Am I too soft with my picky eater and is it just a modern problem?

As a picky eating advisor, I love sharing my knowledge. Often when I post publicly, I get responses from older people who say things like ‘in my day we just had to eat what was served’ or ‘if you didn’t eat, you just went hungry’.

I am sure as the parent of a picky eater you have heard all sorts of comments that range from unhelpful to guilt-inducing. Part of the problem is that when we hear these things, sometimes our inner insecurity kicks in and we wonder — even if it is just for a few minutes — about whether there is some truth in what others say.

What would happen if we were a bit more ‘old school’ and just served dinner and said ‘take it or leave it?’ I know many of the parents I work with have done periods when they do test this. Dealing with fussy eating can be soul destroying and often creates a desperation for us to fix it come what may. Even though things may go against our gut instinct, we try them anyway.

However, anything that does not sit well is usually not a fit for our family. Yes, resolving picky eating may require energy, change and some things that are a challenge, but it should not make us feel as though we are doing the wrong thing by our child.

Let us look at some of the more ‘old school’ tactics and see whether there is something…