Same here! I’ve tried every suggestion I’ve ever gotten from anyone lol My 11 year old only eats like 10 things total including drinks lol
We only cook at home, barely ever go out~ he cooks and help grocery shop too
Def sounds like a texture issue, u sud def look into that, as long as he is eating something try not to worry, hope things get better 
Have him help make the meals. You’re more likely to try something if you helped prepare it.
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Try getting him involved in the cooking. Most kids love to try things they make. Have him choose something he thinks is interesting and make it. It should help him branch out.
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Honestly, I’d just let him eat what he likes. Eventually he’ll grow out of it. Sometimes it’s just not worth the fight, especially with very stubborn kids!
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Maybe some vitamins? I have a picky eater and if she doesn’t want to eat what I cook I will feed her something else. As long as she eats something.
I would get him to help you cook the dinner or get him to choose a recipe and help with it. I think getting kids involved in the kitchen is such a great way for them to be excited about dinner. I have a rule in my house that you don’t have to like all the food on your plate that’s fine we are all human but you do have to try whatever it is atleast 3 times and then you can make your final decision on whether you like it and will eat it or not. Most nights I cook what I know my kids will eat but I always include either a new food or something that they have previously said they don’t like. Taste buds change constantly so you might not have liked something 6 months ago but you might like it now
Does he ever complain about texture? My son had a big issue with texture when he was younger … it took a lot of trial and error to get him to eat good food. Smoothies helped
Let him be. He will eventually eat more. My son started this going into puberty and he’s coming out of it.
My son grew out of being fussy. Try cooking with him so he can see what goes into it
Well I probably would keep him at the table for two days but maybe , offer a reward for trying 1 new thing a week . ,
I’m just sitting here thinking… like as an adult I wouldn’t want to be forced to eat anything that I don’t like. I know how important it is to everyone to eat healthy. But if you aren’t growing your own things and raising and killing your own meat, you are not truly eating healthy anyway. With that being said, feed him and don’t force him. Maybe try to set aside a few meals a week in which you introduce something new to him that he can try, to see if he likes anything else.
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Their taste budds change over time, as long as he eats other meats or fruit, let him but don’t let him go without food for 2 days, that’s literally child abuse in my eyes
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As long as he eats at school he should be fine. Kids are picky. Could always do a healthy smoothie for breakfast or something.
I used to have mine at least try it. I told them if they hated it they didn’t have to eat but to at least try it .
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As long as he’s eating, let it go…. I fought that battle for years and finally a pediatrician told me that as long as he’s healthy and happy, it doesn’t matter. With my son, it’s mainly a texture issue. So I stopped hassling him and he eats what he likes. He’s gradually starting to try new things. But only when I don’t try to make him try things. He was literally throwing up when trying certain foods… It wasn’t healthy and caused stress between me and him and stress in the household in generally and that isn’t healthy for anyone.
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Try new recipes using the things he likes best. Look up ideas together. Hopefully that will introduce other foods he may like. But as long as he’s eating, you’re doing your job.
As he gets older he’ll try more until then hang in there. At least he’s eating something. Can you get him to take vitamins?
Lmao man I’m sorry I’m laughing , it ain funny but soon I read this I was like wow this lady has my 3 year old in the form of a teen, I’m Phucked! Cause I understand the frustration o too well ! My son eats rice tho… but some days he wants rice alone , or French toast alone too …. He can eat pizza 24/7 and cereal ! Noodles and pasta when he’s in the mood ! But I’ve tried everything . Cause my 5 year old was picky but not this picky ! Now he eats everything and loves his veggies ! Hoping to find some helpful comments
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Punishing him is going to make it worse and could cause an ED. Our pediatrician always told us “let her eat what she will, don’t let her gorge on snacks and she’ll eventually try new things”
She’s 11 now and her eating habits have improved to the point that she’s willing to try new foods and has expanded her pallet to now 25 different things.
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Show him what his future looks like, that should be scary enough
Okay, my son is ADHD. He is extremely picky on what he eats. It’s a never ending struggle. He finally started to gain weight when we bought him some Mass Gainer drink mix. You can get it at any supplement giant. its a huge clear jar, just make sure that it has tons of protein and vitamins. Explain to the cashiers what sort of issues you are having with his regular diet. It helps keep weight on them, gives them extra protein and vitamins/minerals, and tastes yummy. My kiddo likes the vanilla and chocolate ones.
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Add a good multivitamin and ride it out
take a break , my son was like that too but he is now a grown up and is making better choices .all you can do is make sure he eats .maby get some good tasting vitamens
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Taste buds change every 5 years. Make him take vitamins after he eats breakfast
Sometimes if you push a kid too hard they will rebel. When my son was little he didn’t want to eat breakfast, my doctor told me to let him have whatever he wanted…pizza, hot dogs etc. As long as he is eating let him be, also try to be creative, I used to make pizza eggs for my son, fry up pepperoni add scrambled eggs and cheese add a dash of oregano.
What is his reaction to new foods does he have sensory problems or autism? Does he go through periods of time when he eats different things outside of his norm.
Just from experience with my little brother…
We was the type of kid to ever ever eat fruit or vegetables. Only ate ice cream and sausages for a good 6 years. Once he was old enough to think for himself he turned into the biggest gym and health nut ever. His now the healthiest out of everyone.
Just let kids be kids and once there old enough to really understand health and why it’s important they’ll start the change their eating habits 
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Talk to your doctor about therapy for oral sensory issues. Children that truly have these issues will literally starve before they eat.
That was my son and you know what, he survived. He now cooks his own food and he’s happy. Punishing for not eating will leave a scar on him for a lifetime, like the time my aunt made me sit at a table for hours cause I couldn’t eat the Chile. 50 years before I attempted Chile again.
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As long as he’s happy and healthy I wouldn’t worry. My son is nearly 8 and has survived on about 3-6 things. I don’t try to force it anymore it was doing more damage…if he wants to try something new then that’s great. If not that’s fine too as long as they eat something.
Try a therapist. He might have underlying issues. If not then I don’t see a problem with letting him eat what he likes.
Start him cooking his own meals
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If he’s eating and his belly is full, why fight it? Get him vitamins that replace what he’s not eating. It won’t be like this forever. Gradually introduce things he doesn’t like, if he doesn’t eat it, then don’t push. Try again in a month.
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My mom had me “at least try it…” with new foods since I was a kid. If I didn’t like it I didn’t have to eat it. But I actually had to chew it and swallow it. Most of the time I wasn’t too fond of whatever it was when it was new but it wasn’t awful and I’d eat it.
Only thing I didn’t like was squash. Something about to slimes texture made me gag.
My 12 year old has a texture aversion and can only eat certain foods. If I try to make him try something that he’s not ready to eat, he will gag. He’s been like this his entire life. I gave up trying to convince him to eat anything, and over time he’s tried new foods on his own. His acceptable foods sometimes change, and I just go with it.
One of my older sons was the same way, and while he will live on chicken sandwiches if left to his own devices, he’ll eat almost anything I cook for him (if I cook for him…he’s 22 now).
Eventually, he’ll grow out of it. Most of the time, it’s being convinced by a friend to try something. I wouldn’t sweat it.
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same but with a 17 year old(my niece that now lives with me, everyone only gave her junk her whole life). i can’t even try to have a conversation explaining why she needs more nutrients than pizza and chicken nuggets. she just cries and throws tantrums if i just try to speak to her and level with her.
If you think about it, his pizza has 4 food groups in it(grain( the crust), vegetables (tomatoe sauce), dairy(the cheese) and protein (the meats). Get him a fortified cereal, and the French toast is covered in eggs.
My Son is the same way. It’s not that he doesn’t like food, he doesn’t like the texture. It’s either too wet or too dry etc. it’s a sensory issue. Maybe your Son has the same. My Son is also high functioning autistic.
Stop trying ! As long as he eats he’s good. If others are judging you tell them to stop,if you are judging yourself stop.
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He’s almost 13. Well beyond trying to force him to eat veggies. Give him some multi vitamins & call it good. 
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Give him a multi vitamin and leave him alone. As long as he’s not severely underweight, he’s fine.
This is how kids that age eat especially boys. Yes serve him what he will eat and give him a vitamin.
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Hes not a toddler.
Hes attempting to control part of his life & learning from it.
Sounds like you need to do a Teenage parenting course. His school would have contacts & resources.
You control the food that goes into the house.
His brain is rapidly & unevenly. Soon, he’ll sleep from midnight to midday
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There are these awesome vitamins that are veggie and fruit and packed full of 3 servings a piece or something cool like that my best friend used them with her kids!
There’s also superfood greens powder you can get at Walmart and sneak it into milkshakes the eggs for the French toast everything
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You could try make your pizza nights. With cauliflower crust etc.
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When we were growing up on farm mom put the food on the table and we ate it and no one complained.y
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Wait a while hell start to wanna try new foods but the more u push the more hell reject I have a 12 yr old
Living on the farm we could butcher a hog or a beef, grew our own potatoes and vegetables. We ate pretty good.
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Act like he’s a toddler. Sneak veggies into things, like blend spinach into pizza sauce etc. Maybe make bribes or positive reinforcement for eating new things. And negative consequences for not. Take away his phone, cancel his plans, extra chores, etc. Maybe try having him help cook dinner and have him do most of it so he can experiment more?
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Umm That’s normal for teenage boys. My son is the same way, and he’s just fine
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Give him some ingredients and tell him to make a meal that he would eat give him a variety of veggies and meat to choose from
Let him eat what he wants, I agree with previous comments and give him a multi vitamin. In the not too distant future, he will be eating you out of house and home…not to mention out growing his clothes and shoes. Hang in there.
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My son is soon to be 9 and has been like this for what feels like forever. He is happy to have vitamin gummies etc V8 juices but wont come at a veggie or piece of fruit. He is happy healthy and growing once i stopped stressing about it ,he will randomly ask to try something new now like coconut water, egg, etc:face_vomiting: lol he will snack from the time his eyes open until they close. Stress less, his school knows he wont eat fruit at fruit times so he is allowed cheese 
good luck give yourself a break 
Honestly as someone on the spectrum who didn’t know I was until my adult years, sensory issues to foods are definitely a thing. I was picky when I was younger and although I’m open to more foods I never really grew out of being picky. I think we all have preferences and I think it’s good to try to make the likable foods as healthy as possible and have alternatives when the family may want something different. I to this day would rather starve than eat certain things bc they just still gross me out lol. They could taste amazing but if the texture feels weird I cannot 
I give my baby a multivitamin to make sure he gets everything he needs also!
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Let him eat wheat he wants, give him vitamins.
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Dont buy bad foods only health food. They will eat when they are hunrgy. Make it so ur house has no junk food in it at all.
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My children at that age wouldn’t eat a salad, onions or veggies, let them eat what they want give them vitamins, pretty soon they will start eating other stuff. Now my children eat nothing but salads, hardly junk food, healthy diets. Pick your wars momma as they are coming, this isn’t one of them
I was the same way when i was a kid. Does he have any neurodivergence? that might be a part of the problem, those are his safe foods.
Get him Centrum for teens and don’t stress about it. Some people just won’t/don’t eat a variety of foods. As long as he’s getting the vitamins and minerals he needs to be healthy, let him eat what he likes. He may expand his tastes later on.
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Then feed him that?? Easy 
better than trying to guess what everyone wants for dinner every night lol
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I guess im wayyyy off here…but ground his ass. Take shit away privileges…phone…games stuff like that he cant just not eat for two days because he wants to throw a fit about the food YOU buy…if all else fails he isnt too old to be snached up but thats just how i parent! yall dont attack me if you dont like what im saying move on its facebook:woman_shrugging:
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My son is 20 and hasn’t grown out of this stage yet. We literally have to lie to him about veggie burgers (told him they were turkey) and process veggies in sauces and gravy so he can’t taste them. He would rather buy his own fast food junk than eat what is prepared at home.
Take him to charity, its an eye opener, let him hand out food to those who dont have, he should understand that he is so fortunate to have enough food to eat, there’s millions of people around the world starving, n kids need to learn this from a young age, u grew up hungry so i taught my kids the same way, they are not allowed to be wasteful, if they dont finish their lunch in school, they will finish it for supper. Parents are way to easy going now, my kids eat mostly all veggies coz they are trained from Lil, so if he is behaving this way that means he had it easy going and knows which of ur buttons to press, time to give the kid a reality check, hope it helps
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I really don’t get people that will starve their kids… like… really?
Keep offering things, if his health is fine then… I mean…
We’ve done a food ladder thing but… I mean… meh…
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I started mine from young ages with ul eat what ur given, however I myself am a pretty picky eater because of textures. A multivitamin should do the trick but if it bothers u start stuffing his chicken with rice cheese and the head of broccoli not the stem part in minue amounts, make him pizzas with finely diced veggies and put it in the sauce, ask him if he’s willing 2 try some rice crispys with a banana blueberries or strawberries cut into it or as a side with his toast.
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Look up ARFID symptoms/diagnosis. 
Has he been checked for autism? It could be Asperger’s!
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This sounds like undiagnosed sensory processing disorder or ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder)… Possibly autism. Just give him what he likes an a multivitamin and probiotic. Don’t punish him for it. Because if he does have one of the aforementioned disorders, you’ll feel terrible for punishing something he can’t control.
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My little bro only ate sausages, hot dogs, chicken nuggets/strips, bread, buns, fries, chips popcorn till he was 19…. He finally started trying new things and will eat everything but fruits now.
I use to pay him to try food all the time! $20 to try ketchup!!!
His 20th birthday, I got him trying dry ribs, hot wings ect I think the drinks helped and I’m like wow kid, and I didn’t even have to pay you and he goes…… Well your not my only source of income now! 
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Got a great grandson very picky eater until he reach 13 now he eats everything in sight they out grow that stage
I’ve never heard of starving a child to get them to eat, that just seams wrong to me. Get him vitamins to supplement his diet and keep him active. Don’t ever starve a child.
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Sounds like a sensory problem.
Something I noticed about these eating issues is that they mostly happen in situations where there is a income livel where the kids can eat pizza or other takeout or easy to fix foods. Due to limited income (single parent) I cooked frequently, simple but nutritious foods and rarely ordered take out or ate at restaurants. My kids were allowed to say they did not like one or two food choices but knew to eat what was prepared for them if they were hungry. Another thing is to not reinforce the eating problem by not paying much attention to it
There is frequently attention getting behavior or secondary issues like fighting for control that goes on in families where eating disorders or other problems related to food exist. And yes I was a nurse therapist for 15 years as well as a parent
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We have a young man that comes to chill out with grandson and that is about the same things he will eat. As long as he is healthy let him be. He’ll come around
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Sensory issue possibly?
Time.Sounds like me when I was 12,by 20 I was a vegan.I still tap out at okra.
All he needs to add is a green veggie.
Let him eat what he wants…he will grow out of it…and leaving him to sleep at the kitchen table for 2 days without eating? What kind of nut are you???
Have you talked to his doctor about food aversions or sensory issues? My son has both and there arw certain textures/tastes that he litterally cant eat. And he will refuse until he is sick. I make 1 meal for our family but i take those things into consideration when doing so.
I think at 13 years old children are at the beginning of being a teenager. You need to pick your battles carefully. You son will eat when he gets hungry. If your a controlling parent you might want to hold back. Teenagers are a different breed if you push to hard they will pull the opposite way Teenager are trying to find their own way and parents want to hold them tight so make it a happy medium and it will work out
This sounds like it could be a sensory issue my son was exactly the same in the end we would make a meal like curry, put a bit on his plate but also put some of what he likes so a few nuggets or something and the rule was he had to do 3 try’s of the new food if after 3 try’s he still didn’t like it we didn’t give it him again (mine would only eat beige food) we also got him to help cook and we started making our own nuggets and our own pizzas with him x he now eats quite well still days where he goes back to beige but not afraid of trying new things anymore xx
Try dripping and bread or jam that was my diet
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I get my sons to eat better? - Mamas Uncut
My daughter was the same way, ate only certain things, it’s quite frustrating to say the least. I bought her vitamins to make sure she got her daily intake where she ate certain things. Her doctor told me to let her eat what she wants just not overload on sweets which she never has. I got her, her own jar of peanut butter to get protein as well as chicken which is her staple. She does try other foods but only when she wants to, I do no t force her to. Now she is more willing to try things, whether she likes it or not at least she tried. Taste buds develop and change as we get older. As long as he’s healthy. Just let him decide on his own what and when to try things. Best of luck.
Be glad he eats. If it’s not what you prepare he should fix his own.
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You can make lots of different dishes with chicken.Try using whole grain cereal n bread. Make your own pizza. Give chewable vitamins. They will eventually try something new.
Have you tried letting them shop for ingredients and cook together? Sometimes when they are active participants in the process which can be lots of fun, they are more likely to enjoy it! Good luck!
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My daughter is the same way. When they are ready to try new things they will. Any food is better than no food. 
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It’s hard now that’s hes 13. This should have been change from when he first started eating… now he knows what he likes. Im 27 and I only eat a few things becuase as a kid I got to eat what I wanted now im sooo picky its not even funny. I’m a grown up and can’t force myself to eat right I try every week. I have three kids and from 6montjs on I made sure to feed them veggies and fruit and chicken before anything else now they are 2-3-7 and eat everything I put infront of them. When they would refuse food I’d say no snacks and nothing but water to drink. And save there plates if they got hungry they would have to finish what I made.
Stop buying the junk for every day. The only way to make him try new things is to only serve new things. Its a power struggle. Remember who is in charge. And sorry but u created this early in his childhood. Good luck!
The problem is that you are only just now tackling the problem. It is something that should have been cultivated since they were young. That being said. I would advise some parenting books. It also does not help for you to stress over this. Good or bad attention, children want it but they don’t do it on purpose. Too much to explain here. Invest in some good parenting books or classes.
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Yep, if the foods not in the house, he can’t eat it
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As long as he is eating, i don’t see a real problem. He will eventually start trying other foods later. Give him a vitamin daily. Fighting to get him to eat something you want him to eat isn’t good for either of you.
Make the foods he will eat as healthy as possible. Cauliflower crust pizza with veggies, whole grain bread French toast with fruit, boneless, skinless chicken grilled not fried, etc
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In this was you only teach him being stubborn. My son refuses to eat different things since two and I did the same mistake. If he is healthy be sure that he is not hungry and taking enough energy to grow. And make his favorite food as healthy as you can and put fruits and dried fruits, nuts in his daily intake. Everything will be fine. Teaching him to cook may help but it’s not certain. Only threat him as if he is an adult and respect his own decisions and explain him what healthy foods are and what happens if he doesn’t eat any. Then you can ask him if he wants he can pick one healthy food once in a week to try. But don’t force. Show him that he can make his decisions and you respect him. Don’t expect him to change in a second. But in this way you at least can make him less stubborn.
Thats a teenage boy for you lol my 13 yr old used to be picky. Their pallet changes every so often. Be glad he’s eating its not worth the fight. I just got my son more involved in cooking that way he could pick out what he wanted so he ate it he also takes gummie vitamins and protein shakes. I wouldn’t worry to much
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I am the same way. I am 33 years, one thing we did was drinks and also vitamins. I still have a hard time with food. I understand it is hard but there may be more to it.