Need HELP with my picky eaters

Ok so my girls rarely will eat dinner, I may have posted about it before, but its STILL driving me nuts. They refuse to try anything new, ask for mac and cheese every night, and if I try to sneak veggies into anything they will spit them out as soon as they go into there mouth. I really don't know what to do anymore. I moved there dinnertime to 6 (from 5-530) but it can't be any later since they go to bed by 730. I NEED help with this, they complain about being hungry up until the time I put food in front of them, then nothing, maybe a bite or 2 UNLESS it's mac and cheese then they eat every last bite. Any idea's? Oh and Abbie is allergic to peanut butter, white fish, soy, egg whites and a few other things (but those are the main ones) so a lot of those quick easy ideas are out (SO much contains soy!) I need food they will eat, and I need them to eat veggies because they just wont! I feel like they are so unhealthy

 

This is the age where I started serving one meal for dinner and that was it. I was scared at first, but it worked!!

I wish I could remember the name of the book I read, Ill try to look it up and post later. Anyway the gist was that as a parent your job is to provide 3 meals and 2 snacks everyday at consistent times. It is the kids job to eat and they will not starve!

So, you make a dinner and offer them whatever they like from the evenings choices. The key is to always offer something you know they will eat - bread and butter, or maybe a few forkfuls of Mac and cheese. My kids have to have one bite of everything before they get up. They can spit it out in a napkin if they don't like it, but they have to try. Remember that food has to be offered sometimes up to 18 times before a kid will eat it.

I would also make sure there is a good 3 hours between snack and meal time. How much milk and juice are they drinking, that may be filling them up.

You could involve them in the cooking process - adding toppings to an english muffin pizza. Get very dull knives and let them spread stuff. Use creative dips. Search creative toddler meals on google. Also, make meal time about something other than eating. Sing songs, tell them a story about when you were a little girl.

good luck!!

 

Do you make home made mac and cheese? If not, I recommend you find a good, healthy recipe and start with that. At least you can make the mac-and-cheese better (whole wheat pasta, lowfat cottage cheese- this is some of what I use in mine); once they accept a healthier version, you can become a little braver- I've added spinach to my cottage cheese and milk mixture-puree it, then add, and you can't even taste it!
I just bought the cookbook "Deceptively Delicious", and she adds a cauliflower puree to her mac-n-cheese. I haven't done that yet, but it's next.
My boys are often persuaded into eating thier veggies if I sray them with that "can't believe it's not butter" spray...sometimes I add a little salt, or parm cheese...something that gives the illusion, I've just done something to make it BETTER!

 

Uugh, I dealt with the soy allergy with my kids, too, so I know how hard that is! Fortunately, my kids LOVED veggies. My little trick to get them in well was I pretended frozen veggies from the freezer were a great treat. We'd pull them out and eat them as a snack...and they loved it. And to this day they love it as a snack so much that I don't worry about them eating the veggie with their meal. I think pp gave you a good idea about healthing up your mac and cheese. I hope it works for you :hug:

 

I have dealt with over three years fussy eating (would eat anything when they were little). So have the mac and cheese once or twice a week like u normally would then the other days give them the normal dinner whatever you are having and put in the middle of table something they'd like chopped up fruit, bread etc.. I know its hard but not making a deal of it, if they ask for mac and cheese, just we're not having that tonite. Then after dinner if dessert if fruit or yogurt just go ahead, its ur job to offer healthy food and its there's to choose what they want to eat (read that somewhere), so lots of nights my girls would have friuit and yog for dinner, I did ask them to try the food just once and if didn't like could spit out. oh and maybe a multi vitamin for if they're not getting all the right nutrients.

I've just found now about the last six months (so age 5 yikes), they've started to eat more and more variety, the last 3 times they've eaten fajitas with onions/peppers etc.. lasagna, meat balls, we sit there shocked. So just keep going if u can and try not to make an issue if at all possible as it just causes more of a tug of war.