Refusing food based on esthetics

[Tweakster]

'I don't like how it looks'

Example, I made homemade applesauce, nice organic apples, took the time to peel and make it in the crockpot, I even used some sucanat to sweeten it for him and cinnamon.  The cinnamon turned it dark and brown.  'I don't like it, it's brown'. 'Yes because it's nice and fresh and homemade and cinnamon made it brown'. 'I don't like the brown one'

Arrgh!  He's getting so hard to feed these days because he refuses everything based on looks.

I guess this is more a rant but did your kid go through this and if so, how do you get around it?

[Shiv52]

At that age we had a 'just taste it' rule and discussed how it was silly to say you didn't like something when you hadn't tasted it.  Majority of the time she ended up liking it.

Mega frustrating when you go to the effort to make something and they can't even be bothered tasting it!  sunday past i made a roast dinner for M to declare she didn't like the chicken or the potato and the carrot and broccoli was 'stinkin''.  She did like the water though.  ugh!

[Texomamama]

Wow, that is so weird, I made that exact same dish yesterday for a party at my house.  Even used the crock pot too

Finn is right, it is not the most appealing looking thing.  I made it ala mode and added a little bit of vanilla ice cream to get my 4 yo to eat it.  It was very yummy.

[Peek-a-boo]

I think it's just a power thing, yk?  Have you read French Kids Eat Everything?  I loved its approach to picky eaters.    Great read if your library has it. 

[my3girlsjde]

D won't eat puffed wheat cereal with cinnamon on it because it has "black spots" After a week she finally tried it and she liked it but just another example of not liking how it looks.

Enter the mother who is driving herself nuts with presentation ideas. Would he eat the applesauce off of a plate if you put it on in the shape of a smiley face? D wasn't a fan of sandwiches but I dug out the play-doh cutters and made stars and the rest of it into shapes and she ate the works of it.

Silly lo's.............don't they know how hard we work not to feed them cr@p???

Hugs

[Nauvoo]

I can totally understand where he is coming from.  We made apple juice the other day with a new apple press DH made and it looked different than the store bought stuff and I just couldn't drink it, because it looked different.  I'm kind of like that though.  If my food looks different than what I think it should look then I've already made up my mind that I don't want to eat it.  And if I try it, it always tastes different, not the same, not as good.

[Tweakster]

Lol Nauvoo you'd fit right in with my boys - they are both like that, DH at nearly 39. 

Vicki - I had totally forgotten about presentation!  I made a smiley face with the applesauce (with some 'raspberries hair' lol) and sure enough, he couldn't stop himself from sticking his fingers in and destroying it, then licking them thus eating my sauce lol. And he said 'the black one is yummy' (the colour has now gone from brown to black in his mind lol)

I guess there's not much to do but continue to offer and confirm that if you want applesauce, you'll eat what is made because we're not buying store bought junk.

I looove cloudy apple juice too!  DH and I used to drink a Hohes C apple juice in Germany which was nearly like cider and so yummy! 

[my3girlsjde]

My next one will be numbers, especially the number five because they hate being four and want to be five Every chance they get they want that number so why not?

Glad to hear he tried it.

Even my texture and taste aversion dh tried a lunch that he otherwise would have skipped because the girls made it and left him a note on it. Presentation is key