Frustrated with picky eating? You may have noticed your toddler or older child start to say “no” to foods they used to eat. It can feel so defeating. Whether you’ve just started your solids journey or you’re deep in ‘three-ager’ fussy eating, there are plenty of things you can do to help your little ones get through the ‘fussy’ phase.
Picky eating is so common, particularly for toddlers and preschoolers, perhaps, even with adolescents. Feeding toddlers and kids is hard. You haven’t failed as a parent just because you have a picky toddler or child!
Millions of parents come to us every day needing support. It’s stressful, when your toddler is not eating or your child is refusing foods they have always eaten!
Below are are my top 8 tips – tried and tested with my own children. Some you may have heard before; others may surprise you.
1. Don’t (always) Hide Your Veggies
Yes, there are some great ‘hidden veggie’ recipes. And I get you! You want your little ones to ‘just have some’ of that veggie and it can be so challenging. But if we always hide vegetables, children will never get a chance to learn what they really look and taste like. So do keep (also?) serving some steamed or boiled broccoli/asparagus with your children’s meals. They may just surprise you one day and take to it.
2. Say, “You Can Eat it When You’re Ready”
“I no eat.” “I don’t want it.” “That’s disgusting.”
Toddlers and older kids love to tell you their opinions about meal options. It’s easy to jump into the fight with them and force them to eat a certain amount. But, doing so can make them more picky.
Instead, you can say, “You can eat it when you’re ready.”
Have your child stay at the table for an age-appropriate amount of time, and then let them get down. Sometimes kids just aren’t hungry, and that’s okay. The kitchen will open again soon (see tip three!), and one meal isn’t going to outweigh the variety of food she eats in a week.
Just do yourself and your child one favor. Make sure you put at least one food they usually like on the table. That way, there is something they can eat.
3. Don’t Get Stuck with ‘Baby Food’ for Too Long
Some people think babies just need to eat some pureed vegetables and that’s it. In fact, after the first few weeks of weaning, I’d encourage you to start introducing a wider variety of balanced meals including pulses, meat, fish, vegetables and different starchy foods. This is a key stage of babies’ development. Before the little ones turn 1, they should also move away from pureed food into bite sized food, as the practice of chewing is crucial for speech development. Also worth noting — there are certain foods unsuitable for babies under 1.
4. Limit Pouch Usage
This is a controversial one. Pouches do have a place in many families’ lives because they can last without refrigeration for so long. However, I’ve had many conversations with parents who want help to “wean the baby off pouches”. Pouches’ sweet taste and soft texture can discourage young children to like fresh vegetables and ‘real food’. Ideally, keep them for emergencies.
5. Don’t Use Compartmented Plates
This is another one you don’t often hear about — and one I’m personally quite frustrated with. Many children don’t like their foods to ‘touch each other’ or be mixed. My personal view is that these plates don’t help. Instead, consider serving ‘mixed food’ from the get-go and in one plate so you don’t need to ‘unteach’ separation later on.
6. Feed your Kids What You Want Them to Eat in 5 Years
Once you’ve introduced allergens, you can start serving your children family style meals (without added salt or sugar). It’s much easier to shape their preference when they are younger. So, if you want to raise non-fussy children who will go to your favorite restaurants with you, try to adapt recipes so they can get used to and learn to love that variety you love for yourself. Again, don’t give up if they don’t take to it right away — consistent exposure in a low pressure environment is the best way to go about it.
7. Add Some Fun with Food Activities
Kids love a little fun in their meals. Food activities can be a powerful tool for parents. Whether that’s cutting a sandwich into triangles instead of squares or trying a new utensil, that little spark could make a child more willing to engage with a new food .
8. Teach Kids what Foods Do In Their Bodies
You’ll hear a lot of people try to get kids to eat foods by telling them it’s” good” or ”bad” for them. Our educational specialist, psychologist, and dietitians disagree! Telling kids food is good or bad doesn’t actually make them any more willing to try the new food. Often, it can even make them more picky, not less.
Instead, it helps to teach kids what food does in their bodies. “Carrots have vitamin A which helps us see in the dark.” Facts like these help kids learn to take care of their bodies, have a good relationship with food, and feed their desire to learn. It can also help with picky eating!
For many kids involving them in the process of making food more fun can actually make it an even bigger win.
Have your child cut food into a new shape (with an age-appropriate knife or cookie cutter and supervision), or wash and prepare the food.
And no, it doesn’t have to make a huge mess. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries if your toddler starts to throw food. If that happens, you can stop the play.
A Sensory Strategy for Fussy Eating
Linking the sensory processing of food to fussy eating behaviors offers a pathway to understanding and addressing selective eating habits. By acknowledging the multisensory nature of food acceptance, caregivers can adopt strategies that cater to individual sensory sensitivities. This might include:
– Gradually introducing new foods alongside familiar favorites.
– Experimenting with different food presentations to make them visually appealing eg simile faces on the plate, using different shaped cutters to cut out fruits and veg, separating food using a portion plate
– Offering a variety of textures and finding creative ways to modify the textures to something more acceptable or familiar. I go into a lot of detail about this in my ‘Overcoming Fussy Eating Masterclass’
– Introducing new smells gradually and blending them with familiar ones eg getting the children in the kitchen with you and helping you whilst you make food.
– Paying attention to the sounds associated with foods and how they impact the child’s eating experience