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Picky Eater


ChrisStar

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We are exactly ONE meal into our second round of Whole30 and we're already running into problems. Not with us, really, but with the kids. (Please note, they're not really doing Whole30 but our first round was literally just us - we still let the kids eat what they normally did. This round, they're going as grain-free as possible. They've been dairy-free since our first round).
Anyway, long story short - my 3 year old son is SO picky. His breakfast is ALWAYS bran cereal with raisins or toast with jelly. We happened to finish the cereal off yesterday. There's no bread or other cereal in the house. He will not eat eggs, I have to sneak veggies into anything and he's started getting wise to that. I NEED breakfast options for him. He finally relented and agreed to a banana and some almond butter but he's not eating it. Any ideas? I'm desperate (but not desperate enough to run out and grab some of their old favorites).

 

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Banana egg pancakes (good for the kids, NOT for you on Whole30).  Meatballs on toothpicks (kids love food on a stick).  Chicken fingers and ranch dressing for dipping? Sweet potato "fries"?  Mini hamburgers? Egg muffins (maybe in muffin form it'll be more fun?)?

 

Google Whole30 kids for lots of threads surrounding the little ones and Whole30 eating.

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There are also fauxtmeal and paleo porridge recipes out there and even paleo granolas. Like the banana pancakes, not really ok for the adults on a Whole30, but if it gets the kids to eat, maybe an option. This fauxtmeal recipe at least does have an egg in it for some protein, you might be able to play with it and sneak in another as well.

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Wanna know how sad this mass commercial brainwashing of our kids truly is? I've made him homemade chicken nuggets before (we had them for dinner - coated with almond meal and unsweetened coconut flakes - YUM!) and he said he wanted "the orange ones." AKA the Tyson brand chicken nuggets. No matter how much I told him they were chicken nuggets, he just would NOT do it. So sad!

I think I'll definitely have to do some pancakes for him. I might even be able to get him to eat some sweet potato pancakes! He won't do sweet potato fries because he's a punk and, while he wants his chicken nuggets orange, he does NOT want his fries orange.  :rolleyes:

That "fauxtmeal" does look pretty good!!

 

Thanks so much! If anyone else has any ideas, please - keep them coming! :)

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My kids ***sobbed** the first time they went paleo with me.  I ended up not having them be whole30 but just paleo so I made them lots of paleo muffins. I do let my son eat rice.  My daughter absolutely loves well fed chocolate chili, and both kids love zoodles.  I do hide grated veggies in everything.  My son's favorite muffins is thepaleomom's carrot-parsnip muffins.

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One meal in is not really time enough to be worried about him adjusting to this change. 

 

It takes upwards of 15-20 times tasting something before a kid can actually know if they like it or not. So something they think is gross at first might end up being something they love. This was spinach and my daughter, for example. We have a rule that you cannot leave the table without tasting everything on your plate, every time. So, she was forced to taste spinach over and over, and then one day she ate all of it. Now she eats it just about every time she gets it. We also don't allow our kids to say rude things like "yucky" at the table and I think that has helped to tone down the aversions to foods.

 

Truly, and this is speaking from the experience of two kids here going through this, it is far better to stick with it than cave and offer paleo kid friendly junk food. I think sometimes we create their picky eating habits by allowing too much snacking and catering to their whims. (Oh yeah, snacking is something that doesn't happen much in my house either). It may take several meals of not eating, but once they see you are serious, they will eat. Just stay strong. My son is a very picky eater, he's 2, and he doesn't get to leave the table without tasting everything either. (This often means we play games with food pretending they are superheros who need to get to his belly or whatever). He used to hate avocado, any meat but eggs, and several vegetables. Now he eats most of that stuff at most meals. 

 

Also, remember kids go through the Whole30 timeline with us. My daughter got VERY angry about not having sweets when we switched her and refused to eat for a full day. But, she came out the other side and is better for it. Have some compassion and patience, and your little one will surprise you.

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Hi ChrisStar,

 

I just had to log in (for the first time!) and tell you that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I am on day 3 of Whole 30 with my kids (5, 4, and 2) and oh my goodness. I have never had so much anger directed toward me at one time! My 5 year old has always been picky and is refusing to eat for so long that he ends up getting cramps in his stomach from hunger. It's been pretty brutal so far. So thank you to the others who have posted on here letting me know their kids made it through. ;) 

 

Something I've been doing the last couple of days that seems to help is smoothies. I know they're not really recommended by the W30 folks, but I love doing smoothies right at 3pm so that they're hungry again by dinner time. I hide veggies in there, too, sometimes, depending on what I have on hand. So maybe that's a breakfast option? I also make my own cashew cookie Larabars with this recipe: http://leitesculinaria.com/88638/recipes-homemade-larabars.html and that seems to be enough for a jumpstart for my 4 year old. He has always nibbled something when he first wakes up and then gets ravenous a couple hours later. If I don't give him a little something when he wakes up, it's melt downs and anger and aggression until lunch time, completely skipping over breakfast. 

 

Good luck!

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CaseyD, THANK YOU for posting this.  I almost caved before I read this.  I am on Whole30 day 7 with my almost 5 year old son.  My nursing 1 year old is Whole30 too.  My husband is not.  It is hard.  I want to cry.  But I am realizing that I use food (sweets and carbs) as a way to show my love.  So I feel like I am withholding love from my son when I don't give him the foods he asks for.  May sound crazy, but it's a great revelation for me to figure out.  I love the idea of having to try everything once and not saying Yucky or Gross.  I just need to get my husband to sit down to dinner with us for support too.

kelliincali, My oldest also needs a little something to kick-start his morning before breakfast.  Especially with breakfast taking some time to prepare now.  I'll look into your options!

 

So grateful to have this forum.  So much pressure to just do 'the norm' but in the first two days I saw my bright, happy boy again!  We must be in the Kill All the Things phase together...

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