HELP! My little 4yr old nephew is the pickiest eater.How can we expand his food palette?
Answer:
too spoil.
chin
his the child your the adult
dont let him get his own way ootherwise he will not be healthy when his older
display foods in an interesting way. eg: smiley faces, with dips and sauces.
So he snacks all day and Daddy gives him whatever he wants. That is the problem. Give the kid breakfast, lunch, small snack, dinner. If he still won't eat dinner, then don't give him any snack. Make the food and put a tablespoon of each food onto his plate. Don't cater to his pickyness. Make the kid sit at the table with his Dad during dinner. He doesn't have to eat, but he does have to sit there with the plate in front of him. When dinner is over, clear the dishes. If he doesn't eat dinner that night, he gets no snack the next day. If the kid is hungry he'll eat. Catering to his picky eating only helps him be more picky.
i am the same way. i hate to eat something new and i only ate a few thing until i started haging around other people my same age. now i cook a mixute or latin an jamaican dishes and i love seafood (something i never ate when i was younger) my suggestion would be to put him out there in a bunch of different kids his age that are different cultures. i never ate different foods until i hung around people of different cultures. make sure they are his age or else he will think he is just being tricked into eating it.
It's really important that the little boy has a good eating routine, then he will be hungry at mealtimes. If he snacks throughout the day he won't be hungry, and this affects his ability to eat a proper meal.
He is old enough to understand a reward system, so you could say that if he eats so much carrot, meat and potato, he gets a sticker, and with a certain number of stickers he gets a small reward.
Certainly display foods in an interesting way. Also make the presentation clear, so no sauces, clear flavours.
I also ask my kids to take a 'no thank you bite' in the hope that if they start they may like something and continue to eat it.
I also give my kids a lot of food they can eat with their fingers, they seem to eat more this way, and I don't make a fuss about them eating with cutlery.
Vegetables can also be hidden in soups, dips.Boil cabbage leaves to wrap food and vegetables in, and let the kids eat them with their hands.
It is a hard balance between getting your child to eat, and on the other hand not being so paranoid over eating that the child picks up the anxiety and doesn't want to eat.
The child can also take an infant multi vitamin to make up for what he's not getting via food intake.
Finally, your brother has to be in charge, and if the child is getting cross because he doesn't get his own way your brother has to be strong minded and not give in. The child will eat if he is hungry, don't give in and don't let him snack
I would try working with what he likes as a base.
Try giving him veggies with butter, and maybe buttery-tasting meat. (some ppl put butter on steak!)
Or see if he likes dipping veggies into ranch dip.
Or broccoli with cheese sauce.
Also sounds like he might go for chicken (sauteed in butter? LOL!).
I've found my nephew likes the boxed "simply steam" green giant no sauce sugar snap peas. They tase buttery without anything added (he's a fan of butter as well). The only drawback is that little "string" the peas can have from the pod.
Working off the rice he likes, fried rice might be good because that can have rice, egg, veggies, and even chicken.
Good luck!
You HAVE to get that child to eat real food. You can't give a 4 yr old an option, they eat what you give them and thats that. Stop giving in to what he wants, learn to say NO, don't give him the snacks during the day. Only provide him with proper foods, if he crys or throws a fit you have to stick it out and not give in. Eventually he will be hungry and eat what you give him. Sometimes parents have to be stern and not budge for the better good of the child. If he threw a fit because he wanted to play in the street, would you let him? It may sound harsh but letting a 4yr old be malnurished is neglect. Tell your brother to be the parent and demand that the child eat what is exceptable.
I raised my children not a nanny, and my youngest was the most pickiest eater. I even tried to bribe her with cash when she was older to just try something.didn't work, and you know how teenagers like cash!! She is 23 now, and still is a picky eater..does not like meat, except chicken.none..I think it is the texture of some foods that they just don't like.my daughter loves rice too and would rather eat that than anything.I was not about to make different meals for supper, so if she wanted something odd, she made it herself... thought that would change her, no, it did not.she invented a rice dish that is similar to fried rice...adding scrambled eggs to the cooked rice.in a pan, a little butter, scramble the eggs, add a couple drops of soy sauce, then add cooked rice to it, a little bit of garlic powder(very little), it tastes really good.Since your the aunt, maybe you could visit, and bring some lunchables, they have a vast variety of them, and bring over some gummie vitamins.they have gotten very creative where childrens vitamins are concerned.I think if you nag them, it just makes them less apt to try new things, you can say all day long "he's the child, your the adult" stuff, it doesn't matter, some kids will not bend, my daughter, and my neice is the same way...Oh did I hear it from my mother in law!!.till her "favorite" pops up with this way of eating, Meat does NOT have to be in their diet, there are other protiens, such as peanut butter, which my daughter would eat..your brother is a single parent, and probably doing the best he can right now, so no offense, help, and suggesting not to "nag" him about his kid if you are., find other ways of helping the situation..(know its out of concern, but can further hinder the situation)
Start with what he likes and add to it. He likes rice? Mix chicken in with it, veggies etc. When he gets hungry, he'll eat it.
Make sure that the cereal that is being fed to him is high in Iron. That may help eliminate the iron deficiency. Certainly check with a doctor.
It seems like the nanny should be doing more. The Nanny should not be allowing this child to snack all day long, it is not healthy for him.
Don't let the child up until he has eaten enough of a portion that is satisfying to his size. I have a nephew that wont eat anything at all. He doesn't snack all day he doesn't eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. I personally wont let him get out of his seat until I feel as though he has had enough to satisfy his nutritional needs. That doesn't mean that he has to eat everything on his plate, but 2 McNuggets isn't sufficient.
I can understand not wanting to deal with the temper tantrums. Kids do not through temper tantrums because they are missing a parent in the house. They throw them because the parent that is around isn't spending enough time with the child. Reward the child for eating all of the food on his plate by playing a game of Go Fish. Maybe that will help with the tantrums.
try food coloring to make his food pretty and colorful. just might work
let him help cook (he can stir or help dump stuff into a pan, etc...) or let him look through a cookbook w/ pictures and have him decide what to make for dinner. Also my daughter is underwieght slightly and we have found the best protein bar (tell him it's a granola or candy bar) is by slimfast - it's a chocolate chip protein bar w/ 15 grams of protein. they really helped.
Put the food in front of him, if he doesn't eat he goes hungry. Do NOT give in and give him what he wants because "he has to eat". He will NOT starve and when he is hungry he WILL eat whatever is on the menu.
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