Tips for a Picky Eater

Picky eaters.... don't' you love it --> is it a battle at your dinner table?  Does your child's face look like the one above?

This is what was going on in our house too a couple short years ago.  My husband and I were starting to be more conscious about what we were eating and so naturally, our meals and snacks were starting to change too.  We wanted this change to be a lifestyle change for our whole family.  The two of us were eating better and feeling much better because of it, so why wouldn't we want that for our kids too?  It was almost more important for them to be learning healthy habits that would set them up well for life and they also had growing bodies so it was even MORE important to get some great nutrition into their bodies!

So imagine, I was finding new recipes to try, getting all excited to cook clean and healthy food and gearing up to preparing new and healthy dinners for my family that they would love (or that's what I thought anyways)

What really happened at dinner? 
The complaints start to roll in....

"EEwwww" 
"Mom that looks gross!!" 
"I'm not eating that" 
"That's so soooo yucky "
"What's really for dinner?"
 
And so, the beautiful healthy dinner time you imagined goes down the gutter because of the little picky eaters. 
Dang, not as easy as you thought right? 

I encourage you not to lose hope on your new healthy path with involving your whole family. 
Give it some time, and be persistent, just like you've been with yourself.
 
To kids -  the food looks new and different and it's not their typical dinner.  It's NEW.  You may have some tears and/or food battles but stick this out because you CAN win the picky eating battle.  And lets be honest, you want this for your kids too right?  You want them to grow up healthy, with a healthy relationship to food, and the knowledge of why food is so important to our bodies. 

So, how can you start opening your kids minds to trying new things?
 

For us, just like I did on my weight loss journey, I starting by educating them about food. 

Food is not something we just consume to fill our stomachs. 

Food is fuel. 
Food rebuilds our body cells. 
Food gives us energy and food keeps us healthy. 

My husband and I started off with educating our kids.  We explained to our kids why they needed to eat their veggies.  We talked to our kids about how different foods can make your body feel and we get them to recognize that on occasion. 

(The older kids WILL start to recognize how different meals make them feel) 

Our 7 year old notices.  When he eats greasy meal as opposed to a nice sub sandwich meal, he will tell me how his belly feels after.  I truly believe teaching kids to notice how different foods make them feel will establish a great healthy food relationship throughout their life.  A little knowledge goes a long way.  Kids don't understand the importance of good food unless we teach them. 

Remember, all they see is "yucky stuff"  on their plate.  So the more we teach kids about food, the better choices they can make and they will grow up with this knowledge for LIFE!

Here are a list of books that can be helpful in teaching kids more about food so you can fill them up with knowledge:

D.W the picky Eater - Marc Brown

Eating the Alphabet - Lois Ehlert

The Berenstain Bears and too much junk food

From Seed to Plant - Gail Gibbons

Secrets of the Garden - Kathleen Weidner

The Milk Makers - Gail Gibbons

To Market, To Market - Nikki McClure

The Vegetables we Eat - Gail Gibbons

Blueberries for Sale - Robert McCloskey

Good Enough To eat - Lizzy Rockwell

After you talk about food a little bit more, it becomes more important to them and they become a little bit more aware.  This will take time, so just be consistent about it, just like you are learning through your own journey.

Another thing we have always done is that what I made for dinner is what's for dinner.  I have never made separate meals for my kids. 

What my hubby and I eat on our nutrition programs is what our kids are eating.  I do not make separate meals, and they kids are encouraged to try a bit of everything on their plates. We have one child that is very adventurous, who will try any and everything.  One that can be willing to try foods when encouraged, and one child that would live off French fries.  So we know it can be easier with some kids than others, but keep encouraging them to try each thing on their plate. 

Lets be real too, my husband and I are not strict all the time! We let them be kids and have treats, we make cookies and go out for ice cream during the summer etc.  But we do sit down for family meals and they are eating the dinners that my husband and I eat.  Over time, they have learned to try different foods at least once, and are eating a little bit of everything on their plate.  Some nights are harder than others, just stick with it  

Here are some other tips I have gathered to help ease this transition and help them with trying new foods and eating their veggies:

Muffin Trays - This works really well with toddlers.  Put small portions of foods you've got in the fridge in the muffin holes so they can pick and choose their mini servings of foods.  Make sure you don't put their treat in there until they have finished at least X number of cups. Make this personal for them and get a small one from the $ store, just for their meals

Make things mini -- some kids get really overwhelmed with the amount that is on their plate, or the big hot dog. etc.  Make them mini.  Mini hot dogs, mini pancakes, mini muffins, mini servings on their plate

Use Toothpicks -- sometimes when you've got a fun toothpick, kids will have fun with their food and get more into their mouths

Make pictures with food -  Hey.... if all else fails right?  Get creative!  There's so much on Pinterest for getting great ideas of pictures you can create with food.  Yes, this takes a bit of creativity and a bit more time, but you won't be making beautiful scenes on plates forever.   You can also describe foods like "Superhero Vision Carrots' or "Ninja Sword Zucchini" to make food fun for them

Cookie Cutters - when making a ham or turkey sandwich, use cookie cutters to make fun shapes out of their sandwiches.  Pumpkin for fall, Christmas tree for the holidays, heart for valentines day.  If you get one big enough, less wasted crusts ;)

 

Space meals out 2.5 - 3 hours apart - and nothing but water in between to encourage them to fill up their bellies with the good food at meals.  Make sure they are truly hungry at mealtime.  If I give my kids a snack 1 hour before suppertime, then they are not going to want to eat veggies at dinner time because they aren't all that hungry to fill their bellies. 

Seasoning goes a long way!! -- Don't be afraid to use butter or salt to make veggies more tasty!
Yes, you are making them slightly less healthy by adding these things, but at least they are getting it in them.  And as you go along, you can slowly cut back on the butter and salt. 

Dips!!  -  I find that when I have an open tray of veggies on the table with dip for the kids for a snack, they are all over it cause it feels like a munchie snack.  For meals like dinner,  our kids LOVE ketchup!  So if letting them use dips gets the food in their belly, use em!
Ranch, mustard, Caesar, cheese or bbq sauce etc,  Try to go without it at first but be willing to use dips when they ask. 

Dinner times HAVE gotten easier over time. 

A few Extra tips that may help:
 

• Model the behaviour you want from your kids.  Eat vegetables in front of your kids, they'll learn to eat them too. 
• Change how you prepare the same foods, ex. steaming, roasting, mashed etc.
• Teach kids how to read food labels, again, the more knowledge they have about food, the better
• Do a garden with your kids in the spring time so they can see how food is grown and where it comes from.  They'll be proud they grew it
• If giving a plate of food to your kids isn't working, let them serve themselves.  Provide different sized spoons with the serving dish and let them choose how much they want to eat with whatever sized spoon to serve themselves with.
• Place healthy snacks on the lower shelves to make it easy for them to see and choose
• Have precut veggies in the fridge for them to grab too
• Offer fruits and veggies as snacks other than just at meal time so they are exposed to veggies more than one time of the day (dinner)
• Pick a fav - Serve on food that is preferred at each meal so they will have that food, and encourage to try others on their plate
• Expose them regularly to new or refused foods in the past.   - you never know, taste buds change and they may be more open to trying again
• Keep it positive - and upbeat.  Your kids will pick up on the fact that you personally can't stand a particular veggie.  Choose and serve the ones you enjoy as well and keep it positive.  Maybe talk about when the veggie is grown and give them some facts about it to make it a learning experience
• Give them a choice - kids like to have a bit of control over what they eat, just like we do.  So give them a choice between green beans or broccoli as a side.  This also gives them a heads up if you can hold up two vegetables and ask them which one they would like to eat tonight, and which one for tomorrow.
• Serve veggies first -- I have not tried this trick but a friend told me this one.  She serves her veggies first at the beginning of the meal with the expectation that everyone will eat some before the main coarse is served. 
• Keep it real -- Especially for the older kids.  My 7 year old will say he doesn't like a particular food, but then I explain to him that sometimes I eat food that isn't my favourite, but it's good for me and that's why I make sure I eat it to take care of my body. I tell him that not everything you eat all the time needs to be your favourite.  You can also tell them about how you didn't like a certain veggie when you were younger, but once you kept trying it, you soon began to like it and it gave me super brain power, ;) ;)

Do you guys have other food tips for kids? 
Any other picky eater tips you've got?
Share below !