Changing diet of finicky children? Any experience?

[laohaire]

Has anyone had a kid who basically didn't eat anything, and then radically changed their diet? How did that actually go?

I'm trying to figure out how the transition period goes. I assume DD will just stop eating anything if I take away the few things (crap food) she eats and pretty much only offer her foods that she won't eat. But would she eventually start eating new food? How long will it take? Will she starve before that happens? Will this be so traumatic that I should just let her eat crap food that may be stunting her growth and perhaps even contributing to poor health over the long run?

I have tried just encouraging her but that doesn't work. If crap food is available, she will choose that. If crap food is NOT available, she will just refuse everything.

The obvious answer is to not offer crap food anymore. Yet how do I get out of this?

[philomom]

My kids went through a finicky phase.... you know ....chicken nuggets, grapes and carrot sticks.. not much else. I upped their exercise time at the park to two hours before dinner and didn't snack them between 4 and 6 so that they came to the dinner table hungry. After a couple of weeks of this they ate just about anything and I never had to say a word.

[ammiga]

We only offer foods that are ok to eat. If we don't want dd eating it, it's not an option. She eats when she's hungry. I would make sure your dd has lots of choices as you make the transition... let her learn to take control of her food and health from healthy options. I can't imagine a change going over well when she isn't involved in the process.

[Alyantavid]

How old is she?  I'd talk and talk about food.  This is what I do anyways though.  What's good for us, how we're going to eat differently, etc.  Get her involved in cooking, shopping, planning.

I'd also make a healthified version of the crap food she likes to ease the transition.  Obviously you can do it cold turkey, but I'd go with a gentler approach.  You know your daughter though and how she'd react to either way.

[Mirichka]

Oh can I relate.  No really good advice here, but it is made more difficult by the fact that DH is a really difficulty eater.  It's hard to get DS to try the millet dish I made when Dad won't even try it either.  I try to focus on the meals he does not eat with DH and relax about dinner-time.  Easier said than done.  I would love to hear some good advice though.

[mumkimum]

Things we do here:

I let the junky food run out and don't replace it.

I give her a lot fewer choices about what she wants to eat and just make her plate (normally we do lots of choices).

I start setting out bowls of random fruit/veggies with meals that sit there afterward (for snacking).

She knows that instead of other food we're eating, we'll allow certain okay'ed, relatively healthy options that she pretty much always eats (yogurt or yogurt with jam, oatmeal, and baby carrots).  Sometimes she just ends up eating those A LOT for awhile, and then will branch out a bit after the bland food.

This doesn't really end up that my dd will try lots of new things and change drastically, but she'll go back to eating the simpler, healthy things a bit more and not sit there complaining about it and eating nothing.  

Somewhat healthy versions of things she does like are really helpful, and stuff like that has led to her becoming more willing to try new or different foods sometimes.  Healthy things that we don't have often or make at home (like sushi, artichokes) are also good to bust out for problem-eating times.