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Many children refuse to try new foods. Parents use various tactics, from bribery to taking favorite things away, to get their kids to take a bite. However, nothing seems to work. A parent may become frustrated and decide to let the child eat whatever they want. Doing so isn’t healthy. What can a parent do to get their child to try new foods?
Don’t Give Up
Picky eaters will often say they don’t like every food the first time they try it. Don’t despair. Give them the food again in about a week. Often, children dislike a food the first few times they eat it, only to discover it is something they enjoy and want again. How can a parent make it easy to try the same food multiple times?
When preparing a new food, freeze it in small bites. Pull one or two bites out each week and thaw them out. Have the child try the small bites again. Do this a few times to see if the child truly dislikes the food or just needs to get used to it. This helps prevent waste while still ensuring the child receives the exposure they need to the new food.
Don’t stop the food completely until the child has tried it at least ten times. Provide the new food with other foods the child likes. This will make it easier for them to get the nourishment they need while receiving exposure to the new food.
Normal Development
Parents need to recognize children will suddenly decide they no longer like foods they used to ask for daily. Many children become picky in what they eat as part of their normal development. This behavior goes away by the time the child is five. In addition, the child might decide they don’t want their foods to touch on the plate. Humor them, and they should outgrow this as well.
Model healthy eating. Children like to do what their parents do. Eat healthy foods in front of the children, and they will want to eat them. This works best with younger children.
Provide the child with choices. They are working to gain independence from their parents, and picking their own foods serves as one way to do so. Offer them the choice of two or three new foods to let them pick the one they want for the day.
Let Them Starve
No parent wants to let their child starve. However, parents must recognize the difference between a child who is hungry because they didn’t want to try new food and a child who is starving and has had nothing nutritional to eat. A child will eat anything that is placed in front of them if they are starving. That’s not the case with a child who didn’t eat an entire meal because they didn’t want to try new food. Make them wait until the next meal to eat, and they will try a portion of new food when their parents place it in front of them.
Children go through periods where they only want to eat certain foods. Don’t despair during these times. Continue to offer new foods, using the tips outlined above, and your child will eat a variety of foods again in no time.
