Guest Post: Tips for Feeding Picky Eaters

I’m so excited to share with you today a guest post from Megan of Food and Whine, with her tips for feeding picky children. I love her ideas and am definitely going to start instituting the one-bite rule with my Certain Little Someone who has begun to assert his independence in the area of food! The muffin tin is another fabulous idea I will have to try. And when you’re done reading her tips here, go check out my guest post, Making the Most of It (how to use every last bit of your citrus fruit) at her blog today!

As you can probably guess from the title of my blog (Food and Whine), I’ve dealt with my fair share of whining from my children over the food I serve. Fortunately, I’ve discovered some helpful tips along the way for encouraging children to eat healthy foods.

Dips

One thing I’ve learned is that my kids will eat just about anything if there’s dip involved. Hummus is a great healthy choice, because chickpeas are an excellent source of protein and fibre. Try serving it with whole grain pitas and veggies. Another dip I like to make for vegetables is a simple combination of light sour cream, light mayonnaise, and a shake or two of Mrs. Dash seasoning. For dipping fruit, I like to use yogurt. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; any kind of flavoured yogurt will do the trick for a quick snack when served with fruit. My older son has even dipped vegetables in his yogurt, which I think is a little strange, but if it gets him to eat vegetables then I’m all for it!

Sips

Never underestimate the power of smoothies. They’re fun for kids to drink, and you can hide all sorts of healthy things in them so that they become pretty much a meal in themselves. Typically I make them with yogurt, some variety of fruit, milk, flax seed, protein powder, and spinach. Yes, I said spinach. You really can’t taste it or even see it if you’re using a brightly coloured fruit. Serve it with a funny straw, in a sippy-cup, or even in a shooter glass.

Involve your Kids

Kids like to have control over what they eat. When we place dinner in front of them without giving them a say about it, it’s no wonder they often reject it. There are plenty of opportunities to involve your children in every aspect of meal-time from menu planning, to food preparation, to serving the meal.

I started asking my older son to help me select meals when preparing our weekly menu plan. I set out cookbooks with photos and he flips through them and picks out what looks appealing to him. I still choose some of the meals of course- otherwise we’d probably eat pancakes or pasta every night- but I make sure to include some of his choices as well.

When I’m preparing food, I like to get my kids to help when they can. Pizza is probably our favourite thing to make together. My boys love rolling out the dough, spreading on the sauce, and adding on all the toppings (while sneaking a bite now and then!). Sure, the pizza might not look perfect, but the kids will most often eat it because they helped make it.

When it’s time to serve a meal, sometimes it helps to allow your children to pick what goes on their plate. Obviously this won’t always be practical, since they may decide to fill their entire plate with one thing instead of selecting a balanced meal, but in some cases it can work well. For instance, at lunch-time I often take a muffin tin and fill each cup with different things, like baby carrots, grapes, crackers, cheese, etc. I put the muffin tin in the middle of the table and let them choose what they want. If you offer a variety of healthy choices, then hopefully they’ll find at least some nutritious foods that they like to eat.

Appearance

When it comes to kids’ food, appearance is everything. It can be the tastiest food imaginable but if it doesn’t look appealing to your child, then it doesn’t stand a chance. In attempts to get my kids to at least try the food I make for them, I’ll often resort to decorating it or arranging it in some fun way. You could make a funny face with vegetables on top of a tuna melt, or use cookie cutters to cut food into fun shapes, or make pancakes in the shape of letters to spell your child’s name. Get creative!

One-Bite Rule

I’ve tried many (oh so many) tactics for getting my kids to eat their dinner, but the one that works best for us is the ‘one-bite rule.’ Basically this means that everyone must try a least one bite of every kind of food on their plate. If they like it, then I encourage them to eat more of that food. If they don’t like it, then I don’t force them to eat any more of it. I do, however, like them to sit at the table while the rest of the family finishes eating and join in the conversation. If they refuse to try at least a bite of food, then I don’t force it, but I don’t offer them anything else either. I just put their food in the fridge and if they ask for something to eat later I’ll offer to reheat their dinner for them. I’ve found it best not to make dinner a power-struggle, because kids can be stubborn and will dig their heels in if you try to force something on them.

Even with all of these tips you will find that sometimes your kids just won’t eat, and that’s okay. Children often go through phases where they won’t eat much at all for days, weeks, or even months at a time. The best thing you can do is not to stress about it. All you can do is keep offering healthy foods again and again. They’ve got to eat eventually, right?

Megan writes Food and Whine, a blog that shares her adventures making healthy and tasty food to please her whole family. Megan lives in the suburbs of Vancouver Canada with her husband and two young sons.