hide goodness?

[mrsflibble]

didnt know whether to put this in here or the parenting section.

I need a way to get more goodness into soph at the moment. she's going through an "I wont eat anything that's not chips, omlettes/scrambled egg or chocolate spread sarnies" phase.

is there anything I can hide in a choccie spread sarnie?! I tried modifying ketchup to include more veg but she refused to eat it.

Yes, I have been trying the if you wont eat what I give you you don't eat tactic, but when she's hungry at 11pm 'cos she didnt eat dinner you gots to cave.

[jim]

Dear Mrs Flibble

Have you tried cheesey Bubble & Squeak? We found mashed spud with various additions:- marmite, egg, cheese, soup etc got some goodness in ours when they were in can't/shan't/won't mode.

Hope it helps,

Love and Peace
Jim

[KellyB]

Will she eat pasta??

[Vammadopper]

Ahhhhh ..... I remember the battle ground dinner time can become

We ended up having to get really sneaky when the youngest was on a stubborn thing with food

Make a long game of it, decide what to cook together, some thing she wants and something you want (cos thats only fair ) make her think it all her idea, then shop for it and get her to help you choose the best veg ( it's still a fun game )
And then have a great ( fun ) time cooking it !

It's a great way to spend and afternoon/evening

They tend to eat it all up if they have cooked it themselves.

This still works with the 10 yr old, as he loves to help in the kitchen ( which isn't always a good thing bless him! ) although now what tends to work best is getting him as chief taster and asking what herbs etc ...

Or if we have a new veg or somthing he's not too keen on, I tell him I'll need his help cooking it as Im not sure he's brother/dad will like it - but I want them to eat it as it's very healty...

... so we cook it together, and he's too involved in the conspiracy to get he's brother 'to eat somthing he doesn't like' to realise/think/occur to him that he might not like it

Oh and he's big brother is usually aware of what's going on ( 'cept when it's aubergine) but he knows the 'game'

Theres also the 50/50 game

This didn't really work with my two, but as a dinner lady at the primary school, it was fab.

She HAS to eat 50% of everything on her plate, make it fun and silly and half everthing on plate make the pile she eats smaller, and spread out the not to eat pile so it looks more.

Feed her, make it fun, Play the ' look bananas' game and whilst they're looking at where your pointing to sneak a bit more on her 'to eat side' if you think you can get away with it

Just make it a fun time rather than a battle she knows she will ultimately win.




HTH

[farmerdrea]

My foodie of a son (now 16) went through a brief stage when he was about 3 when he didn't want to eat much of anything, but he loved soup. So, in a basic chicken broth I simmered all kinds of vege and then pureed it and acced some cream and a little salt and pepper for taste. He ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for months he loved it so much.

I also made savoury pancakes/pikelets using broccoli chopped up very, VERY fine and experimenting with various dipping sauces.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[snapdragon]

chocolate spread of the Nut variety is protein rich at least, I used a mild cheese spread instead of butter with my lads when they insisted that only jam sandwiches would do (peer pressure at school).
scrambled eggs with baked beans adds some fibre and vits and chopped cooked veg can be hidden in tinned beans (been there done that)

You can be pretty sure that it won't last, mine went through stages of no veg, only veg, only ground meat and then only roast meat, but they get over it - don't let it stress you cos it is just a passing phase

[jim]

Dear Mrs Flibble

My lady has just reminded me that we also added stewed or fried fruit to porridge or rice pud and the fresh variety to cold cereal. She has also told me that relaxing and letting them work through it is less hassle for you and they'll all get there in the end anyway,

Love and Peace
Jim

[Shirley]

Good advice there... and especially so that last bit from Jim's lady!

My first child was the fussiest eater imaginable and we struggled constantly to get her to eat anything.... middle son ate everything, youngest is another fussy one, but I don't worry too much. He'll eat loads of fruit - says he only likes carrots in soup and no other way... what I think he means is that he doesn't like them raw.. so fair enough.

I love that idea of being chief taster - that would work for J I think.

MrsF - save some of her dinner that she wouldn't eat and offer her that at 11pm Out of interest, what DO you give her at 11pm if she says she is hungry?

How about making some bread with added stuff to make it more nutritious - walnuts, apricots, raisins, sundried tomatoes, sunflower seeds etc (not all at once ) - some sliced pears with the choc spread sandwich (or other fruit) - pancakes are J's favourite too, perhaps you could try a range of fillings for those.

Pizza? You could whizz up a heap of veggies into the sauce to spread over the base and get her to decorate her own pizza with a selection of veg and stuff.

I've found that J is worse with his food if he's tired - and also found that he'll eat loads one day and hardly anything the next. He's currently having school dinners but that I think is going to change because they aren't that great.

[mrsflibble]

well she's out of the phase already lol!!!

and when she wakes at 11pm, i dont tend to feed her. she asks. if she is really reall upset (and i know the difference between upset and playing me for a fool lol!) then she either gets readybrek or a yogurt. that's only happened twice though in the last 5 weeks. last night she asked for food and i said have a drink instead. she had 1/4 pint of water and said she was fine.

the only pasta she will eat is asda ravioli.

[MKG]

"chips, omlettes/scrambled egg or chocolate spread sarnies" - nutritionally, there's not a lot missing from that little lot. It may not be ideal, but I wouldn't worry overmuch. A few years ago, my friend's daughter would eat only banana sandwiches. He was at his wit's end until I pointed out that she had a pretty complete diet, if a boring one. He calmed down, gave her banana sandwiches without complaint or lecture, and a month later she was eating everything again.

[Graye]

I had a wonderfully wise doctor when my son was young.

He would sometimes say to me "Do you think he will be doing this when he's 16?" when I was concerned about such things as being hard to train to be dry overnight or suddenly having eating fads. It made ME relax which then made my son far more cooperative. By the time he was 16 I just couldn't keep up with his eating abilities - he would eat everything put before him and was usually looking for more.

The same son is having the same problem at the moment with his daughter - aged five. She was always the child who would eat everything but currently she will resist most attempts to persuade her to eat greens or other vegetables and she has a long list of other things she suddenly doesn't like. For instance she won't eat yoghurt if it has "bits" in it. She WILL eat steak or chicken or fish. She will happily eat chips or sweetcorn. She eats fruit and drinks milk. I've pointed out to him that she probably isn't missing out on anything and to let her get on with it. With her we are pretty sure this is to do with peer pressure from school meals but I also wonder sometimes if it isn't to do with children trying to find their feet and test the water with identifying boundaries.

[Green Aura]

I think children and parents have pre-ordained roles.

Children are destined to wind their parents up in any way they work out has an effect.

Parents are duty bound to embarrass their children at every conceivable opportunity.

The trick, as a parent is to get through the former while waiting to enjoy the latter.

On a more serious note, your other thread showed she was eating pretty well. If she will eat tinned spaghetti, make your own - put plenty of carrots, onions and sweet red peppers in a tomato sauce and then blitz them to a smooth consistency a la heinz. Put the cooked pasta in the sauce and warm it through so it goes a bit gooey, a la heinz again, and she'll get tons of goodness while she still thinks she's winding you up.

But try not to worry, children generally don't starve themselves - just keep giving her the opportunity to try new things without appearing too anxious about it and she'll come though.