It reminds of the regional German word schnäkelig¹ "dainty, fastidious, fussy (when eating)", and the region (Palatinate) fits to the origins of Pennsylvania Dutch. Of course, when your child is like that, you may have a lot of conflicts.
--elbowin
¹ Look here for a map of schnäkelig in the German speaking countries:
https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/runde-3/f09b/