How to Get Picky Kids to Eat (But, for Real)

My husband (age 31) is a very picky eater. Instant ramen was his breakfast meal of choice before we met. We’re not parents yet, but advice 5 gave me a good chuckle – I also never tell him what I’m making for dinner on nights it’s my turn, because I’ve learned over the years that he’ll just grow to hate some part of the answer. Beef and broccoli? Ugh, broccoli. Veggie paella? Ugh, veggies. Ugh, tomatoes. But lo and behold, if I keep the dish a secret until it’s plopped down onto the dinner table, it’s suddenly a really good dish with no leftovers!

We sometimes eat dinosaur meat we just hunted… But the most beloved veggies are those from our garden, freshly hand-picked by the kids themselves!

Hi Joanna,
I have started when my son was young whatever food I make is what he is eating. I dont make special meals just for him. When he was a baby I just pureed our food and thats what he would eat . Now he eats all the meals that I serve.

I’ve noticed that my kid loves to dip. I can get her to eat almost anything if she has something to dip it in. It’s really easy to make healthier dips by flavoring Greek yogurt, but sometimes it’s just ketchup or salad dressing or something.

Back when my picky four yr old was a picky, construction-obsessed three year old, I explained to him that he has lots of little tiny workers in his body, whose job is to keep it working properly. I told him that these workers need different ingredients and foods to get all of their jobs done–protein to make his muscles strong, fruits and vegetables to keep his “plumbing” working, etc. He really responded to my (somewhat inaccurate) analogy and it’s made mealtime negotiation much easier; now, he isn’t just eating for himself, he’s “doing it for the workers.”

Oh so THAT’s WHY my mom never knew what was for dinner! I wasn’t a picky eater, but my sisters were.

I actually got my 3 year old to eat veggies (willingly and knowingly) for the first time last night (in who knows how long) but letting her skewer them on toothpicks. WHY did I not think of this before?! She thought it was a game and ate an entire plate of broccoli, carrots, green beans and corn. DUH!

Like the idea of the “broccoli theory”! Adding some broccoli to a meal does seem to make it appear healthier, at least for me! Thanks for sharing!

Prudence
http://www.prudencepetitestyle.com

I have read through more comments and feel like I should add that the “you just have to try a bite thing” did not work AT ALL for me. That would just turn it even more into a mental game. I would end up sitting at a table long into the night with no positive results ; ). Getting the child involved with the shopping, growing, cooking, and just making it available, I believe is the best thing for a truly picky eater.

I had a very fussy eater – a learnt habit from an early age to do with him having to have lots of rounds of antibiotics and going off food and learning to say no. He then had a daycare that fed him fast food like nuggets and hot dogs (he didn’t stay there long). The best things I found were:
– to get protein into him I used to mix tofu into yoghurt
– tell him it takes 10 times tasting something before you like it
– to get it near his mouth, rather than a flat refusal, we used to kiss it first (both these tricks came from the book “more peas please”)
This got him to carrots, peas, corn and broccoli. He also did what other fussy kids do and follow the ‘white diet’, so carbs and dairy were fine and he liked apples, melon and grapes. Meat was harder, we slowly moved from nuggets to chicken schnitzel to uncrumbed real chicken.
The comments about trying food that looks like other foods works. From the nuggets we stretched him to fish fingers and salt and pepper squid at thai restaurants (its in a batter). He had lots of boiled egg to bump up the protein, but again we had to move from just the white portion to eating the yolk as well.
He also has an older brother who eats anything and I went to a nutritionist and all of her recommendations didn’t work. Try all tricks, persevere and be patient.

I totally agree. I have never had picky eaters or had to stand over them yelling “you eat it or you don’t leave the table”….it’s just never been an issue.

A good friend has an anxious child who will hardly eat anything….it all comes from her mother, no doubt about it. The more you fuss, even if you think you’re not fussing, children pick up on it.

We grew up eating whatever was put in front of us – and that was a good thing.

Oh, here’s another great trick: When Toby says that he doesn’t like something, say, “You don’t like it YET. You’ll grow into it.” This totally psyched my kids into believing that they would like that food when they were older. It made them want to like it!

I just posted an amazing recipe for Baby Zucchini Pizzas. These would be perfect for a picky eater! I am not a fan of zucchini (to me they are cucumber imposters), but these are so yummy! I think that any picky child would agree.

https://sprinkledwithliv.wordpress.com/

My nieces and nephews are SO picky! Interesting read. Thanks, Jo. :)

Oh gosh, I’m 24 now but from the ages of 5 to 16 I ate an all white diet, seriously. The only fruits or vegetables I ate were apples and sweet peas and cooked carrots in soup. I am not exaggerating. It was really aggravating too because my parents wanted me to eat the good stuff SO badly but I wouldn’t do it. I eat just about everything these days minus mushrooms and I’m still averse to fruits- finding the perfect piece of melon or berry is sometimes too much work. I LOVE vegetables. And let me tell you, my parents tried ALL of these tricks and they could NOT fool me. I’m so sorry!!

my step-son is a terribly picky eater- i’ve only ever seen him eat pizza that my husband makes for him. he refuses to try anything different, although i’ve tried a few tips i’ve read here and there (eating a peach and saying ‘mm this is so good. so yummy’. he becomes intrigued and asks about it, but before i can do anything my husband is generally like ‘do you want some?!’ and kiddo shouts no). he will spit food out or hold it in his mouth and cry. i’m worried he’s not developing like other boys his age (4.5). i believe his mom forces him to eat things he doesn’t like, which then gets him upset (she fed him McDonalds and soda as a 2 year old!!!). my husband feels guilty and just wants him to eat something, anything, so home made pizza it is. :(

If they give me a sour face when I tell them what it is I say, “You don’t have to like it, but you do have to try it.”

I also create a conversation around sometimes finding they like a new food well enough to become a regular on our menu. (Because who wouldn’t like to make that kind of discovery!) Falafel was our latest triumphant example.

My kids aren’t terribly picky eaters, eating veggies has become a chore. I now offer them the choice of raw or cooked and usually they can pick what veggie we have for dinner. They’ll eat anything if they can pick it out of the garden. We’ll see about Brussel sprouts.
If they don’t like what we’re having, tough! If the kids don’t like something I won’t make them eat it (like Brussel sprouts, they get carrots and dip)
We also always have a good snack before a junk snack. Junk is always a good motivator.

Here’s a rule I remember using. I’d say to the kids, “you’re allowed to have dislikes but no fair telling me today you hate something you liked yesterday.” That way we kept a reasonable set of foodstuffs in rotation. Another rule was “no liking only beige food.” I will admit, we did not sit down to family dinner until my youngest was around 5 or 6, and as adults they are perfectly reasonable and healthy eaters. At a certain point folding them into grownup food was really easy. Maybe it’s OK not to have a 2 year old who eats rabbit and kohlrabi;).

My son is 21-months old and we’re having a heck of a time getting him to eat a variety of foods. He’s a fruit-monster and loves anything with strawberries or blueberries, but breads, most veggies, and most meats are no-go’s. We offer him everything and he was a better eater when he was younger… these are awesome tips for older kiddos. Any tips for how to help my sweet toddler enjoy a broader palate?

My parents are excellent cooks and they always made delicious food every night that took hours to prepare and was often crafted from produce from their garden. Usually, after noticing how much effort went into the meal, we didn’t dare not eat it and appreciate it, but sometimes they would use ingredients we didn’t like as kids (mushrooms, brussel sprouts…) If my brother and I didn’t want to eat something, our folks would say something to the effect of “This is what we’re having. You don’t have to eat it but you can’t have anything else. Your choice.” The fear of being up all night hungry usually over-powered our distaste for mushrooms. And I grew up to like mushrooms.

UGH! Not to be dramatic, but sometimes I just want to bang my head against the dining table! Last night, my 4 year old begged all afternoon to go to a restaurant and get a cheeseburger for dinner and the second the food came, he looks at us and says “I’m not hungry” (we knew he was starving after a light lunch and a big hike) and refused to eat the thing. Why, kid, why?!? It’s a cheeseburger for crying out loud!

My husband recently taught our 3 1/2 year old son the “clean plate club” secret handshake. Our son is finishing his dinner now just so he can do the special handshake with his dad!