Infantreflux.org | Need ideas to get these kids to eat

This topic has 11 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 19 years, 3 months ago by hellbennt.

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July 27, 2007 at 2:52 pm #39971

Anonymous
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Okay this could all be normal, but it is driving me crazy. I can’t get either of my kids to eat. Justice eats little bits here and there and still does bm about 3 or 4 times a day. Now, if I give him the option to eat arrow root cookies or something like that he will chow down. I would only give him that option if we were out or for snack. Oh, and forget about veggies. My older son eats breakfast and lunch and refuses dinner about 6 days a week. He also won’t eat veggies. There has to be a way I can get them to eat some good stuff. For breakfast I sometimes put spinach in the eggs and Justice is now actually eating them. For lunch Luke always does chicken nuggets or natural peanut butter with honey. My husband and I are eating healtier now than ever before, but I don’t feel like the boys are getting what they need. First, should I worry about this? Second are there any good books with ideas on this or do you ladies have any good ideas? For Justice I am starting to think about getting some baby food veggies and trying them again. Oh, Justice can’t have any dairy so no cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, you name it any of it. Thanks.

July 27, 2007 at 4:56 pm #39984

hellbennt
Keymaster

there are spinach nuggests and broccoli nuggets, too, to try w/ luke…

how about spinach & cheese ravioli?

will he eat grilled cheese? maybe sneak some veggies in w/ the cheese?

also, I have found that if i involve jonah in making food, he will eat it better- like making a burrito- organic refried beans and cheese…he likes to try and spread the beans (I help) and then to fold it up…

he likes to help make grilled cheese too and french toast and mac n’ cheese, etc

maybe if you nake a big deal of him making the meal- brag out loud to his father about how wonderful a job he does, etc

make deals with him to try a bite of something new? talk about adventures (does he watch dora or diego?) and how trying new things, even foods, are an adventure…

sometimes this works with jonah: I have a carrot and I say “will you eat carrot circles or long stick pieces?” he might say “none” but I push it and say to choose one- then I have him watch me cut the circles and I’m silly about carrot circles and he’ll eat a few…

for fruit, try pieces in waffles or pancakes. I can’t cook! but you can by bisquick & follow the recipe on the box, LOL. or maybe make muffins and sneak stuff in them

if you do a search for bubba bread there’s a recipe from a mom here

will luke eat spghetti and red sauce? sneak carrot baby food in it?

July 27, 2007 at 5:45 pm #39992

Anonymous
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Hi Shelby,

This website has some good ideas:

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/kids_vegetables.html

I don’t have much of a problem getting my boys to eat veggies, but I have done the “camouflaging” thing before just to get extra veggies in. Once I made a ground turkey meatloaf but added cooked veggies that I had pureed in the blender. You couldn’t even tell the difference. You could do that with a lot of things. Good luck!

July 27, 2007 at 5:50 pm #39993

Anonymous
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http://www.catholicmom.com/kid_food__how_to_get_kids_to_eat_right.htm

This is another site with good ideas.

July 28, 2007 at 9:45 am #40013

Anonymous
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Talk about disguising food. I recently pureed some onions and poured it into some lentil soup I was making for my kids because they freak out if they see onions in anything. It worked like a charm.

Anyway, my girls are pretty good eaters but they’ve had their moments with certain foods. One thing that worked (surprisingly) was to tell them they had to take the number of bites that corresponds with their age. So Liza has to take 5 bites of something she doesn’t want and Ellie has to take 3. I learned this trick on Supernanny. I really didn’t think it would work, but it did for my two. And they’ve learned to like some things that they used to dislike.

Another thing that works very well here is to strictly control what kinds of foods are in the house. If they know that there are unhealthy alternatives just waiting in the cupboard, then they are less likely to eat what’s been served. My girl’s know that the only choice they have for a meal is what I’ve put on the table. I know it sounds mean, but they eat just about every fruit, veggie, melon and berry there is. When you are truly hungry the healthy foods have more appeal, so don’t be afraid to let them be hungry. I used to panic that they’d starve or feel bad about letting them be hungry so I’d give in and give them something I knew they’d eat if they didn’t like what I had prepared. I stopped doing that and they eat so much better now.

Like Laura said, letting them help sometimes makes a big difference too. I let my girls pick out produce in the grocery store. They get a big kick out of that. They love to help make supper too and they are very eager to try things that they helped make.

One other trick…. Lots of kids like to dip their foods. Sometimes they’ll learn to like veggies if you give them something like veggie dip, cheese dip, salsa or whatever to dip their veggies into. My girls like salsa, and spinach dip. It’s great with cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, celery.

Good luck. Feeding our little angels right is not always easy.

July 28, 2007 at 2:49 pm #40025

Anonymous
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I have to ditto all that Christine posted. Dipping her food really helped Claire eat for the longest time. It’s not the healthiest, but I’ve used ketchup, honey, sour cream, yogurt, etc. for this, and it really works. She eats really quite well, but dinner is usually a chore. We also use eating so many bites for her age trick, and it does work.

She also doesn’t really snack during the day. She will get an afternoon snack after her nap IF it’s not too close to dinner, and if she has problems eating her dinner that night, then no snack the next day. She knows this, so it helps to motivate her sometimes.

Also, I don’t bribe her, but she also knows that if she doesn’t eat her dinner, then she doesn’t get dessert either. Sometimes, she chooses to not eat anyway, and I’m fine with that, but if she starts to ask for food later, I just tell her she has to finish her dinner first. She is almost always still sitting at the table when we are all done, but seeing the rest of the family playing in the other room also helps to motivate her to finish up quickly.

July 30, 2007 at 2:54 pm #40154

Anonymous
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Thank you all for your ideas. I think Justice was just getting sick of the same old things. As for the Luke the eating at least 3 bites is working well. Last night I made carrots and he said he didn’t want any. I told him he had to eat at least three and what do you know he liked them and wanted more. Same goes for spinach eggs this morning. Thanks for that tip.

I also don’t give other choices. That is why he usually doesn’t eat dinner. If he doesn’t like what I make then he can just not eat and then he has to wait until breakfast the next morning. I also don’t offer snacks unless he has eaten well.

Laura, where can you find those nuggets?

July 30, 2007 at 2:57 pm #40155

Anonymous
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I just did a search for bubba bread and it brought me back to here, but maybe I can google it.

July 30, 2007 at 3:18 pm #40158

Anonymous
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Here’s the link for the bubba bread recipe.

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2792&KW=bubba+bread&PID=21955#21955

July 30, 2007 at 4:01 pm #40164

Anonymous
Inactive

I think the nuggets are found at the health food stores. I have been looking forever and can’t find them either! I havnt checked whole foods yet, anyone know if they are there?

July 30, 2007 at 5:20 pm #40175

Anonymous
Inactive

We’ve actually bought those nuggets at Wal-mart in the frozen section where the veggie burgers are…

July 30, 2007 at 6:09 pm #40180

hellbennt
Keymaster

spinach/broccoli nuggests: my supermarket has them both in the refrigerated ‘healthy’ section and also in the frozen ‘healthy’ section

whole foods should have both kinds (refrigerated and frozen) as should wild oats, etc…
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