Babysitting a picky eater

[Bluegoat]

I've been babysitting a little boy who just turned 5, a few mornings a week, and I give him lunch.

I have a four year old, who eats a fairly wide variety of things. So I haven't had to think to much about what to feed her. But the little guy is really picky, so far the only things I've found he will eat for sure are kraft dinner, grilled cheese, and hotdogs. I don't mind these occasionally, but not twice a week!

I don't think he has a great variety of diet at home, though it's not horrible. He also doesn't like some of the things I have because they are not the same as at home. Even if I ask him to just try a bite, he does but rejects the new food.

So, I am looking for new ideas for healthy lunches for picky eaters.

[Tigerchild]

Are his parents asking you to restrict him from those choices?

To be honest, if it's only a few mornings a week, I'd do the grilled cheese sandwich. It's not that much extra work to prepare, and pretty easily a backup. I think you'll have better success introducing 'sides' alongside the sandwich, then later you can incorporate them into a main part of the meal.

It's hard to relate if you don't have a picky child, but some kids are just that way. Eventually my one picky child (who is an identical twin to a non-picky brother) grew out of it. However, attempting to 'force' him was a waste of time and he was crabby as hell if he didn't eat anything. I guess if he's being picked up right after lunch though, you could just let his parents deal with it, if he won't eat what you prepare.

[Aleo]

i've always been a picky eater, and i'm not over it yet.I dont think i'll get over it
just ask his parents what he likes. When I visited or when I had someone taking care of me. My mom will prepeare my lunch at home becuase that was the only way to get me to eat.

[lindberg99]

You know, it's pretty hard to ask for suggestions of what a picky eater will eat because while they are all picky, they are all picky in different ways!

If he likes grilled cheese, you could try something along those lines, like a quesadilla or pizza (maybe hold the sauce?) If it were me, I'd probably just make him something I knew he likes though. You don't have to feed your children the same thing. Or even if your children do want the same thing, having a grilled cheese twice a week doesn't seem like a big deal.

If you want to try something new, serve it with something you know he eats. Then he can always just eat that for lunch.

[octobermom]

I'd eaither have the parents prepare or lay out dirrections for a dinner with you or give him the Mac N cheese or hot dogs ect. Its just your job to keep him safe not teach great food habbits and from the mom of a picky eatter I just wouldn't want you burdened with trying to feed my picky eatter "diffrent" things.

Deanna

[flapjack]

My DD is picky. Drives me nuts.

I like the idea of adding sides, but I love it when my friends offer Skye something new to try when her friends are all eating it. She's eaten, you know, whole mouthfuls of apples that way before. : The point isn't to offer magic foods that all children will eat because that's probably how he's fixed on hotdogs and grilled cheese, the point is to offer a variety so he can be a picky eater eating a healthy balanced diet. If I can throw out an idea, it could be worth doing a more substantial snack to lower the stakes if he doesn't like his lunch.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

I watch another toddler a few days a week and he seems to be "picky", he likes crackers, apples, bananas and raisins and now because I kept offering freeze dried fruits and veggies.

What I do is offer what I am giving my ds (who will eat anything YEA!) first and give him a chance to try it if he wants. I usually wait until after ds has eaten what was offered and then offer the foods I know this other kid will eat, because if I offer the other kid crackers and raisins then all DS wants is crackers and raisins.

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by tbone_kneegrabber

I usually wait until after ds has eaten what was offered and then offer the foods I know this other kid will eat, because if I offer the other kid crackers and raisins then all DS wants is crackers and raisins.

Yeah, I try to let the other parents get a head start on feeding their kids before I pull out my picky eater's fare.

[Breeder]

I agree with introducing more interesting sides to the grilled cheese. Try peanut butter if you can (allergies), most kids like that. If he likes it, peanut butter on wheat bread is the perfect protein!

[Bluegoat]

Originally Posted by Breeder

I agree with introducing more interesting sides to the grilled cheese. Try peanut butter if you can (allergies), most kids like that. If he likes it, peanut butter on wheat bread is the perfect protein!

Yes, he does like peanut butter, but if I give it to him I am supposed to change all his clothes before I drop him off at pre-school for the afternoon.

There are lots of good ideas here though, I will try some and see how they go. I have more sympathy for my mom now, I remember refusing to eat the goulash she made because it was not the same colour as my babysitter's (it was the same recipe, she just used a different brand of tomato soup.)

[because]

I agree not to stress too much about changing his habits if you only have him twice a week for lunch.

However, if you are serving his standards and you want to sneak some extra nutrition in, check out the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook called Deceptively Delicious. She would recommend blending mashed sweet potatoes in with your cheese for grilled cheese (this is actually sooo yummy - makes them taste like you put 8x as much cheese in, makes them really moist inside, and totally hides the potato flavor) or cooked and pureed cauliflower into the mac & cheese sauce (it completely goes away). She has other tricks for pumping up the nutrition of "kid food" (I hate that term).

Good luck.

[octobermom]

However, if you are serving his standards and you want to sneak some extra nutrition in, check out the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook called Deceptively Delicious. She would recommend blending mashed sweet potatoes in with your cheese for grilled cheese (this is actually sooo yummy - makes them taste like you put 8x as much cheese in, makes them really moist inside, and totally hides the potato flavor) or cooked and pureed cauliflower into the mac & cheese sauce (it completely goes away). She has other tricks for pumping up the nutrition of "kid food" (I hate that term).

Good luck.

Just a little warning on this it can backfire in a really bad way. My DD is VERY sensory sensitive and if foods have ANY sorta altered tastes than what she expected then the food that was once on an already short list of things child will eat. We have a list of foods I dared to try making "healthier" buy adding things that I tasted and couldn't tell but she did she notices the diffrent texture slightly diffrent taste ect and that did it never again. Eggs grilled cheese and potatos were foods once eatten but never again after I tried to hide something in them.

Deanna

[mrspineau]

What about making his grilled cheese sandwhich as healthy as possible by using a whole grain bread instead of white and some grated hard cheese instead of a processed cheese slice? Maybe you are already doing that, but it just makes it a little better.

[annethcz]

I babysit picky eaters frequently. And I might get flack for this, but I don't prepare special foods for the picky kids. I have 4 kids, and when I babysit I have 4 extra kids. I offer a few different foods- one main course and a couple of sides- and that's it. Sometimes the picky kids choose to eat what I'm serving, and sometimes they choose not to eat. I'm okay with either choice. My job isn't to make sure that they eat, my job is to offer healthy food choices.

I also have some simple rules about eating. If you finish what's on your plate and you're still hungry, you're welcome to have more. But if you don't finish what's on your plate, I'm not going to serve seconds. I don't require kids to clean their plate, nor do I give them incentives to clean their plate (ie, no desserts).

FWIW, many times when I babysit, the kids bring their lunches with them. But invariably, one or more of the kids will want something else to eat or will want a snack. The same rules apply. If they finish everything in their lunchbox, I'm happy to give them some fruit or crackers. But if they don't finish everything in their lunchbox, I'm not going to make them anything else to eat.

This might seem mean, but I'm not a short order cook, and I'm not a fan of throwing away perfectly good food. I have noticed that the more frequently the picky eaters come to my house, the less picky they tend to be. The child who threw a tantrum at home because she would only eat a sandwich on a BUN would happily eat a sandwich on regular bread at my house if it was the only thing offered.

[phathui5]

I do childcare and if the kids I'm watching can't or won't eat what we're having, I ask their parents to send food with them. That way you're not having to make macaroni for lunch all the time.

[octobermom]

I babysit picky eaters frequently. And I might get flack for this, but I don't prepare special foods for the picky kids. I have 4 kids, and when I babysit I have 4 extra kids. I offer a few different foods- one main course and a couple of sides- and that's it. Sometimes the picky kids choose to eat what I'm serving, and sometimes they choose not to eat. I'm okay with either choice. My job isn't to make sure that they eat, my job is to offer healthy food choices.

As the parent of a picky eatter this wouldn't bother me because its MY job to eaither provide a sutible alternitive so your not having to cook multiple meals or accept that you will serve mine what you will serve yours. What would bother me is if a sitter decided my child had to eat there food or didn't allow them access to food I provided even if they didn't want to have it at the meal time.
Deanna

[mamaduck]

When I babysit picky eaters, I let the parents know that I will feed their child but that he might not like what I am offering. I give them the option of sending an alternative in a lunchbox. When I send my own picky eater to visit other's - I always send a lunchbox with him.

[veganf]

I'd just offer a few choices of kid-friendly foods and what he eats he eats, he'll survive until he gets home and has his usual junk.

[kirei]

i believe that the parent has a responsibility to try and provide food for their child that may be a picky eater. but as a babysitter, i hope you'll never try to force the child to eat something they don't want.

i just say this because i was a very picky eater as a child. i don't know why or what started it. my mom and nana told me that i used to eat everything as a baby and then "Something Happened" (no one seems to know what, but they blame each other), and i wouldnt eat anymore.

for as long as i can remember, most food would have me sick to even try to eat. as in -- if you force feed me, i will probably throw up because it is so disgusting to me. i was afraid to go to other kids' houses for dinner because their parents would try to make me eat. i couldnt swallow anything without a drink (usually soda). i would hold my nose to swallow some food. sometimes i even swallowed food whole when i was forced to eat it (i choked on cauliflower this way).

no one ever understood me, not even my mom. it was so hard growing up.

i did grow out of it around 13, and now i eat a much wider variety of foods. i try things when i'm ready -- even still.

i do appreciate that you have been feeding these kids what they are used to. if its not working for you anymore, i recommend you talk to their mom and see if she will go ahead and provide the food that they will need to eat.

sorry to go off on a tangent, i just feel so strongly about this.

[nextcommercial]

You'll drive yourself crazy if you try to change his eating habits. If he were one of several kids, I'd say let him try what you are having, but always have one thing you know he likes.

But, since he's just one kid, I'd make him grilled cheese every day, and offer him the sides of what you are having.

It's just not worth making yourself nuts over this.