else.  I serve a lot of things "deconstructed."  We rarely serve dessert so there is no "you must eat x amount of dinner before you can have dessert."  
We talk a lot about how your tongue changes as you grow up so it's important to taste lots of different things and to know that just because you didn't like something last month doesn't mean you won't like it now.

It requires lots of patience and persistence to keep going day after day.  It's frustrating when a lot of the simplistic recommendations for picky kids don't work -- my kids help cook, work in the garden, pick out food at the store.  At 2 and 4 they were happy to do that but still wouldn't eat it.  You can do everything "right" and still have kids with very limited palates.  A lot of it is genetics.  Good news, despite my kids' limited diets they've always tracked right on their growth curves so apparently they are getting the nutrition they need.

Eventually, it has gotten better for us.  DS is now 11 and FINALLY starting to be more adventurous.  He actually ate salad this week without our saying anything.  And, he now likes spicy chili, something he never would have touched a year ago.  He recently commented that I've gotten better at cooking LOL... I pointed out that I'm cooking the same as ever but his tongue is finally growing up![/quote]

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