I think most parents hope their child is a “good eater who will try anything.” Yet, this ideal often clashes with reality when it comes to feeding toddlers and young children. Our little ones naturally crave more independence and question decisions made for them – including the foods they’re served! This manifests as “picky eating”, leaving us parents feeling hopeless and frustrated.
As a pediatric dietitian and mom of three, I fully relate to this struggle. But there is hope! Let me guide you through my top tips on how to encourage your child to embrace a wider variety of foods – including what to do (and what to avoid).
Lead by example
As a parent, you have significant influence over your child’s eating habits and relationship with food. The foods you eat, your language around food, and the food you serve at home greatly impact how your child interacts with food and approaches eating.
Seems like a lot of pressure, right? So my best tip is don’t overthink it. Aim to be relaxed at meal times, enjoying a variety of foods with your family at the table. Instead of putting any pressure on your child to eat something, instead facilitate food exploration by asking questions like “What do you think it looks like on the inside?”. Encourage your child to use their five senses when exploring new foods on their plate, and avoid coercing them to put it in their mouth if they aren’t ready. Avoid seemingly harmless comments like “Mmm this is so yummy…” if it’s not genuine and is intended to put pressure on your child to try the food.
Create a pressure-free environment
Speaking of pressure…expose your child to different foods, but respect their preferences and appetite. Pressuring them to eat something they don’t like can backfire and make them less willing to try new foods in the future. Creating a relaxed and positive eating environment is a great place to start!
Kids are only able to feel truly relaxed and open to trying new foods when they feel a sense of trust and safety in their mealtime environment. This means creating a pressure-free atmosphere where their autonomy to decide whether and how much they eat is respected. As the feeder, parents have the responsibility to establish boundaries regarding what foods are offered, when they are offered, and where meals take place.
Parents may feel uneasy “loosening the reigns” on getting their child to eat more or try new foods at the table. But in reality, when boundaries are respected between the feeder and eater, mealtime struggles often see immediate improvement!
Include them in meal planning and preparation
Involving your child in meal planning and preparation can be a game-changer! It helps to fill their growing need for autonomy and independence when they are allowed to make that simple choice between two different food options.
From pouring and mixing to chopping with kid-friendly knives (if age-appropriate), your child will be thrilled to help you cook a meal for their family! It will take a bit of extra time (and likely extra mess), but even simple tasks like sprinkling herbs and spices into a dish, are a positive sensory experience with food that impacts what they will be motivated to eat and enjoy in the long run.
Seeing food slowly change from its original form to cooked form, observing the shape, appearance, texture, and aroma transform can be especially helpful for kids highly sensitive to sensory stimuli. The gradual exposure helps to reduce the chances of sensory overload.
Another option is to offer an informal “taste test” before sitting down to eat, providing a less intimidating exposure to the food before they are presented with it on their plate at the table.
Get creative and make it fun!
Switching up how food is prepared and served can improve the chances that your child will try a previously rejected food. Try serving meals family-style, letting them dish out their portions, or create “build-your-own” meals like tacos or pizzas, where they can choose their own toppings.
Offering a variety of dipping sauces on the side can help spice things up – who says carrots can’t go with ketchup? Another trick is using fun little food picks to pick up pieces of food, or cutting foods into playful shapes to make eating more enjoyable.
Consider sensory food exploration activities that create fun around food outside of meal times, which is often less intimidating. For example, you could make sensory bins filled with rice and dried beans mixed with your child’s toys, or cut a bell pepper in half to use as a ship filled with baby “carrot people.” Ultimately, making food fun adds to positive experiences around eating, even if your child is not quite ready to try it yet!
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Plant a vegetable or herb garden
Planting a home-grown vegetable or herb garden with the help of your little one is both a rewarding and educational way to have them interact with food! From choosing the seeds to digging in the dirt, planting, and watering the sprouts, your child will develop a sense of ownership and connection to the veggies that they’re growing.
Not only does this hands-on activity teach them about where their food comes from, it also improves the chances that they might taste the fruits (or rather, veggies) of their labor! Watching seeds sprout into vibrant plants and eventually harvesting fresh produce together will create lasting memories that will ultimately strengthen their connection to food (and family!).
Avoid using food as a reward or punishment
Using food in this way can instill unhealthy attitudes toward eating, associating certain foods with emotions rather than nourishment. When food is used as a reward, it puts the reward food on a pedestal, making your child want it that much more. On the other hand, using food as punishment can cause negative associations with certain foods.
Instead, lean into food neutrality, where all food is considered equal in their moral value, and kids are not “good” or “bad” for eating certain foods. Create positive associations with food by emphasizing how eating a food makes the body feel, and how food provides enjoyment and pleasure. This perspective will help children develop a well-adjusted and healthy relationship with food as they grow.
Bottom Line
If you are a parent of a young child, you know patience and persistence is key! The same goes for introducing new food…Just because something is on their “ick list” today doesn’t mean they won’t embrace it in the future. So, keep offering those veggies, fruits, and new flavors – you never know when they might make their way onto your child’s accepted food list!
Kids are constantly evolving, and as they grow and mature, so do their taste buds and confidence levels around food. By maintaining a pressure-free approach and consistently offering a variety of foods, you’re laying the groundwork for them to become adventurous little eaters.