Question – How to add variety in my fussy son’s diet?
My son, age 11 months, has turned out to be a bit of a fussy eater. For instance, one taste of a meal with garlic in it and he spits it up and he is not that keen on tomato based dishes… this is annoying to say the least, as a lot of our favourite meals include garlic and tomatoes. However, he does love potatoes, meat and most vegetables… just plain, plain, plain. He’s not a fan of cheese either (a bit grated mixed in he’ll eat). He does like barley e.g. the beef and barley pot supper or barley risottos and will eat risotto rice… maybe it’s a texture thing rather than taste? So most days he gets potatoes with different vegetables… is this OK? Is it varied enough? Plus it’s a bit limiting for my husband and I as we eat the same thing and I don’t really have time to go making separate meals for him. I would welcome any thoughts or suggestions.
Answer:
I expect many mums will be envious of you having a son who is keen on vegetables, plain or not. However it is frustrating to have a child who isn’t keen on the usual family meals. Garlic does have a strong flavour, and this may be putting your son off. Children have a much more sensitive sense of taste than adults, which may be why babies are happy to gobble up baby rice that adults would consider to be much too bland to swallow. You might try cooking a smaller dish of a family meal for your son at the same time as you make yours, using all the same ingredients but omitting the garlic. If you can eat some with your son, that might also help to encourage him.
I’m pleased that he is having a variety of vegetables, and you mention that meat is not a problem so I assume he is enjoying a range of foods from this food group too. It seems that he is happy to eat a number of different starchy carbohydrate foods, though potato is the usual one. I would encourage you to offer him a variety of foods from this group, both to expand the range of foods he enjoys and because some contain slightly different nutrients to others. Apart from potatoes, the starchy carbohydrate foods are almost all grains, from common ones like wheat and rice (in all their forms) to those less commonly eaten, such as barley, quinoa, millet or buckwheat. Your son probably already eats bread made from wheat, but could also try couscous or pasta as more ‘dinner’-type options. As well as risotto rice, which he already enjoys, he might like the nutty taste of brown rice. You could also try sweet potato in place of potato – it’s lovely mashed with a squeeze of fresh orange juice.
There’s no harm in offering the grain foods plain to start with – my younger son prefers plain pasta, rice and couscous to any with a sauce. Try them as an accompaniment to meat and vegetables, just as you would put potatoes on the plate. Most grain foods, such as quinoa or pasta can also be cooled and presented as a salad, maybe with chopped cucumber, sweetcorn kernels and tinned salmon or tuna mixed in. Offering a cold rather than a hot evening meal, particularly as the weather turns warmer, might encourage him to try something new. As a bonus, increasing the variety of starchy carbohydrate foods may encourage your son to experiment with other tastes and textures, hopefully leading to all of you enjoying the same, more adult, family meals.