So what do you guys suggest doing to prevent picky eaters?

My son is 1.5 and very picky already. I do tough love and just feed him whatever it is available. Many times he throws it or won’t touxh it. He’ll go to bed without any dinner. I’m not doing separate meals for a child unless it’s truly something that isn’t kid appropriate (sushi, sweetgreen etc).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:When you say scraped the toppings off the pizza I'm assuming you made the error of ordering pizza with gross shite on top. That was your bad.

Wrong. Plain pizza. Cheese and tomato sauce.

Exactly how do you scrape off toppings if there are none? I think you are looking for problems.

The girl scraped off the sauce and the cheese and cut off the crust, and dumped it all in a huge discard pile on her plate. All she ate was the tiny triangle of base that was left. As a result, she ended up taking way more slices than I had accounted for, and I came into the kitchen to hear the girls fighting because all the pizza was gone and they were still hungry. These are 10 year old girls, not toddlers.

So use your big girl words and say “there is only enough pizza for each of you to have two slices.”

Dominoes has mediums for $5.99. Order a bunch next time. That’s what I do when I have a group of hungry 10 year olds. DH likes to scrape off and eat only the cheese and toppings and throw away the rest because it’s pretry bad pizza. Go for quantity with these kids.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Wow, this thread really got out of control. I was just annoyed/bemused/venting about rude kids and now there’s an entitled mom brigade accusing me of having control issues and causing anorexia and enforcing clean-plate policies. Jeez. Talk about issues.

You need to get a grip. What other people eat shouldn't bother anyone this much. Who cares?? Don't invite kids over anymore and all YOUR issues resolve themselves.

Someone once said, “the best seasoning for any food us hunger”

This is OP. Wow, this thread really got out of control. I was just annoyed/bemused/venting about rude kids and now there’s an entitled mom brigade accusing me of having control issues and causing anorexia and enforcing clean-plate policies. Jeez. Talk about issues.

I grew up in Vietnam and did not experience or see anything like what the OP is sharing. Picky kids may not be uniquely American but they are still spoiled because of their "I don't want to control my child" parents. Based on the responses here, it's obvious that at the very extreme, some parents don't care about their children's health or nourishment. And that's ok for them but these children are growing up to become adults with a ton of nutritional deficiencies.

1. If you just have a few kids over, it is pretty easy to give them a choice. Even then, some will taste the food and not eat it.

2. If a kid says he does not like something, he is saying do not waste it by putting it on my plate. They are not cecessarily complaining. Just do not put fries on the kids plate who does not like them. Or, if on the plate, you just respond “ you do not have to eat them.” Most kids are just being honest. The smell of some foods will make my kid gag, so he is just trying to warn you not to put it in front of him.

3. I think this is more about you feeling superior than anything else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're picky-food European grandma, right? Refusal to coddle step grandson's picky eating habits? Heavy emphasis on "step?"

My DS11 explained to me that the reason kids are picky eaters is because their taste buds and senses are "new" and many flavors, smells, and textures are overwhelming to the young. He said (paraphrase) that when he starts dulling his taste buds with age, coffee, and red wine that he, too, may enjoy the deliciousness of olives and smelly cheese.

You're being mansplained to by your own minor son? Dumb...anyway, I wonder how picky children were during the two world wars. Stop coddling your kids and explain about proper nutrition.

You do you but don’t tell other people how to parent. I, for one, will never make food a control issue. I will never be a member of the clean plate club. It’s not worth forcing my kids to eat something. My kids were normal picky until around 10-13 and now eat a huge variety and will try most anything once. Obviously this is a huge control issue for you.

Anonymous wrote:You're picky-food European grandma, right? Refusal to coddle step grandson's picky eating habits? Heavy emphasis on "step?"

My DS11 explained to me that the reason kids are picky eaters is because their taste buds and senses are "new" and many flavors, smells, and textures are overwhelming to the young. He said (paraphrase) that when he starts dulling his taste buds with age, coffee, and red wine that he, too, may enjoy the deliciousness of olives and smelly cheese.

You're being mansplained to by your own minor son? Dumb...anyway, I wonder how picky children were during the two world wars. Stop coddling your kids and explain about proper nutrition.

Anonymous wrote:You're picky-food European grandma, right? Refusal to coddle step grandson's picky eating habits? Heavy emphasis on "step?"

My DS11 explained to me that the reason kids are picky eaters is because their taste buds and senses are "new" and many flavors, smells, and textures are overwhelming to the young. He said (paraphrase) that when he starts dulling his taste buds with age, coffee, and red wine that he, too, may enjoy the deliciousness of olives and smelly cheese.

I believe this. Most of us have examples of things we wouldn't touch as kids that we now love. Their senses of taste and smell are better than ours.

One of my kids is a picky eater. We pack stuff she likes in a lunch box just in case. I dont really expect other parents to be overly accomodating for her.

As a mom of picky eaters, I understand your frustration.

Honestly, my hope is that you continue serving good real food to your guests, and hopefully mine (and other) picky kids will eventually realize that that is what normal families eat. and that the real world will not cater to their eating habits.

When we go to friends houses now, I ask them not to prepare special food for my kids. They can eat crackers or a piece of bread if they don't like what is being served. My 13 year old is finally venturing out. Hopefully my other kids will follow

So quit inviting people to your house, God. This isn't hard. You hate who doesn't eat like you so the solution is don't feed people.

You're picky-food European grandma, right? Refusal to coddle step grandson's picky eating habits? Heavy emphasis on "step?"

My DS11 explained to me that the reason kids are picky eaters is because their taste buds and senses are "new" and many flavors, smells, and textures are overwhelming to the young. He said (paraphrase) that when he starts dulling his taste buds with age, coffee, and red wine that he, too, may enjoy the deliciousness of olives and smelly cheese.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want the real answer? It’s because American parents coddle their children from birth and let them get away with this ridiculous behavior on the basis that they are “picky” eaters. And unfortunately those children grow into adults with extremely limited palates. That’s one of the main reasons the dining options is this country are so atrocious, generally speaking, and you have to go to a fine dining restauarant for a decent meal.

What a giant pile of drivel this is.

It's actually very truthful.

It's also obviously said by someone who has never lived in Europe, at least never lived in Europe with children.

Oh, god, I could tell you all the stories of fussy children in Europe. Go to places like Germany and France. The kids are all eating plain meats with pasta, couscous, fries, nothing with spices and not even much vegetables either. White and bland. That's the standard diet across the board.