My first born is 4 yrs and 9 months. He’s an extremely picky eater and has never ever tasted saalan roti. Well actually he tasted it a couple of days back.. when I told him he’ll grow smaller and smaller. I told him he’ll grow as small as his 2 yrs old sister (he’s almost her size), then he’ll grow smaller still and then one day he’ll be so tiny I’ll have to carry him in my purse… that made him take a few bites I felt bad for saying that to him, but i’m really worried about him. He’s literally living on fries and nuggets.
He’s been like this since he was a baby.. he would gag on everything.. spit everything out and since I worked full time those day and left him with MiL I probably didn’t work too hard on him either. I quit my full time job when he was about 15 months old, but he had too many health issues at that time… UTIs, throats infections, typhoid and what not..
He’s slightly underweight (14kgs when he should be atleast 16) but is otherwise active and very smart.
Any suggestions on how can I make him eat ‘normal’ adult food? He would eat pasta, speghetti at times.. and chicken in some formss at times..but a few bites only.
I don’t have advice for you, but I did hear about the term “supertaster” a few months ago, and it explains why some people have this preference for bland food. If this is the case for your son, maybe understanding that could help you:
Thank you for the links Sahar, but I don't think that's his issue. he does like 'some' spicy food, 'some' sweet'.. but then again, how do I know for sure if he's a supertaster... the online tests says I am a supertaster too :)
Who is giving him fries and nuggets ? You ?
Stop that immediately please. Do not give him snacks , milk , juice , candy till he eats real food. If he becomes hungry he will eat anything and everything will taste good to him. That is human nature , if we are full or not hungry enough we will not appreciate even the best cooked meal.
Try this for a change make yourself hungry enough to crave for food , you will love to eat the most blend food, once your appetite gets satisfied the same food will not taste good to you anymore.
Mirch, I'v tried that.. he goes without food all day, then I majbooran give him something before putting him to bed and feel bad and cry about keeping him hungry all day. He's super stubborn I guess....
Please do not give in , you have to be a strong mother . Are you sure you did not give him anything ? Juice , milk , soda , fruit , candy ,cooky , cereal , bread , bun , anything at all ?
A kid at that age has to feel hungry and thirsty after 4 hours max . Does he not move , run play ? Does he sit in front of TV , computer or video game ?
If answer to all the above is no then either he is a miracle kid , waliullah , or he might have DNA of a sloth.
Please take him to a nutritionist in consultation with a pediatrician , he needs to be checked for any kind of childhood disorders.
First take him to a nutritionist and rule out any food allergies and food sensitivities.
Cut his sugar, milk and I guarantee you he'll start eating.
My daughter is still very picky eater. We have to work on it daily but we give her small portions and make sure she chews her food. She has committed to trying one new food/fruit/vegetable a day.
She also use to gag when she didn't like anything. Now she knows that is not an option.
My son was also like that. He did not eat salan at all and never tsated chicken till he was 3. I had to look for some food he would like and hence thankfully found chicken nuggets and hot dogs. Then when he was 5, I started a competition with his baby sister that the kid who would eat more salan roti would win. When he lost I gave the baby the toy. He then started eating salan (very little roti though) and though he still hates it, he eats it. He likes chicken tikka better than salan chicken. He is also underweight at 10 years old. But he has become a lot better. People don't understand what is it to be with a picky eater. Like your son, my son would go without food too the entire day ifnot to his liking. He does like fruit though.
my daughter ate only fruit n veggies baby foor style or little bit of boiled rice until she was 2 n she would also go without food all day long n was v underweight about 45th percentile but in 95th percentile for her height i.e she was a v skinny child so i made a point of having her at the dining table with us for dinner n i used to give her a bite of roti n later on when she got used to it i started giving her a paratha made of cumin,pinch of salt n butter ,it took about 6 months but gradually it got better
one thing which i think helped a lot was that i didnt give her anything to eat for breakfast nothing at all,she used to get so hungry after a couple of hrs that she was ready to eat anything so then i used to give her paratha dipped in milk n when i started salan i used to add half salan n half cream to neutralize the spices ,i know cream may seem so fattening but it was fine for her coz she was underwt,also she loved milk so i mixed roti,paratha n salan with either cream or milk so u also try mixing his favs with roti n salan
Thank you so much for your suggestions. He did have about half a roti with saalan today.. this was a first for me. I guess I have to be as strong willed with him, as he is.
Mirch... the answer to all the above is Yes :) He didn't have anything but still stayed hungry all day. and no I don't let him sit in front of the TV all day or on the computer, but he 'read' and colors a lot so yes he spends a lot of his time sitting. But being a boy and 41/2, he really isn't the sort who'd sit for hours.. he plays, runs and I make it a point to take the kids out every other evening to a Park or someplace, as we live in a flat and there isn't much room to physically exert themselves.
I took him to a nutritionist when we was 2.5 but he didnt' come up with a solution.. i was expecting some allergy tests or smething, but not much was done.. I am not sure where to find a good nurtitionist, but I"ll ask his ped. The peds just tell me I have to work harder on him.
Right now the only thing that works is the threat that if he doesn't eat proper food he'd be so tiny, I"ll have to carry him in my handbag.... Ahh, I"m one mean mommy! But well if it works, I'll do it.. its for his own good :)
He's what they call a strong willed child, exceptionally bright but very very stubborn. He's much ahead of the game when it comes to academics.. he can read simple words and sentences, is good at phonetic spellings, can do simple sums etc, but physically he's very much behind his peers.
Glad to know that things are working out. Once I read an article in an by a pediatrician that a kids nutritional needs are met with much less food than we think.
Here I found this good advice from a website:
you may want to try the following suggestions to make mealtimes easier and more enjoyable:
Give your child a heads up. Ten to 15 minutes before mealtime, tell your child that it will be time to eat soon. Children may be so tired or excited from play activities that they don't feel like eating. Letting your child know that it is almost time for a meal will give him or her a chance to settle down before eating.
Establish a routine. Children are more comfortable with routines and predictability, so set regular mealtimes, have people use the same seats at the table or create a tradition to have each person talk about something fun or interesting that happened to them during the day.
Reserve mealtimes for eating and for spending quality time with your family. Don't let your child play with toys during mealtimes. Reading books or watching television shouldn't be allowed during mealtimes either. Explain to your child how good it is to eat together and ask him or her to stay at the table until everyone has eaten.
**Make mealtimes pleasant. **If mealtimes are pleasant, there is a good chance that your child will begin to look forward to eating with other family members. Try to avoid arguments during mealtime.
**Manage your expectations. **Don't expect manners that are too difficult for your child. For example, don't expect a child who is 3 years old to eat with the proper utensil. For many children, a spoon is much easier to handle than a fork.
Mirch is bang on with his suggestions.
I was a super-picky child when I was in that age group......ammi used to tell me about it.
When she had consulted with a doctor she was told to let me go hungry for as long as I wanted.....even if it was for 3 days.......(the doctor knew full well that it wouldn't last past the first 24 hours).......but only give me proper food to eat.
The technique works.......95% of the time.
This is something I've battled with. Here are my suggestions.
AVoid processed foods such a nuggets...reason being that they contain too much salt and hardly any nutrition.
Your goal is to give him high nutrition foods.
At this age, they should have 3 meals and small nutritious snacks in between such as yogurt, fruit, nuts.
Make sure your kid gets enough physical exercise. It doesn't matter if they ae skinny...what matters is they are healthy. So let them be active enough so they feel hungry.
There is also an addictive qualities to those processed foods, which keeps them from taking interest in other foods, so the sooner you wean your child off of them, the better off you will be.
Glad to know that things are working out. Once I read an article in an by a pediatrician that a kids nutritional needs are met with much less food than we think.
Here I found this good advice from a website:
you may want to try the following suggestions to make mealtimes easier and more enjoyable:
Give your child a heads up. Ten to 15 minutes before mealtime, tell your child that it will be time to eat soon. Children may be so tired or excited from play activities that they don't feel like eating. Letting your child know that it is almost time for a meal will give him or her a chance to settle down before eating.
Establish a routine. Children are more comfortable with routines and predictability, so set regular mealtimes, have people use the same seats at the table or create a tradition to have each person talk about something fun or interesting that happened to them during the day.
Reserve mealtimes for eating and for spending quality time with your family. Don't let your child play with toys during mealtimes. Reading books or watching television shouldn't be allowed during mealtimes either. Explain to your child how good it is to eat together and ask him or her to stay at the table until everyone has eaten.
**Make mealtimes pleasant. **If mealtimes are pleasant, there is a good chance that your child will begin to look forward to eating with other family members. Try to avoid arguments during mealtime.
**Manage your expectations. **Don't expect manners that are too difficult for your child. For example, don't expect a child who is 3 years old to eat with the proper utensil. For many children, a spoon is much easier to handle than a fork.
Thank you so much for the advice Mirch. I try to do most of these, except the not letting them play. At times I make them sit at the table, at others I just let them do their thing and feed them. I try to do whatever is less stressfull for them and myself.. as long as they eat. If I make them sit at the table, they may sit for a maximum of 5 - 10 minutes and both my kids are slow eaters. So that one just depends... rest of the things I do try.
Mirch is bang on with his suggestions.
I was a super-picky child when I was in that age group......ammi used to tell me about it.
When she had consulted with a doctor she was told to let me go hungry for as long as I wanted.....even if it was for 3 days.......(the doctor knew full well that it wouldn't last past the first 24 hours).......but only give me proper food to eat.
The technique works.......95% of the time.
I'v tried it, but never gone past 24 hours.... I dunno being a mother, it's hard to see your kid go hungry for so long. I don't have that in me.
Thanks everyone.. .I know I SHOULDN'T be giving him processed food and the goal should be healthy food, but he's one difficult child. Today was a good day.. and I don't want to jinx it, but I find it hard to believe that he actually ATE! I'v been working on him for months, I guess I just needed to post the issue on here, to get him going :) Hehe
He had half a butter paratha for breakfast, half a roti with veggies for lunch, fries for afternoon snack and for dinner he asked for a paratha, so I let him have it.. he had more than 1... in between he had a few pieces of water melon.. he does like fruit though. So that good enough for me.. a good day! I just hope it gets better and he agrees to try newer stuff...
He's got another issue now,
I took him to the ped yesterday for his 5 yr booster shots. he did quite well with the shots, except a couple of tears and a lot of whining afterwards but his ped is concerned about his lack of appetite, slow growth, no weight gain the past year, fragile bones (had a broken arm last yr), constipation and wants him to be tested for Thalassemia. I'm taking him for blood works in the morning. Please pray it comes out negative and my little boy is fine.
I felt bad for saying that to him, but i’m really worried about him. He’s literally living on fries and nuggets.
