How Can You Help Expand Your Picky Eater's Menu Selections?

There’s no sure fire explanation of why some children are more adventurous eaters and why others want the same foods day after day and refuse to try anything new. Some people believe that children are born “picky” eaters and others argue that it is how the child was raised. For some children, it is the first symptoms of sensory issues and they do not like certain food textures.

What we do know is that children only have access to the foods that parents and other adults in their life provide them. You can help your kids make good choices and be less “picky” from the very beginning if you make a commitment to buy and serve healthy foods for mealtimes and snack when they are young, and keep sweets and treats (yes, pizza is considered a treat) to a minimum.

For the first six months of life, breast milk, formula or a combination of the two is all that a baby needs. This means no juice or water, and definitely no cereal mixed with milk in the bottle! After your baby can sit up on their own, and a pediatrician agrees that your child is ready, you can begin introducing solids (such as pureed vegetables first. Many people disagree about which foods should be introduced first: cereals, green foods, orange or yellow foods, or even fruits. Talk with your child’s doctor about her recommendations and then start exploring for yourself.

Once you start feeding your child solids, the world opens up to so many yummy choices that you can share together. And no, that doesn’t mean you have to eat “baby food” but you can choose to eat carrots if your young child is eating pureed carrots! See below for some general guidelines to help you raise a healthy eater and make meal times less stressful for everyone.

1. Establish a meal and snack schedule, and rules. Children love routines and that includes for meals and snacks. As to rules, come up with some that work for your family such as, no tv or electronics during meal times. This helps the family interact with each other, learn their hunger and full cues, and focus more on the meal.

2. 2. Start family meal times as early as possible. Sitting down and eating with your baby helps to take the pressure off of them to eat and limits distractions. Plus, if they see their parents and siblings eating healthy, balanced meals, it creates positive role modeling for them.

3. Don’t rush meal times. Yes, children can be slower, but they need enough time to finish their food. It might not hurt for the adults to slow down too!

4. Only serve milk or water with meals. Be sure that your child does not finish her beverage before she begins eating or it may stop her from feeling hungry.

5. Limit snacking. If a child is allowed to over snack or graze all day, he probably will be less hungry and less interested in food at meal times.

6. Don’t stop serving a food just because your child does not like it the first time. It can take up to 13 - 15 introductions of a food for a child to really know whether or not they truly dislike it. Keep offering it, in small portions, over several months.

7. Be a food model. If your child only sees you eating fast food or junk, it will not inspire him to eat healthy. Try taking some of your favorite foods, like chicken fingers, and bake them instead of frying them.

8. Make meal times fun and interesting. You can spice up meals by using fun shapes, combining flavors and textures, and asking them to help in the preparation.

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