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peanut butter and jelly is all they want


dancermom

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Hi,

 I am just finishing up my first whole 30 and have been thinking as I go through it, would this be possible to do with my kids? I think it would be good for them just like it has for me, but the thought is really stressful and overwhelming.  They have been eating some of the things I have been eating but they are not quick to try new foods. They are ages 2 and 4. The 2 year old only has 1 or 2 fruit and veggies he likes. The 4 year old is used to eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. What kind of encouragement can you give me? Should I try it cold turkey, or take a slower approach and gradually transition to more of these foods. Some issues I want to address are sleep problems, behavior, muscle pains, ear infections, runny noses...

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Hi,

 I am just finishing up my first whole 30 and have been thinking as I go through it, would this be possible to do with my kids? I think it would be good for them just like it has for me, but the thought is really stressful and overwhelming.  They have been eating some of the things I have been eating but they are not quick to try new foods. They are ages 2 and 4. The 2 year old only has 1 or 2 fruit and veggies he likes. The 4 year old is used to eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. What kind of encouragement can you give me? Should I try it cold turkey, or take a slower approach and gradually transition to more of these foods. Some issues I want to address are sleep problems, behavior, muscle pains, ear infections, runny noses...

Hi!  I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old who are on Day 19 with me and my husband.  I think it really helped in the 2 weeks leading up to our Whole 30, we discussed things as we prepared and cleaned all the non-compliant foods out of our house.  They went thru the "Kill All The Things" phase about 5 or 6 days in, but besides that they have been fantastic sports!  I found their appetites increased dramatically, and their acceptance of new veggies and other foods has been great.  

I think it would work for your kids if it was something your whole family was doing.  If my husband was eating cake at the office, it might be tougher for my 6 year old to forgo cupcakes at school parties. 

Also, if there's no PB&J ingredients in the house, there won't be sandwiches right? :)

My 2 year old is gradually eating more and different veggies, so I understand the "2 veggies" only thing.  They get over it.  She also likes her veggies with fruit in baby food pouches when we're out.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

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My kids don't eat Whole30, so I'm not the best advice giver... but, I do believe that SWYPO foods are considered okay for kids... so, ants on a log (with almond butter and compliant raisons), 'pancakes' with eggs/bananas and maybe other treats that I'm not aware of would be things you could consider.  Also, my kids tend to eat more veggies when I roast them and give them a dip to use - we've done tons of different homemade mayos for them... my husband is fantastic at adding spices to our mayo to make it taste different but I know there are also recipes out there to make compliant ranch and other dressing type things.

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Also - I didn't do a whole30 with my kids for my own reasons but I did improve their diet quite a bit.  For example, we only buy whole plain yogurt (no sweetened stuff unless it's a special occasion), they eat eggs for breakfast quite a bit and we just do pancakes, waffles, other sweet bready things on special occasions, we do sprouted bread, we increased vegetables by quite a bit, even including them for most breakfasts and lunches.   Just food for thought since you asked about not doing a whole30.  Good luck :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Our house rule is 3 bites (no determined size of bites... Could be nibble, could be huge mouthfuls) before they can ask for something else. And i also try a variety of ways of preparing the veggies. My daughter doesn't like anything noodle related, whether spaghetti squash or zoodles but will eat her weight in brussel sprouts and brocolli (and the meaty spaghetti sauce) And she even takes my mushrooms (which I personally can't stand) and eats them happily. Sometimes she likes sweet potatoes, sometimes she doesn't, but i keep offering foods to her, whether or not I think she will like them. (Sometimes reverse psychology helps, but I'm not always a fan of tricking my kids to eat something).

My husband and I are both texture eaters. There are some things we won't touch because the texture is odd, but we also don't let that stop us from offering it to our kids. Keep offering them a variety of foods prepared different ways and they may surprise you with what they'll eat. And ask questions if they don't like something. Did it taste bad? Did it feel weird? Maybe if we add (insert flavor/seasoning here) it would taste better. Wanna try?

Some kids have to try things 40 times before they like it. Some kids like it immediately.

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I have a 15 yr old and usually extras. Mine isn't eating whole 30 but for dinner she eats what I do as do the extras when they're here. The policy my parents laid down for us was you didn't have to clean your plate and you didn't have to eat everything. You did have to taste everything and you were allowed to spit it out if you didn't like the texture. I've raised my daughter the same way. There were things she didn't like at 4 but has re-tasted and decided she like.

 

My current way of thinking, if it isn't good for me, why am I feeding it to my daughter. I just keep making little changes to our kitchen and her diet. She does connect the 2. They do learn if we provide the knowledge.

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  • 2 years later...
On 3/8/2016 at 11:38 AM, jburth7 said:

My kids don't eat Whole30, so I'm not the best advice giver... but, I do believe that SWYPO foods are considered okay for kids... so, ants on a log (with almond butter and compliant raisons), 'pancakes' with eggs/bananas and maybe other treats that I'm not aware of would be things you could consider.  Also, my kids tend to eat more veggies when I roast them and give them a dip to use - we've done tons of different homemade mayos for them... my husband is fantastic at adding spices to our mayo to make it taste different but I know there are also recipes out there to make compliant ranch and other dressing type things.

Another idea may be to come up with a compliant "muffin" recipe (one that uses all compliant ingredients). If you have young children in daycare, send a container with 1-2 muffins for each child to be stored in the FREEZER at their daycare. They can be pulled out and thawed at room temperature or in the microwave as an alternative snack if there's a class Birthday party. Sure, a paleo banana muffin isn't quite the same as a chocolate cupcake with neon blue frosting, but perhaps the idea that Sammy has a special treat for the party will make things a little easier.

With some kids, gradual change may be needed. Cutting out peanut butter and jelly at once may not work without a good replacement, but swapping out the peanut butter for almond or sunflower seed butter may help them get used to the taste. What about making "jelly" by mixing mashed berries with chia seeds or doing nut butter and banana sandwiches. Maybe you'll go from peanut butter and jelly on bread to almond butter and jelly on bread to almond butter and fresh berries on bread to fresh strawberries that are cored and filled with almond butter. (For some kids,the transition may even need to be slower. Perhaps mixing peanut butter with almond butter and gradually decreasing the amount of peanut butter used may also be needed).

Some kid-friendly snacks that are Whole30 Compliant [These are specifically the kinds of snacks or alternatives to ones you may see children in preschool eat; I know a 3 year old who thinks creamed kale is a great snack to bring to a party though, so I don't think anything is off limits. Some may be considered SWYPO, and of course you should check lablels]

  • Fruit and veggie puree pouches (baby food pouches or GoGo Squeez Applesauce Pouches.)
  • Applesauce cups
  • Happy Farms Coconut Creamies (alternative to Gerber yogurt melts)
  • Fresh fruit
  • Veggies with compliant dips
  • Bare Fruit and Veggie Chips (excluding Carrot Ranch or any of the coconut chips; even the barbecue sweet potato ones are allowed)
  • Freeze dried/dried fruit (including raisins)
  • Trader Joe's Plantain chips
  • Epic Pork Rinds (not the Maple Bacon cracklin's. The rinds are ok)
  • Fruit with whipped coconut cream 
  • Chocolate avocado pudding (add banana and/or dates to sweeten).
  • Chia pudding (with compliant milk and fruit to sweeten)
  • Bars: Larabar (check labels), Rx Bars (including ones with chocolate chips, but not peanuts), Pressed by Kind Bars, or That's It! Fruit Bars
  • Snack packs of olives and/or pickles
  • Precooked chicken strips dipped into compliant dipping sauces/dressings [including guacamole]
  • Compliant deli meats wrapped around fresh veggies or cut into fun shapes
  • Fruit juice or smoothies made with compliant ingredients that are frozen into "popsicles."

I tried to include some shelf-stable and some perishable snack ideas including several that are either IDENTICAL to the same snacks everyone else seem to eat or are decent subsitutes for them. Of course, many of them (as I said before) aren't great for adults, but maybe having a few green "Hulk" smoothie pops made of coconut milk, strawberries, banana, and spinach in the freezer will come in handy when Alex and Chris are the only two kids in the neighborhood who aren't getting ice cream from the ice cream truck.

 

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  • 1 year later...

We're on day 10 as a family. I haven't been strictly enforcing the rules with the kids though. My 9 year old still gets lunchable type meals for school and both kids had regular hot dogs (no buns) with mac and cheese for lunch this weekend. During the prep phase I didn't get rid of their toaster waffles (no syrup), cereal (with almond milk), string cheese, mac & cheese, sweetened apple sauce, etc. just told them I wasn't buying it again after what we had was gone. I did pick up more yogurt for them with this week's groceries, but we switched from the super sugary kids stuff to one with a lot less sugar. When it comes to dinners and snacks though I've put my foot down, especially on any kind of candy, sweets and other junk food. (They were so hooked on sugar that I caught them eating hot cocoa powder with a spoon!! That DID go in the trash... along with any leftover Halloween/Christmas candy, chips, sugary "granola" bars and gummy snacks.)

I refuse to make 2 separate meals every evening, so I've called a weekly family meeting to plan meals that everyone will at least try (compliant sloppy joe filling over potatoes and pulled pork got requests for seconds!). My youngest is 4 though, so I just try to find at least one or two meals that mimic ones I know she'll eat. If either of them don't want to eat what's been made, the alternative is always some fruit/veg with chicken or hard boiled eggs (I keep those prepped for grab-n-go situations). Most times they are hungry enough by dinner that they'll at least try a "no thank you" bite or two. So far there's only been one meal my 4 year old flat out refused to eat and my 9 year old has eaten (and enjoyed) everything!

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Kudos to you!  Nom Nom Paleo has some great advice in her Food For Humans cookbook and on her website. You may need different approaches for each child. The other thing to remember is kids need to eat more often, so don't try to have them go 4 hours between meals.

You buy the groceries so figure out the things they do like and have them on hand, and stop buying bread. Try using sweet potato slices as sandwich holders with sunbutter and an all fruit spread.

Try new things constantly, like prosciutto (Nom Nom Paleo Prosciutto egg cups are great), olives, Velvety Butternut Squash from Mel Joulwan/Well Fed website/cookbook. Potatoes/sweet potatoes, apples and breakfast sausage are a great breakfast combo, with or without eggs. A little fruit tossed in with things (like chicken salad) goes a long way with kids whose palates are less suited to bitter foods until they get older.

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