The Fussy Foodie

You’ve done everything right. Exclusively breastfed your child until they are ready for college. Fed them fresh, organic seasonal vegetables, never once buying the easy store bought prepared food that boasted being organic. Disappointed grandparents with your homebaked hockey pucks or those sugar, gluten and dairy free cupcakes you served at your little one’s first birthday. You’ve made everything yourself. Let your baby make a mess at meal times to encourage eating on their own and asserting their independence. And then it happens. Your adventurous foodie suddenly refuses to eat all their healthy favorites. And, nothing healthy seems to please them. That precious tiny hand pushes the food away as if to say “No.” Ever been there?

Well, if you haven’t yet…you’re lucky. Or, that first refusal might just be around the corner. Like most phases in your child’s life this one too shall pass. What matters here are the choices you make and how you react in the moment. This phase is temporary, but how you respond can have lifelong effects on your child’s diet, eating habits, and tastes. Signs of refusal from our children and our anxieties about our children not eating enough can lead to reaching for bread, processed sugary foods, and a life without those precious greens.

To help you through this period, WeeMunch has come up with a range of questions and ideas to consider before radically altering your child’s diet.

• Is your child teething? That’s often a difficult one to know for sure and can often become an excuse for everything, but is also a valid explanation for fussiness. There are times when their sore mouth may show in a loss of appetite or a desire for liquids over solids. This usually doesn’t last more than a day or two.
• Are you serving the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Or the same foods regularly? There does come a point when our children notice. And, what seems like a disinterest in broccoli is really an interest in more variety!
• Phases: There are many of these in your child’s life. When it comes to foods there are many colours under the rainbow. Picasso went through a blue period, then a rose period. Children sometimes want orange, or green, or red only. Don’t fret. Perhaps this is their way of telling you what their body needs. Just try to keep offering a variety.
• Give up control. Some parents are really afraid of a mess. And, sadly the best way to encourage healthy eating is to allow our children to play and experiment with their food. This isn’t always comfortable for us, and we may worry about “teaching” our children bad manners. But my son has proven time and again that his food refusal is often his way of asserting his independence about wanting to lead the eating process. This doesn’t mean letting them play with food that they are clearly finished eating—that’s different. It’s about striking a balance and teaching respect for food.
• We don’t encourage “hiding” or “disguising” the veggies, so to speak, at WeeMunch. But the first years are foundational for brain, bone and immune system development. We also don’t encourage the use of supplements…but there are some good whole food supplements that can enhance your little one’s diet during prolonged periods of fussiness. Read More
• Never give up. Find healthy alternatives. Don’t make a fuss. If they’re not interested…let it go. Don’t get into preparing a new meal…that will go on forever and encourage fussiness in the long run. They’ll eat a bigger dinner or snack later.

Believe it or not, we don’t have all of the answers. So we’ve interviewed some of our favorite foodie mothers for their stories about working through the fussy phase. Send us your stories. We would love to hear from you.

Leslie Sarracino & Heather Jacobs, Owners / Founders of Graze Organic

Not serving your child new and different foods can lead to food fussiness. Don’t give them just chicken fingers and cheese quesadillas. Lead by example. They’ll eat what you’re eating. You don’t have to wait until they’re older to offer them a variety of foods and tastes. Start right away—when they begin eating solids.

We always include the kids in the preparation and cooking of something new and exotic. They can help with cutting, measuring, even setting the table.

We also have a small vegetable garden and we try to plant something new (not the usual tomatoes & cucumbers). Throw in some kale, beets, etc. If they grow it, they will try it. We promise!

Barbara Schellenberg, Owner of Ethical Kitchen and Controversial Kitchen and Vancouver Chapter Leader of the Weston A. Price Organization

Being fussy is probably something that is going to come and go throughout development. When I set out to feed my daughter, Tessa, I imagined that she would eat what I gave her and that would be that… not quite so, I have discovered that she carries with her a temper, a will and this astonishing inner wisdom and all these things influence how, when and what she is going to eat.

In many cases I do believe fussiness starts with the parent… many parents I notice make decisions on what their child ‘won’t eat’ based on a one time rejection of a certain food. People forget that it takes continued exposure to develop tastes for things that are new to us. In many cases I see children being given convenience food where choices were made by the parents based on whether the particular food is going to make a mess, be sticky, etc. not based on how nourishing it is.

That aside, I notice that the inner healer in my child, or probably in any child, when observed, speaks loud and clear about what is going on inside. I have noticed that when Tessa is teething, she nurses more, she refuses rich foods and sticks exclusively to daikon radishes, celery, light colored fruit and frozen grapes. All very cooling foods for her feverish state.

There are days when she is looking very chubby and obviously in a growing spurt because she is sleeping much more than usual and eating only the richest, fattiest foods she can get her hands on; fatty lamb, butter by the finger-full, cheeses, and always some kombucha or water kefir to balance herself.

Seeing as though she is growing up in a restaurant and is around food all day every day, and with a staff that love her so much, it’s inevitable that she is getting her hands on sweet treats probably more than is optimal. I noticed that sometimes the fussiness is really a true fussiness, not a state of her body wanting to heal itself. There are times now when it is clear that she is rejecting her meal because she would prefer a fresh baked cookie or a morsel of chocolate.

I have to use my own wisdom in acknowledging when she is acting from her inner healer and when she is being truly fussy. Most of the time, however, I find she is happy with a staple of broth, which she has never rejected though at times prefers cold over warm broth; and the freedom to pick and choose what she needs in her state.

I have faith on days when she is excessively fussy that she will eventually get hungry. I don’t follow her around the kitchen with a spoonful of soup and I don’t try and strap her into a highchair until she is finished with her meal. If she won’t eat, I know that she will be hungry later and that eventually she will eat.