Winning over your picky eater is no new topic on this blog, but it's something that many parents continue to struggle with day after day. So this is why I am super excited to share some new healthy eating tips with you straight from two experts in the field (and both sponsors of our blog)! Cai Dixon, co-creator of the Copy-Kids, and Kia Robertson, creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit, have both created award-winning yet simple resources that get kids interested in—and eating!—their fruits and veggies. Both Cai and Kia are fellow moms who feel passionate about helping other parents overcome the typical struggles they face when trying to get their children to eat a varied diet.
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First Off, Set the Tone:
- Be Flexible
What does flexibility look like? It will vary from household to household. Here is what flexibility looks like in my home:
My 5-year-old took a bath first thing when she woke up today. I figured out a few years ago that coupling happy bath-time play with a meal was an excellent way to get her to eat more. First she started with a banana. Then she asked for a second banana. Then I set a divided plate on a low stool next to the tub. The plate contained red cabbage, cauliflower, celery & a cherry tomato – each in its own compartment, because she doesn’t like things to touch. And she ate them all. Yep, veggies for breakfast!
- - Be Creative
Sometimes a story prompt from you is all that is needed to get your child to eat. “Bunnies love carrots. There once was a bunny who ate 100 carrots in one meal. Could you eat 100 carrots?”
Creativity could include arranging a story scene on a plate. A sun, a house, a happy-face designed from the pieces of the meal. You can employ child-friendly dishes & utensils. Candles on a table at mealtimes can make the meal more appealing & pleasant. Lighten things up… move away from familiar norms of “sit-up-straight, eat-your-food, stop-wiggling, no-talking, chew-with-your-mouth-closed.” I’m not suggesting that you abandon good manners. Merely that you make creative efforts to bring joy to the table with optimal nutrition consumption always as the prime goal.
- - Go Easy on Yourself
Give yourself a pat on the back because no matter where you are in this feeding journey you have been doing the best you can with what you know. This parenting gig doesn’t come with a manual - it’s a “learn as you go” job so go easy on yourself!
- - Stop Comparing
Try not to compare yourself to other parents and how they are feeding their kids. Each child is unique and there isn’t one best or right way that works for everyone. It can feel disheartening to think that other parents have got it all figured out and you’re still struggling no matter how hard you try. Just keep learning new recipes, techniques and ideas that you can implement in ways that best fit your family.
- - Be Calm
Before you feed your kids just give yourself a moment to take a deep breath and put a smile on your face. Even if you know the meal might be met with resistance, approach each mealtime as a fresh start. Have confidence that you are providing your kids with a good meal and how much of it they eat and enjoy is up to them. If they reject your new spinach dish it’s not a reflection of your parenting skills or how much they love you.
Try These Suggestions:
- Serving New Food
Trying a new food can be very intimidating for a picky eater. I know it can be hard to understand if you’ve never been a picky eater…what’s the big deal about trying something new, right?! Well it is a very big deal for many different reasons. So when serving something new put the tiniest sample on their plate. When I say tiny I mean microscopic…as in bring a magnifying glass to the table! A teeny shred of lettuce, one grain of wild rice, half a blueberry…you get the picture. I know it sounds silly and actually that’s part of the strategy. Using humor and some fun is a great way to introduce something new. It will improve your chances at getting your picky eater to give it a try and that is half the battle when it comes to picky eating. I think Mary Poppins had the right idea when she said “In every job that must be done there is an element of fun! You find the fun and snap…the job's a game!” Kids love having fun so use that to your advantage and have a laugh together over a kernel of corn!
- - Texture Texture Texture
Did I mention texture? Texture issues are one of the biggest holdups for picky eaters, finding out what textures they like will be very useful information for you. Try serving your picky eater fruits and veggies in different forms and textures. Maybe they like crunchy, or perhaps smooth, some may prefer bumpy (like broccoli). You can achieve different textures by changing how you prepare them - try serving produce steamed, grilled, raw, baked, frozen, juiced, roasted, etc.
- - Keep Trying
I know how disheartening and frustrating it can be to keep serving food over and over again only to have it rejected and even worse, tossed on the floor! But here’s the thing, studies have found that it can take at least 10 exposures to a new food before it is accepted and that number gets a lot higher when dealing with a picky eater. So don’t give up too soon…you’re in the business of training taste buds and that takes a lot of patience and repetition. You can print off a free Today I Tried chart to help you and your kids keep track of how many times they are trying a new food. Once again turning this into something fun can help you successfully stay on track and get your kids on board.
- The contest is open to those with U.S. or Canadian shipping addresses only.
- You have THREE chances to enter the contest by leaving comments below:
- 1st entry: Please leave a comment below sharing your picky eater tip (or frustration!)
- 2nd entry: If you like Copy-Kids on Facebook you can leave another comment below. Just say “like Copy-Kids” on your entry/comment.
- 3rd entry: If you like
- The contest will end at midnight EST on Monday, February 11th.
- The winners will be selected at random and announced on the “100 Days of Real Food” Facebook page as well as emailed directly (so make sure your address is entered correctly in your comments below!). The winner will have 3 days to respond before they are disqualified, and a new winner is chosen.
Kia Robertson is a mom, children’s book author and the creator of the award winning Today I Ate A Rainbow kit that gets kids ASKING to eat their fruits and veggies by turning healthy eating into a fun game! As a former picky eater, Kia is passionate about helping parents overcome the typical struggles they face trying to get their children to eat their fruits and vegetables. Learn more at: https://www.todayiatearainbow.com/
Cai Dixon is a mom and co-creator of Copy-Kids. Copy-Kids makes video content encouraging positive habits in young children by encouraging them to copy other kids. Their debut release is a DVD entitled Copy-Kids Eat Fruits and Vegetables. In it you'll find children joyfully eating fruits and vegetables. Kids watching it want to join in. It’s that simple. And it’s effective. Find them at: http://copy-kids.com/
alisha tarrance says
Like copy kids
Kareena says
I liked, Today I ate a Rainbow on Facebook! I hope I win!!!!!
Kareena says
I liked Copy Kids on Facebook!
Kate Bell says
like Rainbow
Kareena says
So my picky eater frustration is that he is only 14 months old and I can't reason with him at this point! I can't say, "If you eat this, then you can have that." He doesn't understand "You need to take 5 bites and then be done." So he ends up eating a lot of applesauce....
Kate Bell says
like Copy-Kids
Kate Bell says
I just offer the same thing over and over in little bits - after a few tries it's the "you need to take one bite" - he takes it, then he often says "not so bad" :)
alisha tarrance says
To help with our picky eaters we have given our food creative names that correlate with foods they eat: a quesadilla becomes a grilled cheese taco, a taco becomes a cheeseburger taco!
Carmen King says
I usually serve the kids a little bit of everything that we eat, even if I know they don't like something. I'm often surprised when one random day they go from not liking a specific veggie/food to loving it.
Lynelle says
Like Rainbow
Kim Amstutz says
Like rainbow
Holly says
Like Rainbow
Holly says
Like Copy-Kids
Lynelle says
Like Copy Kids
Holly says
When the kids tried lima beans the first time, we had a contest to see how many they could "fork", they loved it!
Carmen King says
Like Rainbow
Lynelle says
We used to talk my daughter's ear off, with lectures about food and healthy eating and blah, blah, blah. By the end of the meal, we were all worn out of the talking...and it didn't help her pickiness (or stubbornness). We resolved to stop talking so much about food. We serve it, maybe mention what part of our body it's helping and that's the end of food talk. She knows we expect her to eat at least 7 bites (one bite for each year of age) of something and to try a small bite of everything. Her pickiness has improved only the tiniest bit, but our meal times are much more pleasant!
Jessica says
Liked today I ate a rainbow
Sarah says
sorry... not commenter honey mustard! homemade. :) silly .autocorect
Jessica says
Liked copy-kids
Lorraine Lynch says
Like rainbow
Rachel says
When my girls say that they do not like something, I just tell them that they do like it, that they ate it all the time when they were a baby. Then they usually eat it! If not, I tell them we can heat it up for the next meal to try again, so by then they finish it!
Sarah says
dips! my picky eaters well eat almost with the right dip, such as commenter honey mustard, ranch, or hummus. also, we require that they taste everything, even if just a tiny bit. sooner or street enough tries they sometimes like it! :)
Lorraine Lynch says
Like copy-kids
Like rainbow
danielle says
like rainbow
danielle says
like Copy-Kids
Lorraine Lynch says
I like to make up fun names and stories to go with foods/dishes that my kids say the don't like. For example: I would make turkey chili and since my oldest would call it "gross", the little ones wouldn't eat it either. So, one day I said I was making "cowboy stew" (actually my turkey chili) and we would eat it with tortilla chips just like cowboys used to do (except they used tortillas). Low and behold, cowboy stew suddenly was super yummy and all of my kids love it!!! Like I remind my hubby all the time... It's all in the delivery!!
Mary says
liked Today I ate a rainbow
Jessica says
I find my 2 year old will eat a lot more veggies when I give her something to dip them in like ranch and she loves pretty much all fruits. I do make muffins that are full of shredded and mashed veggies/fruits and lots of smoothies too.
Mary says
liked copy-kids
Mary says
I make dinner a family effort. If my kiddos help prepare the rainbow food, they are more likely to try it!
Emily H says
like Rainbow
Emily H says
like Copy-Kids
Emily H says
My 4 year old gags on anything new, so its not just about getting him to try something, we have to get him to keep it down. Oh the joys of parenting! :)
Katie says
like Rainbow
Jen M says
Like Today I Ate a Rainbow as Jen M
Lauren says
like rainbow
We keep a laminated checklist on the fridge, so it helps mom and dad keep track of what color has been eaten that day.
Jen M says
Like Copy Kids as Jen M.
Katie says
My son us super picky/ sensory sensitive towards food. He goes through cycles of preferred foods and won't eat much else. One month he is nuts for oatmeal, then won't touch it for the next 6 months. Lunch time at school is super hard.
Jen M says
My 3.5 year old only eats plain pasta, rice, toast and cucumbers. It is beyond frustrating to try to get him to try new foods. (He does like fruit though). I've tried all the tips I've found and nothing has worked!!! Tried enforcing the one bite rule. Tried not even mentioning food at the table. I sure hope he grows out of this. I don't like hearing that I made him a yucky dinner...