Life with Picky Eaters

I have picky eaters. In truth I only have one extremely picky eater. J will eat anything except pickles - did you know there is not a word for a pickle phobia, there should be. It is really hard to pin down what S will eat. When I made the coconut flour bread she hated it - but she hated it without really giving it a chance. Then a few nights later she nearly ate half a loaf of the stuff. I think it truly just depends on her mood.

Then there is L. Working as an ABA therapist I only met one child pickier then L. Yep, only one. Thankfully I also learned some good techniques on getting her to eat.

1. What you see is what you get - I use this to an extent. If you like a food and I am good with you eating it I will buy it. If I do not like the food I will not buy it. So, what you have to eat is what is in our house. Eventually, she finds something in our house that she will like. Then the list starts to get wider and wider - never too wide, but unbeknownst to her she is eating better food while still thinking she is in control. A big key for this is that there is no junk in the house.

2. Three bite rule - this is the primary rule at our house. I use it for everyone (even myself) but it mostly applies to L. In this rule you must try three bites of everything that is on your plate. After that you can eat what you like. This week L's preferred food has been raisins. I will also try to mix some peanut butter in there as well (yes I still allow L to eat peanut butter).

3. Pairing the food with a preferred food - S and L are still not big on stews - meat cooked with vegetables. However, J and myself both love them. I make a pot of something in the crockpot at least once a week. We eat it for dinner once or twice and I use the remainder for my lunches at work. For S I give her a small portion and have her eat the bowl (on bad days just three bites), she likes to eat so she usually finishes it whiles she is complaining. However, this is still a bit too much for L. On stew days, or days where she is especially picky, I will pair a preferred food with a non preferred food. For example, every bite of stew she gets she will get a small handful of raisins. Typically I will go a step further and say the amount of raisins she gets is based on how fast she eats the bite. Then, after three bites she is done with having to eat the stew.

How has it been going?

The best part of the two week winter vacation from school is having complete control over my children's diet. All of them were having a hard transition from eating school lunch to taking our own. When vacation first started I was very worried about making sure L was getting some sort of good food down her. When she was hungry it was easier to get her to try new foods. Then her body started to adjust and her mentality about 'eating healthy' started to shift and then she started to eat.

Last week when I made homemade hamburgers I am not sure if she truly ate anything that night. A week later she devoured three hamburgers, and ate five carrots, three pieces of coconut flour bread, and raisins. Not the most original or complete meal imaginable - but so much better.

It is hard to imagine that L will every stop being picky. However, what she is picky about has changed. The joy L received with being allowed to buy a bag of Lay's potato chips as a treat was bigger then any she ever received downing two litters of root beer. The small bag of chips also lasted for three days.