7 ms·

One of my sons is a very picky eater and he has a strong aversion to certain food textures. Some foods we can get him to eat by being insistent. But with some

One of my sons is a very picky eater and he has a strong aversion to certain food textures. Some foods we can get him to eat by being insistent. But with some types of food it's pointless. He will try them if we are insistent enough, but it makes him gag and regurgitate. His one year younger brother eats pretty much anything, so I don't think it has anything to do with us being too lenient.

_ph_ 7y ago
Have you tried preparing your own smoothies? If you can find main components your son likes, it is a great way to add some additional ingredients for nutritional balance to it. I do this myself - I found out that a lot of vegetables and fruits I would not bother to eat by themselves blend well together in a smoothie.
- richrichardsson 7y ago
  My son has had a bit of an issue with texture for the last year; he'll spit out his food as soon as he feels something in addition to the pasta he's eating for instance, but blend it all up into a sauce and no problem. Thankfully it seems to just be a "stage", as it appears to be improving as he gets older.
- iraldir 7y ago
  This might be defeating the point. I guess the reason here is not just to have nutrients but also to give them good habits for their adult life. Otherwise you could just give them soylent or something and be done with it. NB: Not a parent yet so don't take anything I say to seriously.
  - _ph_ 7y ago
    Well, there is a difference between just eating an artificial supplement and preparing the "rejected" food in a different way. It isn't about hiding the component, but bringing it in a desirable form.
ollie87 7y ago
I was a bit like this as a kid, the way it was solved was to involve me more in the cooking process. From the age of about 13 I cooked most of my own meals, now love to cook. Growing up I used to watch episodes of The Naked Chef too which helped, because as a 10 year old kid Jamie Oliver at the time seemed like a cool guy.
- mcv 7y ago
  Letting kids help with cooking works very well. Food that you prepared yourself always tastes better than when someone else did it. Kids get exposed to learning a useful skill, and they eat better. The only downside is that parents have to adapt their usual cooking routine.
- jakobegger 7y ago
  People always point that out like it was a magic solution. My son will totally help me cook a meal and then refuse to eat it.
rubber_duck 7y ago
My brother was similar - he would gag and pretend to vomit when parents made him eat something he didn't like. One day parents left him with me for the weekend. I told him he could eat the beans I made (something he would never eat usually) or he could stay hungry I didn't care - took him like 30 seconds to start eating - difference was he knew I was serious and he couldn't get anything else. He cried to mom about it when they got back etc. but still no vomiting when he had to eat it :)
mcv 7y ago
My dad has an aversion to some food textures, and I think nearly everyone does to some extent. As long as you don't have an aversion to all food textures, it shouldn't be too hard to find reasonable alternatives.
phs318u 7y ago
> But with some types of food it's pointless. He will try them if we are insistent enough, but it makes him gag and regurgitate. Ha. That never stopped my mother. Her approach (in the 70's mind), was, "You won't eat it your lunch? Fine, you'll get it again at dinner (cold). You won't eat it at dinner? Go to bed hungry, and you can have it for breakfast in the morning". I learned to suppress my gag reflex. My sister learned to smuggle food out in her pockets and dispose of it in the garden. Then I hit puberty and for the life of me couldn't remember why I was being so fussy. I ate everything over four meals a day. When I became a parent we both swore we wouldn't do that to our kids. We were sensitive to the fact kids often don't like strong flavours, or certain textures, and the only rule we had was, if you didn't eat a minimum of veg and fruit, you'd get no "treats" (which were always doled out in small quantities). The kids are now adults and have a good sense of what a healthy diet is.
- raverbashing 7y ago
  Thanks for exemplifying how parents can deal with the issue while being not too lenient nor too strict.
orev 7y ago
Obviously there can be extreme cases where these things can be classed as an actual disorder, but I think that in most cases gagging is a result of the fight, the stress, and the kid psyching themselves up so much that it causes a reaction, not because there’s a legitimate issue such as an actual mental or physical disorder. They know that the more of a fuss they make, the more likely the parents will give in and provide chicken nuggets instead. Also, you need to decide at what point you’re going to have that fight as a parent — because you will be having that fight. So you need to decide if it’s better the drag it out and let them get more set in their ways, or spend maybe a few weeks in hell and then finally be done with it. It’s not going the get easier if you wait until they’re in middle school.

_ph_ 7y ago

Have you tried preparing your own smoothies? If you can find main components your son likes, it is a great way to add some additional ingredients for nutritional balance to it. I do this myself - I found out that a lot of vegetables and fruits I would not bother to eat by themselves blend well together in a smoothie.

richrichardsson 7y ago
My son has had a bit of an issue with texture for the last year; he'll spit out his food as soon as he feels something in addition to the pasta he's eating for instance, but blend it all up into a sauce and no problem. Thankfully it seems to just be a "stage", as it appears to be improving as he gets older.
iraldir 7y ago
This might be defeating the point. I guess the reason here is not just to have nutrients but also to give them good habits for their adult life. Otherwise you could just give them soylent or something and be done with it. NB: Not a parent yet so don't take anything I say to seriously.
- _ph_ 7y ago
  Well, there is a difference between just eating an artificial supplement and preparing the "rejected" food in a different way. It isn't about hiding the component, but bringing it in a desirable form.

ollie87 7y ago

I was a bit like this as a kid, the way it was solved was to involve me more in the cooking process. From the age of about 13 I cooked most of my own meals, now love to cook. Growing up I used to watch episodes of The Naked Chef too which helped, because as a 10 year old kid Jamie Oliver at the time seemed like a cool guy.

mcv 7y ago
Letting kids help with cooking works very well. Food that you prepared yourself always tastes better than when someone else did it. Kids get exposed to learning a useful skill, and they eat better. The only downside is that parents have to adapt their usual cooking routine.
jakobegger 7y ago
People always point that out like it was a magic solution. My son will totally help me cook a meal and then refuse to eat it.

rubber_duck 7y ago

My brother was similar - he would gag and pretend to vomit when parents made him eat something he didn't like. One day parents left him with me for the weekend. I told him he could eat the beans I made (something he would never eat usually) or he could stay hungry I didn't care - took him like 30 seconds to start eating - difference was he knew I was serious and he couldn't get anything else. He cried to mom about it when they got back etc. but still no vomiting when he had to eat it :)

mcv 7y ago

My dad has an aversion to some food textures, and I think nearly everyone does to some extent. As long as you don't have an aversion to all food textures, it shouldn't be too hard to find reasonable alternatives.

phs318u 7y ago

> But with some types of food it's pointless. He will try them if we are insistent enough, but it makes him gag and regurgitate. Ha. That never stopped my mother. Her approach (in the 70's mind), was, "You won't eat it your lunch? Fine, you'll get it again at dinner (cold). You won't eat it at dinner? Go to bed hungry, and you can have it for breakfast in the morning". I learned to suppress my gag reflex. My sister learned to smuggle food out in her pockets and dispose of it in the garden. Then I hit puberty and for the life of me couldn't remember why I was being so fussy. I ate everything over four meals a day. When I became a parent we both swore we wouldn't do that to our kids. We were sensitive to the fact kids often don't like strong flavours, or certain textures, and the only rule we had was, if you didn't eat a minimum of veg and fruit, you'd get no "treats" (which were always doled out in small quantities). The kids are now adults and have a good sense of what a healthy diet is.

raverbashing 7y ago
Thanks for exemplifying how parents can deal with the issue while being not too lenient nor too strict.

orev 7y ago

Obviously there can be extreme cases where these things can be classed as an actual disorder, but I think that in most cases gagging is a result of the fight, the stress, and the kid psyching themselves up so much that it causes a reaction, not because there’s a legitimate issue such as an actual mental or physical disorder. They know that the more of a fuss they make, the more likely the parents will give in and provide chicken nuggets instead. Also, you need to decide at what point you’re going to have that fight as a parent — because you will be having that fight. So you need to decide if it’s better the drag it out and let them get more set in their ways, or spend maybe a few weeks in hell and then finally be done with it. It’s not going the get easier if you wait until they’re in middle school.