What meal will your toddler / pre-schooler reliably eat?

[sarahew]

Hey y'all.

What do your pre-schoolers eat? I know they're all different, and one size doesn't fit all, but I am bored to tears with the menu that my 3.5 year old will eat. I'm finding that my 18m old is having to put up with the same things, or I'm making two different meals each time. The only meals I can reliably get down him involve fishfingers, pasta pesto (god forbid it's not pesto), potato waffles, cold ham, the odd cheese sandwich. Fortunately he will at least eat brocoli, most fruit, and tomato with the skin peeled off. Yes, I am peeling skin off cherry tomatoes. He ate brilliantly as a tiny child, and I Annabel Karmel'd with the best of them. But, jeez, I don't know what's happened. What does everyone else feed their kids, and successfully get from plate to tummy?

Sarah

[mima08]

Ha - snap! My 2.5yr old ate everything when little - we did baby led weaning and I remember feeling smug, but that's come back to haunt me! My childminder says he eats quite a variety of foods, but I have not seen it for months. The one thing I can 100% rely on are quiches - any flavour and content, he will eat all any veg as long as it's in a quiche... And rice with prawns (plus other things smuggled in)...

[Pickle]

Mine get exactly what we eat, and have done from about the age of 1 year (they are 6.5, 5 and 17 months). Sometimes they are reluctant, but I'm in the "if you don't eat it there's nothing else" camp and its amazing how quickly they learn.

This week we've had salmon with sweet chilli sauce, couscous and roasted peppers, roast chicken with potatoes and salad, quorn fillets with veg & rice. I don't make a big deal of it, and eat my meal with the kids most nights. If its something particularly spicy I will make theirs in a separate pan and alter the amount of chilli, but generally I don't change a thing.

Sometimes I make meals that are more for the kids than for the adults - shepherds pie this evening for example.

Maybe it's worth trying this approach?

[EmilyPie]

My 2 and a bit year old will eat fish fingers and I work that for all I'm worth, breadcrumbing everything I can think of and telling him that it's like fish fingers. So far I've had success with salmon in breadcrumbs, chicken in breadcrumbs (if using breast it is good to marinate it in buttermilk or yogurt first as it keeps it moist) and veal in breadcrumbs. I sometimes use whole meal breadcrumbs, or add a few sesame seeds too. You can make in bulk then keep in portions in the freezer. Other meals that always work for us are macaroni cheese and millet and cheese and, if I'm knackered, scrambled egg and toast or pitta and dips, including hummus, tsatsiki, avocado and cream cheese or aubergine and cream cheese.

Good luck!

[sarahew]

This is totally what i aspire to and what my sister did. Her children were amazing eaters. It feels like I've trapped myself now. We don't eat together because husband's working hours don't allow it, and I'm not a confident cook either. I think I relent too much on snacks, and somehow have let eldest rule to roost for fear of him starving. Gah.

How come you get to eat with the children?

[Helen GV]

Anyone had luck with switching to the 'that or nothing' camp with kids 3 plus?

I suspect I would get extreme resistance from both kids and poss their dad...

[emza78]

In my head I'm a "that or nothing"er, but she always chooses nothing...then wakes up at night hungry...I like my sleep too much!

[sarahew]

That's what I'm worried about. We're having a real job getting the 18m old to sleep at the mo, and i can't face having to deal with the 3.5yr old too. that's why i'm desperate for help to find other meal options that go down well. I am a totally rubbish cook, and just lack confidence in this area.

[Lula]

My eldest is a very light eater, always has been. Pasta, fish fingers are his staple diet. Recently discovered though that he and younger one will eat chicken cooked in a marinade of garlic, soy sauce and honey. I use the cheaper cuts on the bone, ie thighs and drumsticks and serve it with sticky rice (which they love) - that Thai Taste one you can get in Sainsburys. I also try to serve them a version of what we eat and don't make a fuss if they don't eat it, but remind them they'll be hungry. It has taken the stress out of dinner time for me, as used to fight to get every morsel in eldest's mouth. Oh and peas with everything.

[sarahew]

Yes, peas are a winner here too. Do you all eat together Lula? I wonder how many people manage to do that. I'd love to but it feels pretty impossible with husband not getting in til 6.45/7ish.

[Pickle]

I eat with the kids at 5:30/6ish, and hubby eats when he gets in from work/sports training at 7ish. It works for me to eat earlier as I often have to dash out the door at 7pm to go to rehearsals and don't get home again until after 10pm.

In the weekends we all sit together and eat which is nice. Husband wouldn't dare complain about what he's served up, he knows he is on to a good thing having a home cooked meal waiting for him every evening!

My son would be quite fussy given the chance, but he is old enough to understand how it works - if he wakes up hungry too bad, breakfast is at 7:30am. Mean, maybe, but it's what my Mum did, and we grew up eating (and eventually liking) pretty much anything.

Snacks are limited to an after school biscuit and fruit at 3:30, but I don't let them have anything else pre-dinner.

I vary what I cook, websites like BBC Good Food are good for inspiration.

Good luck!

[Pickle]

... also, a winner in our house are the jars of Wagamama stirfry/marinade sauces you can buy. The teriyaki one is my kids favourite dinner - if you marinate the meat in it for a few hours it goes lovely and tender, then quickly stirfry with some crunchy colourful veges. Yum!

[Lula]

I have to confess, I snack a bit on the kids' dinner then eat with hubby when he gets in, around 7.30-8. My excuse is that I eat lunch at 12-sharp, and it's usually just a sandwich, so come 5pm, I'm starving!

[Sanne Panne]

Experience with introducing the "switch" when you've already allowed them to become picky: after initially going down the pasta-pesto and fish fingers route and scratching my head over why I did eat salad and soup at 4 without being forced by my parents nor left with eating disorders as a teen or adult I bluntly switched to the "this is dinner" attitude (not a confrontational "eat this or you'll get nothing" but an informative "this is dinner, it's delicious") 18 months ago when the smallest was 1.5 and the eldest 3.5, and it worked pretty much immediately and they really enjoy mealtime.

[Pickle]

Nice to hear its worked for you making the switch! I too tell my kids that they might like something when they're older. 5 year old daughter has just had a broccoli breakthrough, having not really liked it for a few years ("ah Mummy, it's because I'm 5, that's why I like it now").

It does make life so much easier, and cheaper!

[EmilyPie]

If it's any consolation I was a nightmare picky eater as a child - plain pasta, cheese only if cut into shapes, cornflakes and not much else. Was also very strong willed so just wouldn't eat if I didn't like it, even if I was really hungry. Now however I love food and eat pretty much everything. So fussy eaters when small don't necessarily stay that way.

[Fuschia]

There is an anthropological explanation for the fussiness - once children start to walk they are at risk of poisoning if they eat food not dejected by an adult, hence their programming to divide things into 'food/non-food' categories

If you flag slightly in the varied menu at around that point (for instance going on holiday or child is ill) then suddenly they won't touch something they ate before

It doesn't last forever though

My oldest was really really fussy but from about aged 7 he began to chill

The others are all pretty good

I think the most relaxed approach is to have a summer of meze sort of meals, eat together

Serve a few familiar things and a new thing and a dip and some carbs and let them see you enjoying it all

That way you can enjoy the meal without confrontation but not feel you are feeding a restricted diet

I use serving dishes too

That way they can help themselves or i pop a spoon of something on their plate but less waste and less scrutiny of what passes their lips

See if you can eat tea with friends?

Have dinner at the bread of life cafe? Someone else has cooked it then :-)

[canela]

We all have different work and school routines throughout the week so we don't always eat together - but we do at the weekend and that helps to make saturday and sunday special meals.

i only cook one thing, sometimes more adult focussed, sometimes more kid focussed. often it's slightly different versions of the same thing so it's simple for kids and more interesting for adults without a whole lot of extra cooking. so an omelette and raw veg sticks for the kids becomes a frittata for the adults.

you can also make homemade versions of "kiddie" food - like breaded fishcakes, or home-made burgers or meatballs, even roast new potatoes as a homemade version of chips. I just tell my kids they are lucky it is burger and chips tonight and they are happy.

firm weekly favourites in our house are lentil soup, mixed bean stew with rice, and spaghetti bolognese. there are a few things they both don't like (cous cous? for some reason) so I don't make them as they eat so many other things. sometimes the little one doesn't eat very much, but the (gentle) rule is that you try something new. If you really don't like it, you can have brown bread and butter...and this has got me through occasional bouts of fussiness. My rule of thumb is that we only have healthy food in the house, so that then whatever they eat is going to be ok. We leave the biscuits and ice-cream for when we are out and about or if we have visitors (also because I would just eat them all....)

good luck!

[ClareC]

I'm also in the this is dinner (and there is nothing else) camp. The kids eat the same as us. They particularly like spaghetti bolognaise, shepherds pie, fish pie, BBQ and sausages!! Allowing dippy dippy sauces helps too.

I tend to give them fruit or yogurt for pudding with the occasional treat such as an ice cream. Rules are if you don't eat dinner you don't get pudding! I stick with this and they know it.

Both good eaters.

[WorkingMummy]

Mine (4, 2, 1) particularly like: mild chilli (nigella's "feast" recipe - they don't seem to like chilli or curry powder but love individual spices); lasagne; risottos; rice with tuna and tomato sauce; fish fingers, chips and peas.

I too am in the don't offer an alternative camp. We eat all together and if they don't like something I let them leave it but there's nothin else. Occasionally one of them goes to bed on an empty stomach but they don't seem too badly affected by it.

I have found that they need to keep eating a particular dish quite regularly in order to keep liking it. They are creatures of habit. If I stop cooking something for a while, I sometimes struggle to convince them to accept it again.

[Saffron]

Keep in mind that it can take some children's taste buds a long time to adapt to new flavours. I've heard it said that some children will need to try something for example 50 times before accepting it. That would be once a week for a year.

Similar to Pickle, we have a "this is what's for dinner" policy, but also like Fuschia I always serve something familiar with something new/non-favourite.

Sweetcorn is a big hit, so I always mix new veg with it. Mayonnaise (cut or substitute with plain yogurt if you like) is great on new veg and rice.

Frittata is always a hit here, and you can easily mix in all sort with it. Mild chili/vegetarian chili or bolognaise is a winner. Sometime we have breakfast for dinner, just to mix things up.

[sunbob]

I have to admit that I am very lucky to have 2 great eaters (touch wood) but one change which I made when daughter got to 3 yrs old and started to be a little fussy really helped. I swapped the main cooked meal of the day to lunch time, instead of the evening. This works much better for us as I find that tiredness plays a part in them mucking around or just not being in the mood to eat much. I go for quick and easy stuff or preferably (if I've been really organised) something from the freezer. It also makes tea time much easier/quicker to prepare/you can stay out longer not have to rush back to cook.

[sarahew]

Thanks Sunbob. I think lunchtime is the best time for a main meal too. I feel the pressure is off once that meal's done! But, when you say you go for quick and easy stuff, what kind of things do you mean?

[sarahew]

And big thanks to everyone who has shared their ideas on this thread, btw. You have genuinely been very helpful, and given me some inspiration. For those new to the thread, please do leave more ideas :-).

[sunbob]

Sorry Sarahnew nothing very exciting (battling the twin evils of tight budget and terminal sleep deprivation). Today we had rice with mince (frozen mince, frozen veg, tin tomatoes, herbs etc bunged in the pan cold stirred up, turned on then left for 15 mins to cook). Another meal might be pasta and pesto (with from veg or peas again).