Just Eat The &*%#$! Food!!!

[kerrisan]

This is another story from the dayschool. For a short time during the summer I worked with the 5-year-olds. We had a little boy during that time who was the pickiest eater I have EVER encountered, and very very skinny. Monday is always "bring your own lunch" day, and Tues-Fri the school cooks lunch. Monday's lunchtime came and went with no problems, but on Tuesday this little boy just would not eat the food placed in front of him. We didn't think it was that big a deal (this kid was on Ritalin ( . . . . . .) and sometimes RitKids lose their appetite), but Wed and Thurs produced the same result! We told Mom about it and she volunteered to send him to school with his own lunch every day. Ok, cool, no problem. He ate PB&J every day. How boring. So soon Mom started packing him EASY MAC and RAVIOLI. Now I should point out that we were 2 teachers in a room full of 15-20 5-year-olds, and when one teacher has to step out of the room (our class had 2 rooms and the microwave was in the 2nd room) just to fix this kid some food, there is going to be trouble for the other teacher. We spoke with the mom about this and she just started sending sandwiches again, but let me just tell you how picky this child was:
The school one day served macaroni and cheese with chicken in it. YUMMY! Even for school food it was good. Would this kid eat it? No! he "needed" us to fix him HIS Mac and Cheese. He wouldn't even agree to just eat around the chicken.

I came so close to telling his mom to tell him to listen to his teachers and eat what was put in front of him. I don't want to know what this boy is like at home, and his nutrition probably isn't all that great.

[Battyone]

Heh, my nephew is a picky eater right now, but we are getting him out of that phase. Perhaps there was something up in the past, or he just isn't used to not having what Mommy gave him. 5 year olds are still very strongly bound to their mother, and school is just now starting to separate them from the ties. At least thats my own humble opinion.

[kerrisan]

He is the ONLY CHILD in our class (and I think the whole school) who was like this. But if the child really is ADHD or ADD (5 years is far too early to tell . . . but now is not the time for my "medication of young children" rant), that may have something to do with it. I am ADD and as a child had a very difficult time adjusting to change. Even now I still sleep with my childhood stuffed dog Woofy!

[Kiwi]

I went through that stage, so did my brother, so does every kid at some stage.

With my family it was eat what Ive made or go hungry. Got me through the picky stage real quick. Amazing how good food tastes when your hungry.

[Ree]

Some children are just naturally picky eaters.
It has nothing to do with ADD or ADHD or behavioural problems or the colour of the sky on any given day.

He's 5 years old.

If I knew what went on in the mind of a 5 year old...I would probably be rich.

I think Battyone made an excellent and very insightful comment, though.

5 year olds are still very strongly bound to their mother, and school is just now starting to separate them from the ties.

Actually, that age group is notorious for the picky eating stage.
They are starting to exercise some independence, and I think the food issue is a control thing for the child. That is one area that he can control what is going on.

Unless there are some severe mental disorders, a child will not allow himself to starve to death.
It may seem boring to you that the child eats the same thing every day, and that causes you to be concerned, but the mother has probably been told by her family doctor or anyone in the area of child care, if that's what the child wants, and that's all he will eat, then give it to him.

He should be encouraged to try new things, possibly by at least taking one bite, but a child shouldn't be forced to eat.

I think the Mom is probably just as frazzled as the teachers, and possibly at her wits' end with the picky eating thing, but it probably would have helped if there had been a little more assistance from her to help normalize the situation for the child, and encourage him in that area.

[kerrisan]

It may seem boring to you that the child eats the same thing every day, and that causes you to be concerned, but the mother has probably been told by her family doctor or anyone in the area of child care, if that's what the child wants, and that's all he will eat, then give it to him.

Well, Mom told us that he apparently got bored with the pb&j, which is why she started sending foods that needed to be cooked. It may have even been that he said one day, "Mommy, I want ravioli instead!"

He should be encouraged to try new things, possibly by at least taking one bite, but a child shouldn't be forced to eat.

. . . it probably would have helped if there had been a little more assistance from her to help normalize the situation for the child, and encourage him in that area.

Yeah, I don't want anybody to think that children are "strange" if they are picky (and I certainly didn't want this parent to think that I didn't know children will be picky!). But Mom encouraging his behavior made it so much more difficult for us to tend to the other children in our classroom. Sure, the other 14-19 kids in our class are picky eaters too, but if we tell them to "just try the green beans" or "take 3 bites of peaches," they will do it because not only are we telling them to do it here, parents are doing it at home too!

[karma_gypsy]

My stepson is an extremely picky eater. I mean EXTREME! He is ADHD and is on Ritalin (his mother's choice). He is nine and has been picky ever since he was young, he just barely making tip toes towards different foods. This is something that really bothers me about him, his mom and dad (his dad more so - my husband) doesn't really make him try new foods. This kid is afraid of: peanut butter (he likes peanuts though), corn (if corn touches anything, it's out), grapes (who could not like grapes?), popcorn (??), any kind of veggie or fruit (except for, wait, nevermind), milk (yes, his sweetened sugar puffs without milk), lettuce (he loathes lettuce), it's gotta have sugar or salt and not be healthy . . .he does drink a ton of water though, oh, and he does like meat (hamburger, ham, pork chops and the like).
We're just now getting him to ice cream . . . if they got a super hero on the box, he'll eat 'em.

I've pretty much given up trying to get him to eat new foods, I think so has his dad (I mean the kid nearly starting bawling when he had a grape in his mouth, he wouldn't bite down). His mother kind of coddles him, which is kind of sad. He's missing out on all the good, tasty, healthy natural food.


I kinda went through a picky phase when I was young (not to that extreme though), but now I'm willing to try anything that's put in front of me (including fish, and I hate fish).

[kerrisan]

karma_gypsy, if your stepson likes cheese, you might try melting some Velveeta over broccolli/carrots/etc. That used to be the ONLY way I would ever eat broccolli, and now just so long as it's steamed and salted I love it!

[Spiffy McMoron]

Karrisan, I was worse than your kid when it came to picky eating. For the first few years of my life, I could not, would not eat any vegetables-it was nothing but meat and potatoes. I wouldn't even order a cheeseburger at McDonald's if we went-because it had onions on it! I would always get the McNuggets.

The big change was when I went to camp when I was nie or ten. They had a rule: You had to have everything we were serving on the plate, and you had to eat it all. You could have them in varying amounts, but everything that they were serving, you had to eat. Since I discovered that green food couldn't kill me, I realized that it might not kill me at home. So I would then eat everything at home. (You should have seen Mom's face when I asked her to pass the salad...priceless! )

Don't worry about the kid-I doubt it's the Ritalin, I doubt it's the ADHD or ADD. The kid just wants to eat what he feels like-and who doesn't get that way sometimes?

[MystyGlyttyr]

I'm 24 and still picky. I will not eat ANY brand of Ramen noodles other than Snack brand, I will only eat Kraft macaroni if the box says "The Cheesiest", I won't eat pizza that has anything but regular crust, etc. I also eat food in a particular way...it takes me ten minutes to eat a swiss cake roll because I have to bite the surface chocolate off both ends, then off the bottom, then I have to peel it off the rest of the roll, then I eat as much of the cake as I can, then the filling...you get the idea. But at my age I can definitely attribute it to being Asperger's.

When I was five, though, my mom just made me cheese-and-mustard sandwiches for lunch every day for a year. It was fine with her because she always knew what to buy at the grocery store.

[ShockQueen]

I know how that goes. My youngest is DEFINITELY picky about what he eats. He likes peanut butter sandwiches - no jelly (odd from my view, but oh well), and when we have pizza, he always says "pizza with no pineapple". My daughter finally grew out of that, and now eats whatever mommy makes for dinner. I love seeing the glow on her face when the little one says "thank you mommy...that was really yummy!".

I imagine he'll get there too.......it just takes time.

[Mighty Girl]

Ah yes, I am only too familiar with this issue.

Everyone in my side of the family was a picky eater. My mom ate nothing but applesauce for over a year when she was little. And she turned out just fine. I had chronic tonsillitis starting when I was a little over a yr. old- was on antibiotics on and off until they removed my tonsils (had to postpone surgery numerous times b/c I was too sick). So for about a year I ate nothing but soft foods- pudding, jello, popsicles, soup. etc. Even after the surgery, I was incredibly picky and would gladly not eat for a whole day or two rather than eat something I didn't like.

Needless to say, my daughter is picky, and it doesn't surprise me at all. She gets her vitamins, drinks milk and on some very rare occasions I've even gotten her to eat a vegetable. I have so many friends who had parents who would make them sleep at the dining room table in order to finish their liver and onions, and I just don't see the benefit in being so stringent.

I'm firm about the important things- she goes to the dr. and has all her vaccinations, she goes to the dentist, she gets vitamins, gets a bath, brushes her teeth, and is pretty well behaved considering she's only three.

[Crazyredhead]

I never was a picky eater. I ate everything that was put in front of me. Now, my son is a different matter, all together. He is picky and he is ADHD, if he takes his medicine before he eats then he won't eat anythings, he says that he has no appetite. He has to take his medicine after he eats, which is fine for his school.

How about trying to give him his meds after he eats.

Unfortunaly his little bother is following in his foodsteps. The Pre school is in for some fun.

[Lehk]

I if he takes his medicine before he eats then he won't eat anythings, he says that he has no appetite.

which meds is he on? i was on cylert and never had appetite problems (insomnia on the ramp up and ramp down starting and ending the school year though) but my brother took concerta (i think that's the name of it) and he wouldn't want to eat anything, it also caused him to get badly depressed so he eventually stopped taking it.

[kerrisan]

Unfortunaly his little bother is following in his foodsteps.

Foodsteps . . . I don't know if that's a typo or a cute play on words, but I like it!