Ok, so I screwed up and I need help to fix it.

Thanks. Her good breakfast includes high fiber cereal,OJ, and a piece of whole wheat bread. I did forget in her original food list that she likes PBJ and grapes but only red grapes and applesauce but not actual apples. I know, strange..

We gave our son choices so that he had some control. At 5 keep it simple, but nutrious. An apple OR a banana. type of thing.

Food is one of the few things that children have control over. If you make it a big deal, this gives her a way to control it. Keep it light.

As Cadreamer said, bribes work - for our son - he never had to clean his plate, he had to try everything on it in order to get dessert (usually ice cream or pudding, or fruit yogurt). He tells us now (at 17) that at times he debated whether it was worth dessert.

Be creative, make it colorful and stick to your guns....say what you mean and mean what you say.

My kids love :
-the Annies mac and cheese (not great, but better, less preservatives)
-chicken legs, (baked, no spices-not a speck of pepper can even be near them)
-Hot dog buns slathered with low sugar pnb with a banana for the hot dog.
-corn on the cob

I never buy sugar cereal, chips, cookies, kool-aid, fruit snacks.....so they have to eat what we have in the house-fruit, tons of fruit, cheese, yogurt/gogurt. Freeze the gogurt and cut it half for a gogurt- pop.

Hey, we have our issues too (my son is an applejuice-a-holic and will probably be in diapers till high school) and I can't pay anyone to drink milk (hence all the cheese and yogurt), but persevere and be strong......you are the boss (keep telling yourself that).

Good luck!

History is not destiny. She developed a palate but she can change her palate just like you or I did.



Every kid likes to stay in their comfort zone. It's biological in nature: a kid starting to feed themselves eats what they already know so they don't accidently poison themselves. The solution to this is to have them learn new things. Serve the food you are eating and she will eat or she won't eat. No kid ever starved to death holding out for pizza.

If you want to limit her calories, i.e., if she's a bit pudgy and you want her to eat a bit more nutritiously for the calorie load, get rid of the juice and junky carbs. Let her eat when hungry and don't bother her about it. She's got time to grow into this weight. (Address an overweight kid by getting them out moving WITH you. The goal should NOT be to lose weight, but to learn a lifestyle that will make them grow into their weight.)

If you've got an underweight kid (as unlikely as that is) and you want to add calories then put peanut butter on stuff. Half of a whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter & jelly spread on top goes over well with a five year old. The one who doesn't like peanut butter likes almond butter.

If you want to add fruits & veggies try different textures than mushy ones. My kids love baby carrots in ranch dressing dip, apple SLICES with peanut butter to dip in it, fruit salads, celery sticks with peanut butter, frozen peas (still frozen) frozen corn (cooked), canned cream corn, soy beans (edamame?), fresh snow peas, fresh cherry tomatoes, melon slices, and blueberries. They all like the way I make bananas: I slice out a wedge and put peanut butter in it (or nutella for a treat.)  I can get them to eat steamed broccoli if I cover it in shredded cheese. Another trick is to mix frozen spinach into casseroles and other recipes.

If you want to add protein then try tuna salad, hard boiled eggs (perhaps devilled), cottage cheese mixed with fruit and/or jelly, yogurts, cold cuts (my kids like them rolled up on wasa crisp bread) and refried beans. Some kids like boca burgers. Some kids like smoked salmon (lox). Some like pickled white fish. My littlest one likes Balance Bars.



I read this sentence twice and I can't see the problem. Kid doesn't want to eat, kid doesn't eat, kid eats when kid wants to eat. Are you sure this is a problem?

As for the dinner issue, my guess is that you are serving her portions and making them WAY too big. A good trick for a five year old is to serve their dinner on a saucer. Not a dinner plate, not a luncheon plate, but a little four inch saucer. She can have seconds if she wants, but give her 1/4 of a sandwich, two apple slices, 4 ounces of yogurt. Portion control is a huge misery for Americans. Maybe she's eating the right amount and you're serving the wrong amount.



The scariest thing in your whole post was limiting the kid's snacks. I do the exact opposite, I cook and serve healthy nutritious meals and my children have unlimited access to a variety of healthy snacks. In their snack cupboard are wasa crisps, roasted almonds, raisins, applesauce cups, fruit cups, microwave popcorn and sometimes granola bars. In the fridge I've got yogurt (mostly squeeze tube form, like Gogurts) and cheese sticks and Breakstone Cottage Cheese Doubles and fruits and veggies named above.

If you only have healthy choices available then it really doesn't matter when the kid eats. Eating when she is hungry and low on energy is a great idea. Telling her she can only have five crappy little crackers when she's hungry is just teaching her to ignore her body signals.

My 'food religion' has the tenet that carbs can only go into my mouth if they've got a solid reason for existing: either decent fiber or phytonutrients. Most crackers and cereals are pure crap. We eat only whole wheat breads and the kids mostly eat oatmeal for breakfast, though I admit to buying the pre-sugared instant oatmeal for the youngest.

FWIW, my kids are NOT picky eaters, per se, although we've definitely had our power struggles through the years. The 14 year old is strongly independent and opinionated about what she eats and has no weight problems at all. The 12 year old tends towards junk food and sloth and is resultingly pudgy. The six year old is chronically underweight and has had serious hospitalizations for congenital abdominal problems. Yes, my two boys have opposite eating issues. I have been through the "what to feed a five year old" more times than I can count. My solution is as I've said above: buy healthy food and make it available and be as uninvolved in their actual choices as possible, while still presenting them with appropriate food.

Gwendal

I apreciate the ideas. I will have to weed out the unhealthy snacks and then just keep offering her new foods. She's not overweight, she's 46 inches tall and 41-42 lbs. I think I have the portions under control. We use kid plastic plates that have separate compartments. Thank you again!

When my now-18-year-old son was a toddler, I read a book called, "How to Fat-proof Your Child". I just looked on Amazon and can't find it, otherwise, I'd refer you to that. Anyway, the book was written by a nutritionist and she had all kinds of advice and recipes---like how to make your own fruit rollups and that sort of thing. But two things that I really remember---She said that kids will usually grow out before they grow up. In other words, they will often get a little chubby before they grow taller (and thinner), so don't panic if they seem to have a hollow leg for a few weeks and eat non-stop. It may just indicate an upcoming growth spurt. (and I have found this to be true over the years) The other thing I remember is that she advised to NOT get too worked up if your child goes through a "food jag", where they only want to eat one thing---say strawberry yogurt---for every meal. She said to just give them a multi-vitamin and give them time to work through it. And eventually they will---

Personally, I think the best thing that I did was to not force them to eat. I actually got in arguments with my ex-in-laws who were charter members of the clean plate club. (and have the bellies to prove it). They would get upset if my boys wouldn't eat everything on their plate, and I would say, "they don't have to eat if they're not hungry, and why did you put so much food on their plate?"

Bottom line: They are now 18, 16 and 11 and all healthy, thin-to-normal weight young men. And we have a mixture of healthy food and "junk" in the pantry---it's just that they have learned to only eat when they're hungry.

Michele

If you are that concerned about your daughter eating only Macaroni and Cheese, Pizza, Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, Waffles, Pancakes, Cereal, and Bacon, STOP BUYING THESE ITEMS!  When you do your groceries, buy good nutritious foods only.  Take the time to prepare well balanced meals and insist that she remain at the table until the meal is over.  You daughter will balk and will refuse to eat a lot of what she considers "crappy food" but eventually she will eat something ... long before she starves.

I gots me one of those too. I also have 3 that will eat whatever is put in front of them.

I remember when Gene-Gene was on an orange food kick. The only food he would eat was orange. Thank goodness American Cheese and carrots are orange. He also does not eat enough to keep a bird alive.

OK The rule around here is you do not have to eat what I cook but you wil NOT be getting your own meal and may make yourself a bowl of cereal instead. I only buy healthier stuff now. I also am the one in control of the money (well with Gene) and we do not buy crap, except for one box of Cheese-its' and when it is gone it is gone. we go to McDonalds once a week and he may order what he wants. The rest of the time he can either eat what is in the house or starve to death. He put up a good fight but hunger won out eventually. I did not do it all at once. Just some things started disapeering slowly and were replaced with more fresh fruit and cut up veggies. He loves Ranch Dressing so that helps.

Don't berate, don't lecture. Their little ears clamp down then. Just quietly make some changes and she will get in line. She may complain but it will be OK.